Day 114–117 of solo London to India motorcycle trip: Leaving Georgia & Entering Russia: Tbilisi —…
Day 114–117 of solo London to India motorcycle trip: Leaving Georgia & Entering Russia: Tbilisi — Kazbegi — Vladikavkaz (Russia) — Grozny — Makhachkala [July 31 — Aug 3, 2023]
The ride had some of the amazing scenary around Kazbegi & Russia border before Vladkikavkaz. Figured some innovative way to source Rubles through crypto & Russian bank account instead of converting USDs. Chechnya & Dagestan had one of the nicest people I met during the trip.
This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip travelogue . Read here for details. My blog posts are delayed & I post more recent/regular updates on my Trip Facebook Page / Instagram . Also, I add all my stay places in this public google map list . Created the list to help budget motorbike travellers like me :).
I mentioned in my previous post, that I had got my passport with Russia visa on July 31. My visa validity was slated to start from next day (Aug 1) & I decided to ride to Russia border the same day.
The ride to the border town was very scenic. People had spoken about Kazbegi region in Georgia before but I did not know that I was actually riding towards the Kazbegi region. I had looked up hostels on the Georgia side & found Green Hostel for 25 Laris a night. But I did not have time to call/whatsapp the owner. So I decided to figure it out on the way.
I then stopped in Gadauri town to have my dinner. I actually saw boards of Indian restaurants & stopped at one. Coincidentally, when I reached the restaurant, it was actually playing bollywood song ‘London Thumakda’ pretty loudly (my motorbike is from London .. so it brought a smile on my face). Folks in the restaurant were of Indian origin & I ordered a chicken pulav on their recommendation. It was ok.
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It took me some time to figure the actual location of Green Hostel. It was not rightly marked on the map. I stopped at another ‘green building’ & while trying to find a way to call the owner, another local lady figured & took me to the right place. I met Zaza, the owner. I had called Zaza from the Indian restaurant. Zaza was very nice. I tried negotiating a bit as I felt I could stay under 15 Laris a night in Tbilisi. We agreed on 20 Lari price but I felt bad later because Zaza actually offered dinner & breakfast (apparently that was included in the price which I did not know). He actually offered me beer while he cooked dinner (I opted out of dinner as I already had it in the Indian restaurant).
Next day morning, I felt like I should spend more time as it was a really nice location. I left the place pretty lazily (at around 11 AM).
I started to ride to the border which was around 10 kms from Green Hostel. I reached Georgian border in like 30 min. I figured that I should buy a pen as I had read about filling long documents while entering Russia. But unfortunately, I could not find a shop where I could find a pen (I stopped at a few on the way but they were just selling sim, insurance & coffee).
Exit from Georgia was quick, took me 15 min. Then there was a bit of ride to enter Russia border.
Crossing Russia Border at Vladikavkaz
Russia border has quite a few counters & I was able to reach an officer in like 5 min wait. As usual, the officer was surprised to see an Indian motorbiker & quickly cleared me. I had to fill a small slip in duplicate which a copy was given to me. When I checked in at hotels in Russia, I was asked for this slip.
After passport stamping, it was time for my vehicle to be inspected. The lady officer was more thorough then the officer at Armenia border & I had to open pretty much all my panniers but it all took another 15 minute. Then I was handed a small slip & asked to go a counter to then ‘import’ my vehicle. I had to do the vehicle importation at Armenia border as well, but I had heard how slow things are at Russia border. So I was prepared.
The first challenge was to get hold of the form. When I went to counter 1, the lady on the counter gestured me to go to counter 2. On counter 2, there was a long queue of people. Luckily the officer noticed me & figured I speak English. There were 2 ladies standing in the queue & he asked them if they can help (he figured they speak English). One of them was pleasantly surprised to know I am an Indian (apparently she has travelled to India). They helped me get the form in English & pointed me counter 3 (which was empty room) where there are instruction to fill the form.
I had read in forums that it is not straight forward to fill the form. The help instructions in counter 3 room were in Russian & my internet wasnt working, so I could not translate them either. I just decided to use my best judgement & checked in ‘transit’ option at most places.
I came back counter 2 & then long wait began. I scanned people waiting & implicitly decided that everyone is ‘ahead’ of me in the queue. They also had similar form(s) in their hand. A mistake I did, was to leave the queue to go fill the form. I think, I should have just filled the form standing at the counter, which would have helped me keep my queue position secure.
On an average, it was taking 30–45 minute to process form of one person at the counter. I had around 5 folks before me so that translated to around 3.5 hours of wait & I was right. The counter windows were kept closed & it was opened only if they are done with processing someone’s form or if they need clarification/rectification from the person whose form is getting worked upon. I also saw people waiting to get the form. I recommend just knocking on the window, or go by the side door to the counter & ask for the form.
I also realised, most people were clueless (actually more than me) as to how to fill the form. They were either filling the form while waiting in the queue by asking people in the queue, or they had to redo things multiple times because the counter officer keep coming back to them, every 10 minute or so.
During my turn, I just had to to do one correction — I had filled country of Dispatch as UK & country of Destination as India.I was asked to fill India & Russia respectively. I was also asked to fill in my phone number & email id in section where I had to provide details of item imported.
Overall, getting the import form & the import approval took like 4 hours. There were some ‘veterans’ who bulldozed their way ahead of people waiting & most people including me could not do much about it. At the end, the stamped duplicate form was handed over to me, including the small slip stamped which was handed to me when I was asked to go to import counter(s). I tried translating the slip later & it seems, it indicates approval/disapproval from the customs officer to take my vehicle (or other valuables) in.
The ride from border to Vladikavkaz was very scenic & I stopped by at places to click pictures. At one place, I could see some police guys ahead & I was like — maybe stopping is a bad idea. But they were ok & did not stop me when I passed them :).
I remember passing a park with lot of statues which seemed like old kings & wanted to stop to take pictures. But then, it was 4 PM & at 6 PM, the Sber Bank branch I was heading to, would have closed. I had spoken to Suhas, another overland traveller in one of the facebook overland group & he had recommended opening a bank account with Sber & also passed me cordinates of the branch in Vladikavkaz where he opened the account. I wanted the account primarily for the purpose of trading some cryptos for Rubles on websites like binance.com . It actually worked out & I did not have to convert any of my USDs in Russia.
For getting a bank account, I needed a SIM card. I parked my bike at Sber Bank branch in Vladikavkaz & then looked around for a Sim card shop. Unfortunately, I could not read Russian. I decided to go a coffee van parked next to the bank branch, bought a sandwich & asked lady through Google Translate for a shop where I can buy sim. She gave me an address on my map but I could not find a shop at the address. That is when I remember that Suhas had mentioned about ‘MTC’ & ‘Megafon’ as telephone providers in Russia. So I looked up those keywords in Google Map & while walking to a store, came across another store on the way from where I bought a Yota sim. There was an offer of 50 GB data for a month for 399 Rubles but I chose to pay 150 Rubles & get the same offer for 6 days. It was not clear what would happen after 6 days but since I was running out of time as the bank branch would close, I just decided to dash out of the place as soon as my sim started to work.
I then walked to Sber bank branch. I met a guy and asked him about account opening. Apparently, he was not sure if I can and he started to ask around in Russian. He did manage to open my account but told me through translator that ‘he should ideally be not doing it’ as I did not have a permanent address in Russia. I called Suhas & checked with him about this & he said that the lady who helped him open account, did not mention any such requirement & he was able to open account with his hostel address. Anyway, I could get the account opened & card given to me in person. The person did try to sell me some prime upgrade for 1990 Rubles one time payment but I somehow able to decline. I thought that maybe, once I load my account with Rubles, it may deduct the amount, but thankfully, it did not.
I then looked for hostels. Suhas has mentioned about Rock Hostel & Yandex map. A quick look in Yandex map actually showed another cheaper hostel Хостел Жили-Были (English name — hostel Zhili-Byli) where price was mentioned as 350 Rubles, which seemed unbelievably cheap. I rode to the hostel & figured, the price was 500 Rubles which was still cheaper than Rock Hostel. On a bit of negotiation, they agreed for 400 Rubles. As usual, nobody spoke English & I used the Google Translate Conversation to communicate.
The hostel was ok & I just stayed one night. They earlier said 100 Rubles to let me park my bike in a closed compound but I said I am ok leaving it in the open compound as I have wheel locks. But later, they insisted to park it inside for free & I was happy for the offer. People in the hostel were curious to see an Indian & a few people had conversation with me (through Translate). One of the guy was a Kazakh guy who bought a car in Georgia & was driving it to his hometown via Russia where the border folks confiscated his car. Another guy was born in Armenia but settled in Russia & showed me his pictures in front of Grozny mosque.
I had planned to ride to Makhachkala the next day via Grozny. I started at around 9 AM as it was a bit of long ride.
I remember stopping at a petrol station inside Vladikavkaz where I saw 95 petrol available for lot cheaper (around 52 Rubles while other places it was at 57+). I was a bit clueless of procedure to follow in Russia to fill petrol (do you fill yourself or wait for someone to come). A lady came in & filled petrol for me. On showing the card, she took it, tapped & brought the receipt. She actually charged me 10 Rubles more than the price. I smiled at her & drove off :). This did not happen in any other petrol pump but I stopped giving my card & went myself to pay.
The ride to Grozny was quick. I was stopped once while entering Chechnya where the officer thought UK on my bike is Ukraine. But when he got to know that I am from India, he gestured me to go.
I had put destination as Grozny Mosque which shows as ‘Heart of Chechnya’ in Google Map. I parked closed to Cafe Maidan as closer to the mosque, I could see quite a few signs which indicated motorbikes not allowed. I was not sure if it is on the main road, or on the side road for cycles. But I decided to park my bike further away as I figured its best to stay conservative in Chechnya. Looking back, I think Chechnya was pretty good, people were pretty friendly & curious as well.
Overall, Chechnya impressed with their infrastructure. The roads in & out of Grozny were nice, wide & smooth. Inside Grozny, the buildings looked very new & shiny. I did remember reading online somewhere that Russian govt actually spent quite a bit of money to rebuilt Chechnya after the war & also to cover up their work during the war. But well, Grozny looked very nice city. Plus my interaction with Chechnyan people was nice & they were very intrigued to see an Indian guy :).
I then continued to Dagestan. It has become pretty hot but well, I just kept taking breaks & riding. I was crossing Khasavyurt & stopped at a coffee shop, M29 Coffee, next to the road. I ordered a cuppuccino but when I went to pay, the guy on counter told that my coffee is paid for. Apparently, there was a guy who came in after me & he paid for my coffee. His name was Abu Rehman & I requested for a picture with him. Dagestan had already won my heart :).
I remember seeing a long red part on my path & I did get stuck in the jam. Apparently, some large truck had broken down & it was very hard to remove it. I made my way to the front riding on the curb on the left & most vehicles happily gave me way, which was very nice of them.
I reached Makhachkala at around 7 PM. Unlike Grozny, roads in Dagestan were bad, even in Makhachkala which is their main town. People were pretty rash & quick .. but well, I am from India, so was not that perturbed. I was told about Khostel Flet by another Polish hostel mate in Vladikavkaz & I directly headed to the place. I met a lady & not the owner, but she was nice & helped me check in. I paid 700 Rubles for one night.
I had some cash with me but I wanted to use my Sber bank account as much as I can. It was the first time I could pay to the hostel from my app through their phone number. The Sber app is in Russian so I usually open the app & hand it over to the Russian person who finds their way. I tried doing this in Vladikavkaz too but the two ladies were not that technically able, so I had to pay there in cash :).
Since I was riding pretty much back to back, I decided to stay for one more day in Makhachkala. Also, the washing machine was free so I decided to dedicate the day for washing clothes.
How to use crypto to get Rubles in Russia
I also decided to spend time figuring out how I can use the P2P crypto exchange to get some Rubles in my Sber account. I opened account with Binance & did verification so that I can participate in P2P trade.
I bought some USDT in my Binance account using my Revolut card
I moved those USDTs from Spot to Funding wallet
I activated pro mode in my Binance app so that I can see P2P under Trades options. I then chose sell USDT option. I specify how many USDTs I want to sell / Rubles I want to buy which filters out the sellers as sellers have minimum amount constraint. For payment method, I selected ‘Rosbank’ as I was told that Rosbank & Sberbank account are interoperable in Binance. Remember, you can sell USDT only if you have completed the verification process, which would require you to give your passport information to Binance.
I placed order with the top seller from the list. The seller is suppose to deposit Rubles in your account first before you release USDT through Binance app. I faced some issues in this step. The seller sent me money but it did not show in Sber bank app activity. But the total amount seem to have increased. I remember doing this late in the night & I went to Gadjl who then spoke to Sber bank executive on call on my behalf. The executive confirmed that money will show in the activity in some time. This took time for me to release the USDT to the seller & I got a bad rating as well for it :). Later, I learnt that it is better to pass your Sber card number to the seller in the chat option & if the money is transferred to you via the card, it shows up cleanly in Sber bank app.
Next day, I spent longer time with Gadjl, the owner of the hostel. Gadjl has stayed in Moscow & can speak some English. I remember fixing their wifi late in the evening & Gadjl was very happy (basically the wire was put on the wrong port of the wifi router). I also went out for some city sight seeing but there was nothing very fascinating in Makhchkala.
I was planning what to do the next day. I was told about Caspian Sea Monster in Derbent but I was not too enthusiastic to go south. Olga, who was staying in the hostel, from St Petersburg, happen to tell me about Sulak Canyon which is not too far from Makhchakla. Also, Astrakhan was around 500+ kms from Makhchakla so I had decided to stop somewhere midway. I finally decided on the itinerary below.
For the hotel on the route, I looked up hostels on Makhchakla Astrakhan route & figured that after this hotel, there are no hotels & not even petrol pumps on the way. So I figured, it is going to be a desert & my best bet is to cross it early morning to keep the heat at bay.
The next two days turned out to be pretty interesting. I got to see a canyon deeper than Grand Canyon & my first ride through desert devoid of anything on the route, even petrol pumps. I also learnt to use Yandex Map when Google Map did not show me any petrol stations on the way. More about it in the next post.
Other cool hacks for Russia
Also, some of the other hacks that I found useful in Russia apart from the crypto selling to buy Rubles
Yandex map is more accurate in Russia. I relied on a petrol station location from Google Map which turned out to be wrong & I was in my last few liters. I then opened Yandex map & the petrol pump was actually 2 kms away in a different direction.
Yandex browser is also more handy as the translation works quicker on it compared to Chrome.
VPNs are needed for Facebook, Instagram & even Medium (the site where I write the blog post). I was recommended Vpnify for phone & it is free & works well on my Android phone. Unfortunately, Vpnify did not work well for me on my Mac. I use FreeVPN on my Mac & it works well which I downloaded from Apple App Store.
https://vk.com/motaway is a vibrant motorbiking community in Russia. Consider it Horizons Unlimited Motorcycling version of Russia. My post https://vk.com/wall-107093022_311159 there generated a lot of response & love from Russian motorbikers
https://мотокарта.рф/index.php is like Bunk A Biker of Russia. I found Pereiro Bike Point in Volgograd from it https://vk.com/bikepointpereiro34 . Pereiro helped me with contacts of other similar places along my route in Russia.
Once you have Sber bank account & Mir card, you can transfer money to anyone through their phone or card number. Install Sber bank app & it has option to transfer money. You can do that at small shops that do not have card machine. The Sber app is in Russian. So hand over the app to the Russian guy & they would be able to find the way. Just keep looking over as to what they doing :).
zenhotels.com will work for hotel booking in Russia. I booked a hostel in Astrakhan through it. Trip.com works for booking flights. A more Russian site to book flights is https://www.aviasales.ru/