Baku - 26th August
Well we have been warning the riders since the very start that the tour (being the inaugural pioneering trip) will be prone to many unknowns and potential delays and problems.
So far things have gone very smoothly from my perspective, but we're always on guard for what might be lurking around the next corner and one of those major unknowns is the ferry crossing the Caspian Sea.
If all goes to plan we expect to depart from the Baku ferry port at 2pm tomorrow afternoon (Monday 27th August) and arrive in Turkmenistan the following morning, clear customs, and have the better part of the day to relax, repack, and re-energize for the next 4 days in the desert heat on our way to Ashgabat.
The riders have been very cooperative with all the deadlines we have laid out for them to ensure that all bikes, bags, trucks and people get on the ferry on time. This morning we were told that instead of having all day and night to pack up red boxes that the trucks will have to head to the ferry tonight to clear customs and be boarded on the ferry and sit there overnight. Meaning that all red boxes and permanent bags have to be loaded tonight. Hopefully our drivers will not need to stay there the whole night too.
So hopefully everything else will go smoothly - the ferry ride promises to be an adventure regardless and I am personally really looking forward to the expereicnce.
In the meantime - the riders have been spreading out across Baku like ants in the shopping mecca of this region. Every western brand name is available here and the restaurants and bars are very familiar to what we'd see back home in North America or Europe.
The Ministry of Tourism has been very supportive to us since we arrived in Azerbaijan and again today they provided a complimentarty city tour for the riders.
You'll hear from us again in Turkmenistan.
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Posted August 26, 2007 by Shanny Hill
Azerbaijan |
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