Handy - ACROSS THE CASPIAN: an adventure through the caucasus to mount elbrus

This is an adventure through the Caucasus starting in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan and an important city on the Silk Road. From there, it was overland to reach Turkmenbashi on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea to catch a ferry to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. After a transit through Azerbaijan, I cross into Georgia and reach the Black Sea. The original plan was to travel from Europes lowest point on the shores of the Caspian Sea and finish on the top of Europes highest point on the summit of Mount Elbrus situated in the far south of Russia. But the political situation in the region disrupted the original idea and there had to be some reorganisation of the route. There are security issues and political instability and people familiar with the area will know that places such as Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia often appear in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Also, there is much more of interest in travelling through the southern Caucasus and therefore, I altered the route. The original plan also expected to be able to cross the border between Georgia into Russia but there had been a lot of political problems and the border seems to open and close at the whim of politicians. I didnt want to plan, book and importantly, pay for my proposed route and then arrive at the border only to find it shut.

I played safe and travelled across the Caspian Sea and then through Azerbaijan and Georgia. Even with this plan, the border was shut between Azerbaijan and Armenia so regretfully, I was unable to incorporate Armenia into the itinerary. Instead of crossing the border from Georgia into Russia, I reached the Black Sea and crossed into Turkey. I would travel along part of the northern coast of Turkey and then travel inland to visit Cappadocia. This is a fantastic place to visit and is the ballooning capital of the world. It is not part of Europe but it is a great place to visit and it would be a sin to miss it when it is so close.

Then it was overland to Istanbul and it was easy to get from there to Moscow. Then it was a transfer for an internal flight from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody just to the north of the Caucasus and a long transfer to our base near the bottom of Mount Elbrus.

I kept the theme to travel from Europes lowest point on the Caspian Sea at 29 m below sea level and to finish on the summit of Mount Elbrus at an elevation of 5,642 m and there is only 350 km as the crow flies between the two but I would be traveling over a much longer route.

Only some parts of the journey would actually be in Europe but the notion of Europe is a mere man-made concept but the idea of travelling from Europes lowest point on the Caspian Sea shores up to the highest mountain was still a legitimate goal.