Azerbaijan Visa

Also, sorry to mine you for information but do you know the detail of the English speaking travel agent in Aktau who can arrange tickets for the boat?

Someone posted on here very recently about the hotel I mention being open, so you should find yourselves cheap and friendly accommodation there. The English speaking travel agency is mentioned in the Lonely Planet. I can't remember what it's called, but it's on the main road in Aktau, near the WWII memorial, on the side of the road closer to the sea. They have a picture of a boat up somewhere, but I can't remember if it's inside or outside the shop, but otherwise they are signed as a travel agency and a train ticket vendor. I only went in once, but the woman behind the desk spoke perfect English and they were definitely in the business of selling boat tickets.

You might be tired of me giving you out information, but Beket Ata and Fort Shevchenko both make for interesting side trips from Aktau if you have time to kill, and both can be visited on public transport.

Giora

Giora, we are staying at the hotel you recommended and it is indeed great - the friendliest staff I've come across in Kazakhstan! And cheap - thanks for that. The woman at the travel agency Tagu was also lovely, spoke some English and is going to call our hotel when she knows about the next boat (one should be coming in the next few days she thought)

Update on Azerbaijan Visa Applications in Aktau:

We did not get an LOI in advance, due to advice given to us by Stantours, tried the embassy today and it was not a problem. The (very nice) man there said that for a tourist visa you need a 'voucher' but instead we could just apply for a 'one month visa', for which we only needed to provide two passport photos and a passport photocopy. For a 30 day, single-entry visa I (British passport) will pay 101 USD and my lucky partner (Australian passport) will pay 58 USD.

Sounds like things are going well for you. I hope you manage to make it onto a boat soon: if you do, bring plenty of food.

Giora

As I mentioned in another post, anyone looking for the friendly guesthouse in Aktau discussed here can easily find it by heading for the spot where the "Novruz" eatery is marked in the current LP. The guesthouse is a minute's walk away, up the side street. Rooms cost about KZT 1500 to 2000 per night (USD 10 to 14; I paid KZT 2000). Don't expect a palace - do expect welcoming smiles.

A guy who crossed the Caspian by ferry from Baku about the same time as me says the fare is now USD 130. It's probably the same price the other way. The ferry is running when it has enough freight (roughly every 7-11 days at present).

Flights to Baku currently cost about KZT 25,300 (about USD 175). Flights depart Aktau Sun-Thu 5:05, Fri 16:05, Sat 11:05 and take just over an hour.

Knowing how much you spend on food and other things you can easily calculate how much it's probably going to cost for the ferry (including several days of waiting) versus the flight. Basically, if you wait for the ferry more than a couple of days, the plane is cheaper.

That said, my ferry informant says his ferry was actually quite comfortable, and of course it's by far the more adventurous way to cross the Caspian. Money isn't always the most important thing.

Thanks, Giora :-)
We have been very lucky - this morning we picked up our Azerbaijan visas, went to the Tagu office to check if there was any new information and have our tickets for the boat this evening!
The tickets cost 17,100 KZT each (I think you can also pay about 3000 KZT extra and be fed if you want). We just used the Tagu ferry ticket office (where they are extremely nice and helpful) for boat information but from others we met, I think that if you were to go to the port every day and ask, it may be possible to jump on boats other than the ones that Tagu work with - we heard of a guy who crossed the other way on a boat with room for just one passenger.

Hi

We trying to find onfo on the same intial enquiry (we know it's an old one).

We are in China and want to get back to Europe overland. We hope to get a Kazakhstan visa in China and then go by boat to Azerbaijan and then onto Georgia.

The Qs are:
Is getting a Kazakhstan visa in China problematic? (we've had mixed info on this)
What's the best way to get an Azerbajian visa? We've heard it's done electronically now?
What's the deal with the boat? Someone said it can be waiting for days or weeks to port!

Any info is greatly appreictaed.

Thanks

Obtaining a Kazakh visa from the consulate in Urumqi is normally a simple affair, but things such as national holidays in China and KZ can affect the operating hours of the consulate and the services offered.

The most-often recommended service for AZ visa support is www.azerbaijan24.com</a>, which has a lot of useful information on visas on its website. Follow the link to visa support for current news and advice on the constantly-changing rules.

Otherwise, post your inquiries in the Azerbaijan twig of the Europe - Eastern Europe & the Caucasus branch.

The boat is a cargo boat. It leaves when there happens to be cargo around to take. There's no schedule, and no guarantees of departure. When I took the boat, there were about 11 days between sailings. I've heard of no boat going for more than 2 weeks, though sometimes they run more regularly than that. It's all a matter of luck and patience.