Caspian Ferry

One oft he greatest headaches so far - I finally made it! I managed to take the ferry from Baku/Azerbaidjan to Aktau/Kazakhstan, where I am now.

Taking a ferry doesn't sound all too difficult, does it? Well, this is a special one. This ferry is mainly a cargoship, roll-on, roll-off, which also accepts some passengers. The first problem with catching this ferry is that there are no schedules. The ferry comes when it comes and so does it leave. Nobody has information or is keen about giving it out until right before it is there. So what you do is going to the port twice daily to check. It is also possible to phone them, but nobody speaks english, only russian or azeri. Next hurdle is to buy a ticket. One day I went there, expecting one to come, and it was actually there! But the woman at the cashier refused to sell me a ticket. She presented a list with loads of names who she claimed were in front of me. But if I'd pay $100 to the captain I could get on the ship... Didn't like to go for this option so I told her that I will check this matter with the company directly. Came back again with a local friend who knew people at the port administration - still no way to get on this ship, but they helped us a great deal so we were able to at least buy a ticket the next day. So now it was doing phonecalls again, but better go there personally 2 times a day and check. Then on friday afternoon they said there won't be one on today, but 90% sure on saturday. Still no exact time. On saturday they said the boat would arrive at 6pm. It arrived at 10pm. Finally! But this would be too easy, wouldn't it? The ship was unloaded, left, and another one bound for Turkmenistan came. I decided that I'll move to the port with my stuff and spend the night there to not miss it. Arturo, my host, drove me there once again (hey, I really appreciate what you guys did for me! - looking foward to the amazonian adventure...!) and we made contact with 2 Kazakh truckdrivers who I ended up staying with in their truck for the rest of the night. They later also helped me a great deal locking up some of my stuff in their truck and other things. Balschoje Spasibo, Sergej & Parchat! Suddenly at dawn some dodgy non-official guy came and asked for a cargo-certificate for my bike. I played stupid, but he bothered the Kazakhis. So I went with one of them to an office where they asked for 5$. I bluffed and told them that the bike is free and that they should call the company. Half an hour later we met an official by chance who confirmed that there is no charge for a bicycle. They certainly knew this but where trying to get some money out of me. Like the try with everyone... Customs was easy though. When bording with the bike the sailors asked again for a cargo-certificate, but just smiling knowingly made them stop bothering me any further... The ship itself was pretty rundown and I was the only tourist on it. I asked for a cabin upgrade which shouldbe $10 but the guy was asking for $25. After insisting that I won't pay more then $10, I finally accepted to pay $10 to the guy and $2 to the cleaning woman. The cabin was a better one, compared to the ones my Kazakh friends had, but it didn't have a toilet. And there was only one public toilet... The ride across the caspian was quiet, but took 35hrs instead of estimated 18. Kazakh customs and immigration was a bit chaotic, as they didn't allow me to get my bike right away and nobody else could get it for me as I attached it to the ship with my lock. Furthermore, most of my stuff was still in the truck.So it was a lot of going back and forth. But finally it resolved as Sergej found me and we managed to get my stuff through customs. Ended up staying with them at a Kyrgyz friend of them near to the port. But that's a different story...

---

---