Caspian Sea Ferry Crossing: Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan
- Sep 2, 2017
- 5 min read
“The journey, not the destination matters…” T. S. Elliot
Never has this adage felt more relevant one second, to be so thoroughly challenged the next, than during the three days it took us to cross the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.
The ferry trip had always been a part of the Plan. As British citizens we are unable to travel through Iran without a guide (exceedingly costly), and having decided against purchasing Russian visas (also very expensive), this route was our only remaining alternative. But it was something I looked forward to with great anticipation. Child Alice was an avid fan of the Narnia chronicles and the dashing, floppy-haired Prince Caspian was perhaps my first crush. Ever since, in my mind his name was synonymous with nobility, chivalry and romanticism.
That such attributes may not be readily applied to the world’s largest inland body of water started to become apparent when, during our approach to Baku, we passed mile after mile of oil field. But the chaos, hilarity and nonsense that was shortly to ensue certainly felt like the stuff of fiction.
Below is a summary of the many steps that comprised this journey.
FRIDAY, 21 JULY
14:00 We arrive at the ferry port in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The service is not scheduled – the boats sail when they are full – but prior online research suggested there would be a departure every three days or so. After a bit of asking around we find the Ticket Office, and wait patiently for the cashier to finish her lunch.
14:15 “You want to take car to Kazakhstan?” the cashier asks, finally. We most certainly do. “No, no, no, no, NO!” she exclaims, blood-pressure rising, “car ferry now from Alat. Leave today at 4pm. Oh my god, big problem. I call my colleague, ask him to stop boat. Go, go, go,go, GO!” Alat, it transpires, is 70km south of Baku. It is also, frustratingly, a town we drove through just a couple of hours previously.
14:16 We go, go, go, go. So great is our haste that Alex agrees, for perhaps only the fourth time in his life, to forgo lunch.
15:45 We arrive in at Alat ferry port, from which the ferry is notably absent, and again hunt down the Ticket Office (a white, unmarked, shipping container). “Boat is coming” we learn. And not any old boat: “Mercury II!” And so we commence the great Ticket Purchase game:
At the Ticket Office we are given a ticket for the ticket ($440) but in order to pay for this we must proceed to the ….
Bank (another white, unmarked, shipping container). The Bank does not accept card, and so first we must pay a visit to the …
ATM (round the corner of a – yup, you guess it! – white, unmarked shipping container). Complete three separate transactions on three separate cards as the ATM will only dispense $200 per card.
Back to Bank, pay for ticket.
Back to Ticket Office to show receipt of payment. Directed to …
Port Service Office to pay the Port Service fee, which we cannot actually pay for here, so first back to our friends at the …
Bank of course!
Back to the Port Service Office to show receipt of payment. Given piece of paper.
Back to Ticket Office and at long sweet last we are in possession of a ticket.
The above process consumes two hours, at which point Alex looks about ready to consume the Ticket Officer.
17:45 Alex eats lunch. We meet other tourists who have been waiting at the port since Tuesday (yes, they’ve spent the past three days sat at the port waiting for the damn boat), and suddenly don’t feel so hard done by.
18:00 The Mercury II arrives! Hurrah! Cargo and passengers from Kazakhstan start to disembark.
22:30 We are eventually invited to start embarking, go through Passport Control, and are directed to park next to the boat. We wait. Alex consumes remaining 3 litres of Georgian wine.
SATURDAY, 22 JULY
02:30 We are directed forward another 50m closer to the boat. We wait. We doze. We are bitten relentlessly by mosquitoes.
06:30 We board the boat. Being the very last vehicle on, we have last dibs on a cabin, i.e. an ‘inner’ death chamber with no window or any other form of ventilation. It is sweltering. We promptly drop our bags and look for shady spot on deck to get some sleep. Alex does not feel well.
08:00 The boat departs. For the first few hours we follow the Azerbaijani cost, which is littered with oil rigs. However, we soon leave these behind and the horizon is clear as far as the eye can see. Other than a handful of Western tourists, our fellow passengers are pot-bellied lorry drivers who spend most of the time drinking vodka, smoking, and later, after darkness descends, dancing on the deck. There are three toilets that swiftly become utterly foul, but also showers that are passable and offer great relief from the heat. Meals are served in the canteen, which is also sweltering, but are not bad considering. So all in all, time passes pleasantly: we exchange stories with the other travellers, joke with the crew, and look the other way when they dump bag loads of rubbish overboard. That night we sleep on deck under the stars.
SUNDAY, 23 JULY
06:00 Land ahoy! We spot Aktau, Kazakhstan, in the distance. The lorry drivers switch from vodka to very strong black tea.
11:00 We dock in Aktau but, alas, cannot disembark just yet …. a team of 15/20 Kazakh customs officers march on board, sniffer dogs in tow. After much stomping around and some exceedingly thorough searches of hand baggage, the officers order us off the boat and we are lined up outside in the relentless sun. A tiny mini-bus appears and shuttles groups of us to passport control. We then traipse back to boat and are finally allowed to drive off … to be promptly pulled over by customs officers, who proceed to search everything (note to any climbers reading this: should you have a bag of the white powder known as chalk on your possession, we suggest keeping the Russian translation for this substance at hand).
12:30 Of course, we cannot leave the port just yet. Over the next four hours we make our way around the following offices:
The Waiting Room where we buy insurance (payment available at the desk, no trip to Bank required)
The Customs Area where we are given some more paperwork (payment not event required … we’re on a roll).
We attempt to leave at this point. It takes 30 minutes to find the port exit, at which point we learn we still owe Port Service.
We finally locate the Port Service kiosk right back by the Customs Area. There is no payment happening at this desk, so off we trot to the Bank.
Make payment at Bank.
Back to Port Service kiosk to collect yet more paperwork.
Attempt to depart port again. Officers inquire about possession of vodka or narcotics - appear personally disappointed when we admit to having neither.
16:30 We are free to enter Kazakhstan!
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