Travel from Ukraine to Georgia by car. Part 1 of 5. Fees, border, Russia
Finally, we decided to check for ourselves whether they write the truth about amazing Georgia. Gathered on an independent trip in two cars. We are two families, seven people in total (We have two boys - 12 and 6 years old, and our friends have one - 10 years old). To enter Georgia, Ukrainians only need a passport with children glued there, and that's it, no visas, even car insurance is not needed. Car insurance is needed for Russia, I took it for 15 days - 425 UAH.
We drove from Kharkov. The whole journey took 15 days, from 08/07/15 to 08/22/15. We left on August 7 at 18-00. The shortest way would be along the Rostov highway, through Izyum, Slavyansk, Debaltseve. BUT!!! ! I had to go to the border with Russia in the Kharkov region. We heard from friends about kilometer-long queues at Goptovka, supposedly you can stand at the border for 7-10 hours. On the other border (through Shebekino) a little faster, but still long. But through Chugunovka, they say, more or less quickly. So we went. From Kharkov to the border 125 km. The road is bad, and the last 20-25 km is practically non-existent. Therefore, there is a small queue at the border. This checkpoint is only for cars.
You need to get to the border like this: Kharkov - Stary Saltov - Volchansk - Prikolotnoye - Chugunovka. It is necessary to go exactly like this, on the way back we decided to shorten it a little and almost were left without wheels and lost a lot of time. We arrived at the border at 21:00. There were 6 cars in front of us. Ukrainian passed in 1.5 hours. Russian for 1 hour. We filled out a migration card for all passengers and a customs declaration for the import of cars into Russia.
The first thing that pleased me in Russia was the price of fuel. Gasoline 34-37 rubles (12-13 UAH), propane gas 16-17 rubles (5.50-6.00 UAH). The hryvnia exchange rate is 0.35 rubles (for 35 UAH they give 100 rubles). We have gas installations on our cars. The first gas station was in Rossosh. Very happy with the roads. Much better than ours. In Russia, we drove about 1300 km one way, 80% of them are luxurious roads, the rest are being repaired. After the border, we drove through Valuiki, Veidelevka, Aidar, Nagorye, Olkhovatka, Rossosh, Pisarevka, and in the morning we drove to Boguchar on the Rostov highway (they used the Navitelovsky navigator installed on the phone. IGO is certainly better, but we did not find maps of Georgia). Next were Rostov, Mineralnye Vody, Pyatigorsk, Nalchik, Vladikavkaz. Immediately striking is an unrealistically many cars in an endless stream. There are not so many cars in Ukraine, even between large cities. In Russia (where we were driving), the road is mainly 2-lane in each direction.
The traffic cops met quite often, but during the entire time of our trip I was stopped once in Vladikavkaz, and they wanted to fine me for the fact that at 2 a. m. the sleeping children were not fastened behind their belts. Rules are rules. In Russia and Georgia, tinted front windows are prohibited. I was very sorry to take it off, and then glue it again, I went with tinting, and everything worked out, though I often lowered the windows in front of the posts. It seemed to me that in Russia they observe the rules of the road more than in Ukraine. There was a huge traffic jam on the road, double solid and no one crosses. We would not have survived. And more or less the speed limit is respected. But this does not apply to North Ossetia. If something catches up with you from behind along all continuous roads at a speed of 200 km / h in third gear, then this is definitely a ten, nine or six with a full cabin of Ossetians.
