There were two options open to us. The first was to get to Azerbaijan via Georgia and then take the ferry across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan and from there follow our original route. The second was to go to Russia via Georgia and from there to Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan to pick up our original route.
We got an Azerbaijani visa before leaving home as there was always a possibility that we wouldn't get the Iranian code. But the problem we had with this option was we would need to spend time doing other 'stuff' as the Turkmenistan Letter of Invitation (LOI) was for 29th July as we had intended spending 20 days exploring Iran. Our Uzbekistan visa also was based on going through Iran so our timings were seriously affected through the loss of the Iran leg of our route.
Whilst in Turkey we looked at alternative options one of which was to enter Russia then go through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan. While in Istanbul we went to the Kazakhstan Embassy and managed to change our single entry visa for a multiple entry one which ensured we had the alternate route available. We decided to delay making the final decision on our route until we reached Tbilisi since this was the common start point for either route.
After some consideration of the two options and the date constraints we decided to drive into Russia and through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan mainly because we would need to wait until the 29th July before being able to cross into Turkmenistan and no matter how we looked at it we couldn't find anything to do for 10 days once we arrived in Azerbaijan or even 10 days in Georgia to be honest. So, decision made and Russia it is.
The following chart is an update of the original one posted and gives our starting place and destination with the approximate distance between places. The date is when we leave wherever it is we are at. (includes updates on our travels to date).
| Date | Distance (Miles) |
| Home to Dover | 06/06/2015 | 132 |
| Calais to Reims, France | 168 | |
| Reims, France to Berne, Switzerland | 07/06/2015 | 336 |
| Berne, Switzerland to Milan, Italy | 08/06/2015 | 201 |
| Milan to Venice | 10/06/2015 | 171 |
| Venice, Italy to Vienna, Austria | 12/06/2015 | 380 |
| Vienna, Austria to Budapest, Hungary | 14/06/2015 | 152 |
| Budapest, Hungary to Bucharest, Romania | 16/06/2015 | 513 |
| O/N stop Deva | 17/06/2015 | |
| Bucharest, Romania to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria | 19/06/2015 | 113 |
| Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria to Edirne, Turkey | 24/06/2015 | 165 |
| Edirne to Istanbul | 25/06/2015 | 149 |
| Istanbul to Gallipoli | 30/06/2015 | 171 |
| Gallipoli to Kilitbahir then Canakkale (Ferry) | 31 | |
| Canakkale to Ephesus (via Troy) | 01/07/2015 | 226 |
| Ephesus to Oludinez | 03/07/2015 | 184 |
| Oludinez to Goreme (Dilek Camping - Muze Rd) | 05/07/2015 | 451 |
| O/N stop Isparta | 06/07/2015 | |
| O/N stop Konya | 07/07/2015 | |
| Goreme to Batumi Georgia | 09/07/2015 | 544 |
| O/N stop Zara | 10/07/2015 | |
| O/N stop Bayburt | 11/07/2015 | |
| Batumi to Tbilsi | 12/07/2015 | 226 |
| Tbilsi to Stepantsminda | 18/07/2015 | 91 |
| Stepantsminda Georgia to Vladikavkaz Russia | 20/07/2015 | 29 |
| Vladikavkaz to Stavropol | 21/07/2015 | 244 |
| Stavropol to Elista | 22/07/2015 | 184 |
| Elista to Astrakan | 23/07/2015 | 198 |
| Astrakan, Russia to Atyrau, Kazakhstan | 24/07/2015 | 226 |
| Atyrau, Kazakhstan to Tashkent Uzbekistan | 25/07/2015 | 1341 |
| Tashkent to Samarkand | 06/08/2015 | 189 |
| Samarkand to Navoi | 08/08/2015 | 104 |
| Navoi to Khiva | 09/08/2015 | 332 |
| Khiva to Bukhara | 11/08/2015 | 279 |
| Bukhara to Denau | 13/08/2015 | 272 |
| Denau, Uzbekistan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan | 14/08/2015 | 69 |
| Dushanbe to Khorog, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province | 15/08/2015 | 328 |
| Khorog, Tajikistan to Osh, Kyrgyzstan | 18/08/2015 | 454 |
| Osh to Bishkek | 23/08/2015 | 378 |
| Bishkek to Almaty, Kazakhstan (again!) | 26/08/2015 | 144 |
| Almaty to Semey | 28/08/2015 | 714 |
| Semey,Kazakhstan to Barnaul, Russia (again!) | 02/09/2015 | 289 |
| Barnaul to Kosh-Agach | 03/09/2015 | 428 |
| Kosh-Agach, Russia to Ulgii, Mongolia | 06/09/2015 | 108 |
| Bayan-Ulgii to Ulanbataar | 07/09/2015 | 1049 |
| Ulanbataar to Altanbulag | 19/09/2015 | 216 |
| Altanbulag, Mongolia to Ulan-Ude, Russia (for a 3rd time!) | 21/09/2015 | 147 |
| Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk | 22/09/2015 | 286 |
| Irtutsk to Novosibirsk | 24/09/2015 | 1156 |
| Novosibirsk to Omsk | 29/09/2015 | 408 |
| Omsk to Tyumen | 30/09/2015 | 354 |
| Tyumen to Perm | 02/10/2015 | 523 |
| Perm to Nizhny Novgorod | 05/10/2015 | 629 |
| Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow | 07/10/2015 | 296 |
| Moscow to St Petersburg | 11/10/2015 | 523 |
| St Petersburg, Russia to Tallinn, Estonia | 14/10/2015 | 238 |
| Tallinn to Tartu | 16/10/2015 | 116 |
| Tartu,Estonia to Riga, Latvia | 17/10/2015 | 154 |
| Riga, Estonia to Vilnius, Lithuania | 19/10/2015 | 184 |
| Vilnius, Lithuania to Bialystok, Poland | 21/10/2015 | 189 |
| Bialystok to Warsaw | 22/10/2015 | 120 |
| Warsaw to Krakow | 24/10/2015 | 186 |
| Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic | 26/10/2015 | 333 |
| Prague, Czech Republic to Nuremberg, Germany | 28/10/2015 | 186 |
| Nuremberg, Germany to Luxemburg City, Luxembourg | 29/10/2015 | 285 |
| Luxemburg City, Luxembourg to Brussels, Belgium | 30/10/2015 | 137 |
| Brussels, Belgium to Calais, France (again!) | 31/10/2015 | 124 |
| Dover to Home | 169 |
The route is around 18,720 miles and goes through 23 countries (a few more than once) and is nearly three quarters of the way around the globe! The green bit is what we have done at the time of the update (15th July 2015)
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