UK to Australia
 

Hi,
My husband, daughter and I are driving from the UK to Australia by Landrover. We plan to travel around Europe then into Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. Our main hurdle is getting to Singapore through Myanmar. What we would like to know if it is very difficult to get through Myanmar and if so would it be possible to get to Singapore from India? I would appreciate any advice that anyone has to offer.

By all accounts it is very difficult but has been done. However I'm not sure if anybody has been able to drive their vehicle all the way through Myanmar. A couple of accounts suggested that the officials insisted on driving the vehicle from the Indian Border through part of the country whilst the owner had to fly from India into the centre of Myanmar. They were then allowed to drive the vehicle from the centre of the country out to Thailand. I also remember reading something in the account that the vehicle didn't turn up for 10 days with no explaination of where it was and then appeared again.

You should be able to ship fairly easily from India to Singapore although it probably means putting the vehicle in a container as apposed to being able to put on a car ferry.

Getting into Myanmar from India
 

I am living in Delhi and recently did a two week trip in Assam where I was in daily contact with Naga people from the border area.I was asking if my wife and I and a vehicle could get over and they said no not at the moment.However,the Indian Govt has for some time being trying to lobby the Burmese to build a cross border road to stimulate trade.Given the difficulties the aid agencies are having with Burma at the moment I don't think this will succeed any time soon.

HOWEVER,if u do get to India as part of your trip do not miss out on Assam as it is one of the best parts of India.You can then drive down to Calcutta or Chennai and ship out from there to Sing or KL.

Driving in India if anarchy,hair raising and sometimes scary....In other words FUN.Don't miss it!!!!!

Sorry,don't know anything about shipping options.

China r Banglandesh too
 

Hi Rosy,

I don't know when you are going. We are Leaving April next year to do a very similar journey. We will not travel via Myanmar as this seems next to impossible.

As you said you could ship from India, but a lot of the advice we have been given was to ship from Bangladesh as this is a less chaotic venture. not sure why. Although Welcome to the Land Rover Adventure did it from india with no problems, and recommend the agent and company they used.

Aprt from that the other option is to drive through China. this is expensive and involves lots of red tape. we are going to attempt to do that and have had quotes ranging from £2-5k for the guide and paperwork for a six week trip. this price comes down if you share a guide. We will be looking for some people to join us.

NESSIESADVENTURES have found a cheaper option that this, but haven't written up their trip through China yet, so we wait with baited breath to find out how it went.

drop me a PM or email from our website if you want further details.

Also Drive to Oz - From Croydon to Cairns sre currently doing a similar trip with a couple of offspring. don't know how old your daighter is, but might make an interesting read to follow their blog.

Good luck anyhow

Hi Ollie,

Thanks for mentioning and remembering us LOL. by the way what happened to the website?

Hope you're going well and not working too hard. We are now in NSW having Super HD King Springs & Polly airs fitted at OOT4WD in Newcastle after the Pakistan episode and we weighed Stu coming in at 3.3 Tons without the new Long Range fuel tanks fitted.

But I am putting on weight too with all the BBQ's and being spoilt by our hosts at OOT4WD & ARB Newcastle. The first Oz report should be out soon but my webmaster has moved house so no internet yet typical.

Still what was the thread!!!!

Oh yes route Maynamar forget it we had an offer from the ministry of funny walks Maynamar for transit but half way you had to hand the vehicle over to the local tribal leader then fly to the border to wait for him to deliver it "YEA REALY".

Forget Calcutta totally corrupt and always on strike, Madras is good Friends shipped with Inter-freight to Malaysia it went well Cochin was fantastic with George at NTA fantastic.

We would try to ship from the smaller secondary ports if we can as they all know each other.

Have a look at the website.

Ok Ollie I found your site sorry.

We did this 10 years ago!

Empty Page

Myanmar is extremely difficult, but an American team drove through about 4 years ago. If your budget and timeframe will stand it, then go for China - it's definitely a highlight of the whole route!

Feel free to email me any questions...

Sam.

I don't know if there are rules about this, but the exped files are here:

Drive Around the World -

Safe travels all, Sam.

Bangladesh
 

Hi

We are currently in South America but drove to Nepal from England few months ago, we tried to get into China, lots of money and the feeling that we were really not wanted meant that we drove down to Chittagong in Bangladesh and Shipped to Bankok. All very easy and most importantly CHEAP! Here is the write up we did on Horozons:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...eryResults.php

Also tried to find the long thread on China we started when we were trying to get in but I am having trouble with the search, but its in there somewhere.

Hope this helps

Jason

Hi,

I'm planning the same trip but from Melbourne (where I live now) to Brussels (home).

So far, I've gathered that :
- China : can't drive an imported vehicule unless you allow a Chinese government appointed guide to drive it for you throughout the whole stay in the country. Costs an arm and a leg:thumbdown:
- Myanmar : can't drive an imported vehicule, period. :nono: Country is run by a dictator and you're likely to get shot. Though people have done it...

So the only way is from Thailand to Bengladesh via plane or ferry. Haven't found a cheap one yet but will keep you posted. If you have any addresses, please share :thumbup1:


So yeah, then there will be Papua New Guinea and Indonesia I haven't quite figured out :innocent:


Have a safe trip.

Quick 'correction'.

China is very expensive, but you do drive yourself. The appointed guide either goes on a back seat, or has his own car (even more expensive!).

Sam.

Right-o, was misinformed then, put the result is the same, either go around China via the "left" side but then find a way to Thailand avoiding Myanmar, either via the "right" side and miss out on Buthan, Nepal etc...

Things may change though as the political regime of both China and Myanmar are softening a tad so...

I'm friends with an Indian who rode through Burma - Myanmar. He said he basically had to run his bike on kerosene and that the roads were so bad and muddy that he dropped his bike more times than he has in his entire life. It sounds like fun.

Oz to UK by LR troopy
 

Hi to Brice, Rosy and others on this forum.

The four of us (wife, myself, 2 daughters) are planning an overland from Melbourne, clockwise up the coast to Darwin, the either straight from Darwin to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran into Europe, OR from Darwin shipping to East Timor and Island hopping from there to Bangkok, shipping (again) from Bangkok to Bangladesh.

All these shipping options have been done by others, see this site under 'getting there, shipping the bike':
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/transport/

choose 'actual shipments by travellers' and choose the relevant continents and countries

IE: thailand to bangladesh (guy with a landrover did that for US$1100),

We haven't decided yet if we want to do the drive over the islands or go straight from Darwin to Bangladesh > India. India is where we'll be spending 6 months, out of a total of 12 to 18 months. Estimated time of depature from Melbourne: mid 2010. Brice, I'm interested to know when you're planning to do your trip?

Cheers

Kai