rtw from france, leaving europe to asia ???
 

hello,
i'm leaving in may rtw for two years.
i don't know which way to take to leave europe ???
Because of the events in pakistan/afghan, i think i'll go north of europe direction russia, then down central asia and china.
But i know there are some problems with visas and entering the bike in those countries (russia, -stan countries and china), have you experienced this ? any ideas ?
i don't want to get stuck somewhere with the bike !
thanks a lot
maybe i'll see you on the road ...

Vincent,

Going through Russia to Japan and south from there to SE Asia and Australia would be the recommended route now. Should be no great problem on that route, it's all possible.

China is out unless you can afford over US$100 / day. (search on "All" terms in index "HU Bulletin Board" "China visa" at the top of the page for lots of info.

Down through the stans is possible, see the ezine for a couple of stories, but you run into problems getting past Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

hi,
thanks for your answer grant :-)
i'm thinking about all that
i'm preapring all that
i want to try this next route, not the easiest one, but should be so great :
direction russia to mongolia then kazakhstan, kirghizistan, ouzbekistan, turkmenistan to iran
i'm finding out for visas and entering the bike
from iran to india via pakistan if possible or by boat
india to nepal
then direction thailand via bangladesh, burma if possible otherwise by boat

after, should be less problems
i would love so much this route through russia and -stan countries, i've been there a bit backpacking, so laid back
seems a bit dangerous from here but people are so happy to see foreigners, they are rare there

let you know about all this

take care

from oz/nz, does anyone know how it goes with boats to south america (patagonia) ?
thanks

Burma is impossible, you'll have to fly.

OZ/NZ to South America - we strongly recommend flying, boats are bad news. See the shipping page under tripplanning.

the rest sounds great!

------------------
Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

hi,
as it is mentionned it is route planning :-)
it would be my dream route, otherwise through turkey like evrybody

i'm enquiring around, with the embassies, etc ... if it is feasable, i don't want to get stuck at a border with no more days on my visa !
has anyone experience with -stan counties ???

for russia, you can go on www.ryh.ru, they deliver the invitation for the visa, they are quite nice (st pet gh in fact)
some -stan countries, you don't need an invitation anymore, so classical way to get a visa, some you still need an invitation.
entering the bike, i don't know yet ???

info is welcome :-))

ride safe

Hi Vincent

Re entering the Stans:

Kyril Dambuleff travelled in spring of 1998 through Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. He has recorded the border crossing details in the Trip Planning section of the website:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...tralasia.shtml

Things may have changed since then, but this should give you a pretty good feel for the situation, which is quite variable between the countries.


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Good luck and safe travels!

Susan Johnson
Share the Dream at <A HREF="http://www.HorizonsUnlimited.com


" TARGET=_blank>www.HorizonsUnlimited.com


</A>

thanks susan
i am in touch with kyril, very nice ang good advice
i'm trying to get those bloody invitations with french special travel agents and local ones
it's not easy anyways, time consuming, probably expensive
i let you know
a bientot

Just a radical thought to throw into the mix - why not go the other way? By the time you get around to the 'stans etc again it may well have all died down and be fine. Who knows, China may have opened up!



------------------
Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Grant's idea makes sense. Another thing to consider for a RTW trip is that if you are planning to go to places like the Sahara or Patagonia where the window regarding weather conditions is fairly narrow (maybe 2 or 3 months a year), you would be better off starting with these.

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Pierre
http://www.geocities.com/skypie999/bikes/

grant,
yeah, i could go the other way, we can always change routes, dates, but it's not sure to work out anyways later (as you said it may ...): i think i have more facilities and chance to sort it out from here in france my home country,
+ the dates i chose are not too bad for the seasons, whether, i think
+ this part of the world is my priority,

we'll see :-), thanks

pierresas,
your point is right about the seasons but you can not have all perfect (whether etc ...) for the whole trip
i think it's ok to go to ex-ussr now then catch down india, se asia
no ?
after i don't know, oz, nz and south america, i may be lucky, maybe not
i was thinking over a year until oz, nz, let's say end of spring 2003 then south america beginning of summer 2003, i may have the rainy season in se asia
in the other sense, will there be less problems with the weather ? i'm not sure, the earth is round.
any recommandations ? so the best solution ?
thanks

On http://www.worldclimate.com you can find average rainfall and temperature data per month for many places. I used it to create my route and I hate rain.

I came to the folowing (short) conclusion:

India area: okt - mrt (incl. thailand)
Maleisie and Indonesie: may - sept
Northern australie: may - sept
South america: Nov - mrt
except amazone: jun - aug
North america: jun - sept
europe: may - sept

This is primaraly based on rainfall. As you see there are a few problem's to overcome. In my original plan I arive in Indonesia when most area's are very very wet. Same for Darwin (australia) so I might ajust it and stay longer in India/thailand... but then I have to spend time in australie becourse I don't want to arive in south america during (local)winter. Guess this give's me a lot of time to explore australia http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

It's a global jigsaw-puzzle... and it keeps you bussy.

Maarten

hi,
thanks for the info mmaarten about weather on line, usually i look at lp books
yeah, quite difficult to find the best compromise :-)

my plans :
europe and ex-ussr : until end of august 2002,
iran, india, nepal : until november 2002,
se asia (thailande, laos, vietnam, cambodia, malaysia, indonesia) : until end of march 2003
oz, nz : until end of may 2003
then americas : arrival in june 2003 in argentina then up to canada until march 2004

should be ok, we need luck anyways

nb : when you write "mrt" mmaarten, what does it mean ? sorry

safe travels

the preparation part is so fun :-)

Hi Vincent,

Mrt = March.

I have about the same plans after SE-Asia, but slower. At first I planned to go to Australia in Januari and to Argentinia in Februari, but because of weather (rain in Indonesia and Darwin) I go to Indonesia in April or May, then Australie and in November to Argentinia.

Did you realize that june is mid-winter in Argentinia? brrrrrr...

Anyway, we'll probably meet in SE-Asia http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

Maarten

yeah,
i have a so so planning concerning weather, i noticed that
maybe by staying longer or shorter somewhere, or change routes, it can be better.
also, in a rtw, i guess nothing can be perfect concerning weather
it also depends on your priorities, the countries you really want to go, etc ...
we'll see
thanks
safe travels

hi,
i may just try to arrive later in australia, oz and argentina to avoid cold weather
which means stay longer in the -stan countries/india/nepal/south east asia
i don't know how to contact you
but you can go on my website :
http://vincent.danna.free.fr/
there's my email on it
thanks, safe travels