Greetings fellow bikers from around planet earth. I am an American biker who has been touring solo in South East Asia since August of 2008(Taiwan, Thailand,Laos,Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and now the Philippines.) I attempted Vietnam 3 times from Cambodia with no success.

I am currently planning to make my next move and need to know about shipping a bike and entering either Vietnam, China, or India. The bike is a 2003 Kawasaki KLR 650. I have a Carnet, but it is expired, however doctor-able if need be. I am open to ship the bike by sea to any of the above mentioned countries from either Manila or Cebu. I am well aware that it will not be easy, but since I have already done the impossible in Indonesia by covering more land mass than any other person I know. I know many will say it cannot be done but I know it has been done so I am looking for an open door. I drove from the most Northern tip of Sumatra traveling to the Southern tip and ferrying to all the islands from Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and then a 24hour ferry to Sulawesi traveling well over 10,000 kilos then taking small boats to enter the Philippines through the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. I was stranded on a small island after being caught in a typhoon. I lived with a customs officer on this small island of less than a 1,000 inhabitants and was granted permission to enter PI from Indo Immigration. I was held in custody by PI Immigration after entering the country only to be released after proving my case to a panel of 12 after nearly 2 weeks. So I know what I am about to do may not be easy ; )

I am looking for fellow trail blazers to read this who hopefully can offer some insight or possibly connections in these countries to pull some strings to get my bike into 1 of these 3 countries for touring. My preference would be to ship the bike to Vietnam and then enter China and after up to a year of touring in China and living I would like to go to India. If it proves that will be too much then I will opt for India from the beginning. I need some contacts with someone who has extensive experience with using a Carnet in many countries. I really appreciate some advice from any trailblazers out there. Peace and love brothers.

Mister Lucky

Mr Lucky,

That trip into RP sounds crazy.

How can I do the trip into the Philippines minus all the trouble?

Thanks.
Trevor

(Could be late for the OP, but...)

I haven´t heard of anyone, who had shipped a foreign-registered bike into China or Vietnam, and succeeded in clearing the customs (and I mean regular tourists, not counting the people who live/work in those countries, that´s when it might be different).

You say you´ve already tried land borders to Vietnam, and it didn´t work. Maybe that´ll give you some idea, how it will be, if you try to ship it in? Much more probable, that you´d get lucky at a land border.

Strangely, both of those countries seem actually possible, but the flipside of the coin is: you´ll pay big time, and you can´t just pop up at the border, it´ll have to be arranged long in advance. Not a realistic option for everyone.

India is possible with a Carnet, but shipping in could be a bureaucratic nightmare* (I´ve only shipped out from there, and that was hard work!)... but that is a country, that you can do - legally, and without paying a small fortune! And me, I wouldn´t try my luck with a faked carnet, but its up to you to decide, what you want to do.

* edit. May be easier to ship to Nepal from SE Asia, and many travellers seem to do just that.