Timing, Laos to England
 

Hi there, trying to find out what would be the best timing for a trip east to west from Laos to England on a bike? best slot for me timewise would be january to April, but that can be pretty cold in between and in Europe...? Any advice what would be best timing and best route? tnx salween

You got 2 main options: go to China, which means a mountain of paperwork and spending big, big money, or freight by sea or by air across the Bay of Bengal to India, there are no ferries, and you´ll need a carnet for India&Pakistan.

I would think the route via India to Pak, Iran, and Turkey is do-able about 8-9 months per year. Just before & after winter (which affects eastern Turkey & northwestern Iran most) it will depend on your luck, if its warm or cold. Can get extremely cold in those areas, too.

Thru China, I dont know, but I´d expect it to be a lot colder, and if not in China, then when you´ll get to Kazakhstan, or wherever you´ll head after it. But crossing the whole of China is prohibitively expensive for most travellers.

There´s also the Karakoram Highway route from Pakistan to China and onwards, but that I believe is also affected by very severe winter.