India/Nepal and back to Ireland

[eamofromcork]

Hi all,
I've got 4 months off work in february 08 and want to try and achieve a dream of mine of biking from India to Ireland (4 months might be too tight for both ways!!).
Does anyone have any idea of how much an Enfield Bullet 500 (or similar) costs in Nepal (~EUR1,200 in India)? Ideally i'd buy in India but the info here says its illegal and i don't think i'd like the hassle, the same info suggests its legal in Nepal but more expensive?
Are the months of february <-> may an okay time to do this trip (weather etc)?
I haven't fully got my head around the carnet issues yet. But is it possible to buy/arrange them in Nepal?
From the other posts i believe its possible to get visas for Iran and Pakistan. Any gotchas there? Should i sort them out in Ireland or in the countries en-route?

I'm totally new to overlanding so please go easy if some of this has been re-posted before, i have tried to go through as much threads as i can!
Many thanks,
Eamo

[the celt]

Hı Eamo,
I am on me way down to Indıa at the moment, just about to cross ınto Iran. Should be stıll ın Indıa by Feb, why dont you shıp your own bıke over and do ıt on that ???
At least youll know the moto and you can arrange carnet and all vısa,s before you go, makes ıt alot easıer.
all the best
joe

[eamofromcork]

Thanks for that sound advice Joe. I hear ya when you say you know your own machine best. I looked into shipping costs there, they're not half as traumatic as I feared they'd be.
If i'm taking my own moto (way better word than motorbike!) i'd probably bike there from Ireland. My moto is a vfr800 (pre vtech), anyone got any thoughts on suitable it would be for a trip like this? Is it tarmac all though Turkey/Iran/Pak/India?
Is there an optimal time of year to make the trip? It's no bothers for me to push out the dates a bit. I'm thinking a july/august departure (twould suit the boss in work a bit more than Feb as well).
Cheers,
Eamo

[the celt]

Eamo,
Goıng to send you a pm wıth me emaıl address
joe

[KevOK]

Hi bud, sounds like a good trip,
I'm in india at the moment started my trip in Australia and i'm planning on being home in Ballincollig for christmas so that gives me 55 days from now to go through Pakistan Iran Turkey Syria Jordan and europe, If you want you can look at my web site to see if i Make it and to get an idea of what the trip will be like

halfwayround - My life is a journey not a destinationÂ*

ride on
Kev

[eamofromcork]

Alright Kev,
Cheers for the link, really enjoyed reading your trip so far.
I saw your post re Pakistan, hope all is going well there.

- Eamo

[gerd gabriels]

Hey,
Mayby in june, july, august to india or back (if i find new partner). Which companys do the transport by air?
The idea is riding in the northern part of india and then back.
Thanks Gerd

[eamofromcork]

Hey Gerd,
Good to hear others thinking of the same route!!

I've read good reviews about this guy, don't know anything else about him:
lalli singh.com
There's a reports page on peoples shipping experiences on this site, the "getting there" link on the left hand side of the page.
- eamo

[lork]

Hi,

i can highly recommend you Lalli Singh as it is where i got the enfield 500, i rode back to switzerland with. I did a 15'000 km trip round India before heading back and i wouldn't choose your vfr 800 to have fun on indian roads. Enfield is a great choice, Buying the bike in Nepal gives you access to a carnet. The thing is that the enfield is twice as expensive in Nepal than India (but still much cheaper than in europe). So if you dont want to push your luck too far with the guys at the border, and have 2000 $ spare, get your bike in Nepal. If you are ready to go thru a lot of hassles, frustrations and are patient, very patient you can try this :

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...port/index.php

You will have to go to Pakistan for a week of paperwork, and you wont be able to ride thru Pakistan. we did manage to ride from Queta to Iran, but there again i had a nice watch..or 100 dollars...we were left alone for 60. With a little planing, it can be an easy thing. Even with all the paper work done, it took us two days to let the border guys to let us thru. And it was a no-no situation for a long time. So, i believe that you still have to count on your luck to go thru. While waiting at the border, a German couple in a van, went thru within 15 minutes, but hey, they had a carnet !. Iranian border will give you the chance to sip some tea for while too, but there again, two days of talk will get you thru it.

Cheers ! have fun ! DO IT !

[ampr1150gs]

Hi Eamo,
I've got a mate in Kathmandu who is selling a 350cc and a 500cc Enfield. You can view a clip of the 500cc here: YouTube - Thamel By Bullet
This video was taken by me a couple of weeks ago in Thamel.

Let me know if you are interested and I'll PM you his email / phone number.

Aidan

[englisharchie]

Im planning to go overland to india and back on a transalp starting summer 09 Can anyone give me advice on best time to go and return missing out snow in turkey/iran and rainey season india. also getting return visas for pakistan/iran on return

[pecha72]

Dont know about going during summertime, except looking at some climate charts, it seems it can really get uncomfortably hot, especially in deserts of Iran and Pakistan. Monsoon rains might also be a problem once you get to the Indus valley.

We went from Greece to Turkey around Oct 25th, and the weather was quite tolerable all the way thru the country, maybe a bit too cold (around 8-10C daytime) in the east. Crossed into Iran November 2nd, and from then on it got steadily warmer, +20C daytime in Teheran, +25 daytime in Kerman. Nights were a bit chilly all the way until Quetta.

The critical part is getting through the mountain areas of northwest Iran and eastern Turkey. I wouldnt leave it later than end of October, as those parts will get snow, it wasnt far off when we went there.