Europe to Australia - August 2012
 

I'm currently biking it down from the UK to Australia and about to leave Zurich tomorrow morning to go through Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and either Bosnia H-Serbia-Bulgaria or Albania-Greece (any advice on which is the best/fun route greatly appreciated!) to Turkey

Will spend a couple of weeks in Turkey (while I wait for my Iranian visa) and then head down through Iran, Pakistan, India etc. Wondering about chancing my hand at getting into and through Burman with the bike given recent changes - won't hold out hope but it's worth a try.

Anyone around for any of the legs above to ride or share a beer? VERY rough dates are:

• Slovenia to Istanbul 21/08 - 30/08
• Turkey 31/08 - 14/09
• Iran 14/09 - 29/09
• Pakistan 30/09 - 15/10

Cheers,

Matt

Hey,

Can't help you with any advice unfortunately. Just wanted to chime in as I today have started thinking of EXACTLY this trip! So it was a bit spooky seeing this post and shame you are already gone...haha! Is there anywhere one could follow your progress? I'm obviously interested.

Other than that: good luck and enjoy!

Hi Matt

Great to hear of your plan to try to get through Burma - it's becoming more open and should improve. I'm hoping to attempt this route maybe next year and my plan should I fail to get the bike in would be to strip it down and ship it in boxes on a truck - risky but would be a challenge - what do you think?

Paul

Blog
 

Hey Voelser,

Great that you're looking at doing the trip - absolute shame that we're staggered time-wise. I've just started a blog but it's in its infancy and I need to get used to providing more useful information rather than just waffling.

Link is: Motorcycle Tour To Oz

So far it's just a few bits from my ride around prior to setting off but over the next few days I'll be trying to put up more helpful information re planning and prep as well as highlights of routes etc.

Hope you're planning goes well!! If you have any questions just let me know and I'm more than happy to help if I can - I'm a complete newbie to this but if I can share some knowledge I certainly want to give back to the HUBB :)

Burma - worth a try?
 

Hey Paul,

I'm really not sure what to expect at burma and will probably make a decision once I get close from what I hear from locals etc. I'm always game to give it a try but while the country is changing and becoming more open, I have a sneaky suspicion that the last people to hear about this new found liberalism will be the border guards. I'll update my blog when I'm there and try to let you know how I get on.

I like the idea about putting the bike in boxes when stripped down - should be doable as long as they don't check the boxes... :)

I heard somewhere that you had to enter and leave through the same border pot in Burma - need to check that myself but that might be an issue if true...

Where will you pick up your Iranian visa?
İstanbul,Ankara,Erzurum or Trabzon.
Between you and me,best is Trabzon!!!
Did you make the application in your home country or will you make it in İstanbul?

Hopefully club garage will have something for welcome drinks.

Wish you all the best.

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the reply. Frankly I enjoy the waffling, so keep it up. I kept a blog on a trip last year (sans bike) and can waffle with the best of them:

Voet va Vols | stories of a Voelser abroad

Reading your blog also makes me thing we would've been good travel buddies, but it's not to be right now. I'm not even planning yet, just got the notion bored at work yesterday! I'll be following you closely!

Marcel

Iranian Visa
 

Thanks!!

I'm getting the Iranian visa through Iran Visa Application - Iranian Visa (evisa) after recommendation on the HUBB as there's currently no Iranian embassy in the UK (it was fire-bombed and then closed down :( ) and am picking it up in Istanbul as I thought there's more than enough to keep me occupied there while I wait for it to be processed.

I'll be giving the Istanbul HUBB contingent a shout to try and arrange a drink and would love to catch up with you if you're around?

Cheers!

Hey Senorc, is your Pakistan visa sorted? If so, how was the process?

APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR IRAN VISA.
Consulate accepts applications until midday.So better be there at 9 am.You will be given a piece of paper for payment generally by the door guard.Go to the bank,have the fee payment.While walking back to the consulate,have one photocopy of the receipt.Make your application form ready which must be already filled.Give both of them to the officer.Iran is visa free for Turkish citizens so not so crowded.
Then you are free for 1 week and there is a lot to see and enjoy during 1 week waiting period.
Generally passports with visas are given the following week the same day in the afternoons.For ladies, photos with covered head is a must.

İRAN İSLAM CUMHURİYETİ İSTANBUL BAŞKONSOLOSLUĞU

Ankara Cad. No.1, Cağaloğlu, İstanbul
Telefon: (212) 513 82 30
Faks: (212) 511 52 19
iranconsulateist@ircgi.org

Blogs
 

Hey Marcel - absolute shame that we're doing it at different times but hopefully you can learn from my many mistakes, as will be chronicled on my blog, and have a successful trip! :)

Thanks for the link to your blog - I'll be working my way through it during my journey!! :)

Sorry!
 

Hey Fraser - sorry, I meant to reply to you on facebook when I had my visa and knew rough timings of the trip from then...but forgot :( Sorry!!"

Yes I got my visa but it was an unneccessary ordeal really. They ask for a lot of paper work for any visa and even more if you're going by motorcycle. In the end, I had to give them:

1. passport and photocopy
2. copy of driver's licence
3. itinerary of my whole trip from UK to Oz (I made up a rough itinerary for this)
4. Letter from my employer, which I wrote myself on some headed paper
5. covering letter explaining the trip
6. copy of MOT
7. copy of V5 for bike
8. they wanted a copy of the carnet but I explained I was waiting for the visa before i got the carnet
9. detailed itinerary of where I would be entering and leaving Pakistan and where I would be staying when there
10. copy of last 3 months of bank statements

Having handed all this over I was told 'we'll call you'

Long story short, they didn't call me and it took 3 visits to the embassy in London, virtually camping there, to actually get the visa. The first two times they told me it had been sent off to be reviewed but the third time the guy came out with my passport and application, which had been untouched by the embassy since I lodged them. He said there was no rush on my visa as I wasn't entering Pakistan until about mid September. As you can imagine I was more than a little irate but you have to stay calm and polite - this visa was holding up my entire trip and I'd explained to this guy the exact nature of the ride when I first made the application. When I explained it again he went away, had a word with someone and then told me to pick my visa up in the afternoon.

Overall a painful experience so I would suggest you apply early, have all the above documentation ready so they don't send you away to get it. Turn up to submit your application early, if doing it in person, and keep on top of them so you don't have the pain outlined above. Alternatively, if I was doing it again I would probably just use an agent and have them do all the queuing etc for you - I met loads of them when I was there each time and think it could be money well spent.

Hope the above pseudo-rant helps :)

Brilliant - thanks!
 

Absolutely brillaint information - so helpful and will ease the process no end!! Thanks for taking the time to provide it...I definitely owe you a drink! :)

I'll be following it with interest, but I hope you won't make too many mistakes...;)

Hah! only when you are bored I hope. Maybe the OZ bits will be of some use...;)

Marcel

Interesting! I've heard a few people suggest trying to apply for it without mentioning the 'over land motorcycle' part. I'm not sure how viable this is. Eitherways appears to be a right pain in the ass!

How much was you're carnet etc?

Blog and Visa/Carnet
 

Marcel - already loving your blog!! You're right, i think we would have made great riding buddies! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it and am sure the Oz bits will be useful :) Thanks again!

Fraser - I think maybe I had a bum deal with how they handled it but from what I hear Pakistan is a bit of a highlight so maybe worth the effort.

The only issue is that they ask you for a sponsor in Pakistan or the name of a travel agent in Pakistan in order to get the visa. I had te explain the motorcycle part as why I didn't have either of these. I think you might be right to avoid using the word motorcycle at all and maybe get and agent to do the paperwork which might remove the need for a named sponsor - they can also throw together an itinerary for you.

Carnet was about £200.00 plus the bank guarantee, which for my route was 500% of the value of the bike. There's a lot of confusion with the banks about this but it can definitely be done if you have the money in your account, rather than having to pay the ridiculous 'insurance premium'. There's good info on the HUBB about the carnet bank guarantee but I spoke to 4 people in HSBC who flat out told me it couldn't be done, before I spoke to a manager and showed him the print out posts from this forum - then it took a week to sort and cost only £40.00 but the deposit money is frozen in your account.

I would also say that the carnet is valued on the cost of the bike when you bought it, a recent valuation (on stamped headed paper) from a reputable dealer or, the site the RAC use is Motorcycle Price Guide | New & Used | Price Any Bike. Use this site to see what range of price you can use for your vehicle and see what is the lowest realistic valuation you can perhaps get away with :)

Good luck on your prep Fraser - as long as you start the process for Pakistan visa and carnet early then you'll be fine!

Carnet cont'd
 

Also meant to say that the RAC dropped the ball a couple of imes on the carnet process so keep an eye on it and follow up regularly. I dealt with someone called Jess who was lovely but there were a few mistakes that cost me some time.

The big issue was that the deposit for the carnet can either be a bank guarantee, the full amount paid to the RAC to hold or through an insurance premium. What I was not aware of is that the RAC can only take a deposit of up to £10k. Anything over this and you have to get the insurance premium as well :( they only told me this after they'd had my application for 4 weeks and the day before I was due to leave :( They'd said the application was fine and being processed right up until that point. This caused a fair amount of fuss and added an extra 10 days onto the process as I had to sort a bank guarantee. Luckily the Pakistan embassy were not playing ball either so I had something to keep me occupied :)

Oh, one last piece of advice - if you're going to the Pakistan embassy, or any for that matter, take a good book...it'll save your sanity while you're waiting!

Cheers Senorc... picked up bike last weekend. The race is on to get my ducks in a row before the snow in eastern Turkey dumps!

Great - hope it goes well!! Have a shifty at my blog to get an idea of the spares and equipment I've taken - fair bit of research that might save you some time!

Good luck getting it all sorted in time, else maybe snowchains are added to the list :)

Let me know if you get a blog up and running detailing your progress!

Just behind you
 

Matt

i'm going similar route. I need to get Iran visa as well. Keep in touch, we Might catch up in Iran/Pak/India.

Regards
steven

Bike accident
 

Had a minor bike accident in Split so already behind by at least a week as its in to be repaired. Will watch your progress and if the bike is able to make it onwards, would be good to catch up along the way!

Cheers senorc.. Won't feel official until I have carnet & Pakistan visa ticked off. ha. So yes, might need to be investing in snow chains & Arctic suits. haha. Or trying to find a truck to hitch a ride with!

Saw you had a little accident. Hope it was nothing serious!

Fallout from accident
 

Basically I was hit by a car the turned onto the road in Split. The guys panelling was screwed but my luggage and handlebars took the brunt of it so I walked away and the bike's in to get the front suspension and handlebars fixed - should take about a week. I've picked up some broken ribs as well but there's not much you can do about that apart from wait for them to heal.

The fallout is that I have to spend another week in Croatia - I've been in Split, have come over to the island of Hvar and will wander down to Dubrovnik. All I can say is there's sun, sea and ridiculously great looking women everywhere here. I can certainly think of worse places to be out of action for a while!

SHIT! Well heal fast and good luck fixing bike. Looks like you made it as far as Croatia pretty quickly.

You are always about 2 weeks in front of me, so if you loose fuel, I pick you up.
Cheers
Heinz

Hello Matt;

Hope you recover soon and will be on the road again.

I will be reading the blog with interest as Im planning the same route two up throgh the M.E. starting next April, will be speding a couple of months touring Turkey so setting off early. Re: Visas for Iran.. i think you can pick them up from quieter embassies i.e. Erzurum, or Trabzon rather than Istanbul. (this is stuff Ive read on here though and not first hand experience.. also one of my friends he applied about 3 times from the UK and it got rejected everytime then in Turkey he went to Erzurum and got one). According to legend sometimes they don't even require ref number (but best to turn up with one) and might give longer visas compared to the busy embasies. Some people have been getting 8 day 10 day visas even when they apply for the 30 day ones. I'm half Turkish and was looking forward to my amazing visa-less entry experience but as of today the rules have changed and will have to apply for visas again. doh

Anyways all the best and hope all goes well! :)

P.S.
Ow if you get to greece do some mountain roads like from Ionnia (there is a nice lakeside campsite in ionnia.. you can't miss it) to the other coast towards.. there is a place called Meteora on route.. have a nosy there.. when you get to the other coast there's quite a lot of beach campsites so you could chill there (around Skotinas).. then enter Turkey from Ipsala (through Thesaloniki).. pay your 5 euros for insurance...ride to Kesan if you wanna see Istanbul carry on.. if you wanna head to the Aegean beaches turn right and head to Ecebat see Gallipoli... then Canakkale |(try some fish in local restaurants) then head towards Izmir and you're in the HOT bit.. although should be nice in Sept. Then you can do the south coast etc etc...

Where are you
 

Hi, hope is all going good. Where are you now?

I've got my Iranian visa finally and just left Istanbul. On the north coast sipping beer by the beach on the black sea.

Are you back on the road?

I'm jealous you guys are so far ahead of me. I'm waiting for Carnet quote and going for dreaded Pakistan visa this week... just looking into ways to get a letter of invitation. Been crazy busy inbetween working full time, commuting, trying to tie up loose ends (finish projects), plus sort the trip... getting closer. Sorting Carnet & Pak visa will be the equivalent of 'booking a ticket' for me. Then I've got the race with Mr Frost to eastern Turkey. haha

Hope you are both having a blast.

Senorc - where ya? How you getting on?

Hmm hope he's OK... recovery might be taking longer than expected, as blog hasn't been updated since 20th of August... I check pretty much every other day... hope all is well anyways!

Yeah me too. At this rate I'll catch up with him ;)

hello senorc?
 

Hey mate, wondering if you are okay after your prang. Organising a trip from Oz to the UK ( not taking own bike, hiring instead) for next year and could do with some tips. If you get to Australia, drop me a PM and we could go for a blat. :D

d.