From Bangkok, Thailand to Dhaka, Bangladesh - March, 2005

We air freighted 2 Honda Shadow Cruiser Bikes.
All prices are written in Australian Dollars.
Joy arranged for the carpenter to meet us at her depot and he measured the bikes for the crates. These were then bought back to the depot the next day ready for us to pack the bikes into. By the way, the depot is not that far from Kao San Road...home for most backpackers and budget travellers The carpenter stayed and helped us pack and then sealed the lids onto the crates. The crates cost $233 for the two of them.
Joy then had her 'boys' load the bikes onto their truck and we all went to the airport where they were weighted and measured at the cargo terminal and the 'boys' had the bikes and carnets cleared by customs. We did nothing more than get in their way really.
Joy (or Sita cargo) charged us $276 in total for the two bikes.
The air freight ( BInman Airlines) charged us $997 for the two bikes to be air freighted.
Collecting the bikes in Bangladesh was not as bad as we had expected it to be. we did not use an agent, although plenty were available....just thought we would try it ourselves first.Took about 4 hours to clear customs and do all the paperwork. They wanted to charge us $142 for all sorts of things like customs charges, airport storage and all that nonsense. David told them that he only had $31 Australian ( 1500 taka their money) so that was all he could pay. They accepted that!
We then paid 500 taka...or $10.50 Aus to have the crates bought around to the loading area of the warehouse and it was here that we dismantled the crates and put the bikes back together. We only put the bikes together good enough to ride them to our guest house as there were way too many 'helpers' and David was loosing his cool....usually that is my job....he hardly ever looses his cool.....but it really was difficult working in a public area.
All in all the freight of our bikes was too easy and we would be happy to use Joy and her company again. She can freight to other destinations.
Bangladesh is not to be totally ignored as an interesting place to ride..........we are glad we did the bit we did......rather wished we had spent more time exploring the country actually. So do consider it.
The freight for Binman Air was calculated at $1.50 Aus times 665 kgs.One bike was 326 kgs the other 339 kgs. I dont have the actual size of the crates with me but if you want/need to know send us an e mail.