Asia Waypoints
 

I am collating GPS waypoints for Northern Asia (Primarily Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia) .... making them available to adventure travellers in the form of a Garmin GDB file.

The file is primarily for essential information such as valid international border crossings, useful embassies and consulates, fuel availability and conveniences such as places to eat in the middle of a remote area, or hotels, so anyone arriving in a storm or late at night can go straight to convenient recommended accommodation. There is also other useful information such as the waypoints for spectacular photograph locations and campsites in areas otherwise hard to find campsites.

If anyone has a bunch of waypoints (primarily fuel, accommodation or useful food reference points) I would be grateful to receive them at wcolebatch (att) gmail (ddot) com.

I will maintain this post by updating it with the latest version of the files so that the file below is always the most recent.

Note, older generation GPS units (or Zumos / Nuvis) can only take 500 or 1000 waypoints (new ones such as the Montanas are capable of 2000 and over). The file now contains over 2000 waypts. That means the waypoints may (if you have an older GPS) need to edited by each user to delete the waypoints not required for their specific journey. This is easily done graphically highlighting areas of waypoints in a basecamp or mapsource map, then hitting the delete button.

Another way to deal with the volume of waypoints is to take them all with you on a laptop, and transfer different sections to your GPS unit as you need them, as your trip progresses.

I have myself trimmed a lot of waypoints out. Things like camping locations in Mongolia have been deleted .... because anywhere in Mongolia is a great camping location. Similarly, fuel stations along major highways ... I have deleted a lot of them ... there is no need to show 8 fuel stations within a 100 km (60 mile) stretch ... one or two is sufficient to show that fuel range is not critical on certain sections.

Use these in conjunction with the file of the Border Zones and Closed Zones thread for more risk free planning.

For anyone who wants to download the Latest Full Version (as of 14.Sep.2021) of the waypoints, here they are:

I know, I will be forever grateful, when my time comes in 2012 and I can draw on that resource. Thanx for your effort of collecting and putting it up :thumbup:.

I've been following your RR's with great interest over at ADV :yes:

I make this thread a "sticky" as it should be an ongoing topic.
So everyone, send in those waypoints of cafes with the prettiest waitresses!!

Thanks Chris ... no takers yet.

But plenty of people go that way ... around half with a GPS ... most of them with a Garmin GPS.

I have given out waypoint collections about a dozen times in recent months ... but there are plenty of roads and thousands of restaurants and hotels and fuel depots I havent been to in Northern Asia ... its time to make a big file with them all on

PS, if the waitresses are pretty can we put a note on the waypoint ;)

Walter, I will make sure to get you the waypoints I have been collecting and I will try to make an effort of collecting more as I go along. Any desires on how to make your life easier in collating all of this information in terms of naming conventions, comments, categories or whatever?

KP

Excellent question.

I dont think you need to go into too much detail.

The main categories I have on my waypoints so far are:

Fuel
Accommodation
Cafes
General Stores
Bike shops / service / repair places
Water Crossings
Places where the road is closed, impassible or needs special permission to venture beyond
I also have a category for photo opportunities, but use this one sparingly ... its for things like the giant genghis khan on a horse statue out in the mongolian wilderness and things like that that it would be useful for people to navigate t,o rather than for every place its worth taking a foto of.

I think if anything is particularly good value or good food, or to be avoided at all costs, or you have contact phone numbers, then that can go in comments. but my waypoints on have comments on exceptional items, rather than comments on every waypoint.

Sorry to see this surprsing lack of response. Don't understand it. I hope it is because people are on the road, but even then a short message to this thread would be encouraging. . As you know I am collecting a pile of local waypoints in Urgench Uzbekistan. If anybody needs to know where every car parts place / electrician / post office / customs office / internet cafe / airport etc is in thisw town I have got them. Kidding aside, as soon as I get things sorted out I will go over the tracks. Not nearly as many as I had hoped for.

This is a great idea, Colebatch!

This trip across the Stans, for me, is planned for 2011 but I'm sure it'll be a huge help to me.


Thanks with one year in advance! :thumbup1:



Nick

its a great idea, thanks so much for putting it together.
Im sure I will want it for my next trip across russia.
I have crossed it twice, the 1st w/o gps, last year I borrowed a gps from a friend in moscow, as my gps doesnt do cyrillic.
So I unfortunately have nothing to share

Im heading to georgia/armenia/azerbijan soon, you interested in anything from that area?

I'm a gps idiot tho, & will have to figure out how to save waypoints
hahahaha

Doug

Hi Walter -

a while ago I posted some way points through Russia -

you can get Google Earth files here

Index of /~earmb/Google_Earth_Files

and garmin files here.

Index of /~earmb/Garmin_Files

To translate between formats I suggest you try gpsbabel it's a great bit of software for gps translation.

The files contain our tracks, way points, fuel stops and some other bits.

Nice one!

Thanks Doug
 

For the 3rd party waypoints you sent thru. Am amalgamating them into my system ... but looking good. It covers a route thru Mongolia that I hadnt covered.

Thanks Mr Bart ... I have taken most of those waypoints you donated.

Am now up to well over 1000 waypoints ... including 350 fuel stations and a similar amount of cafes and hotels / camping spots .. and thats just from my waypoints plus Doug's and Mark Bart's.

As soon as I can work out how to host this now, I will put a link up.

I can tell you its looking like it can become the ultimate guide book free resource :) ... very comprehensive.

Am hoping after this year there will be a lot more coming in, but anyone who has waypoints at home of Eurasia, please send them in.

wcolebatch@gmail.com

CHeers

Yes Doug ... got me the TransCaucasian countries too please mate

And learn how to save waypoints before you go :)

hi Colebatch - sounds liek you know a lot about Russia- can I ask if I can get those poinst too? am planning east to west to UlaanB and back- many thanks

sure you can have them ... Just PM me your email and I can email to you.

When I get back to UK I will try harder to find a way to store the file online. Then clicking on a link should deliver the latest file and maybe the latest OSM maps too

Walter, did you ever figure out how to host this file? I've got space on a server should be pretty easy please let me know if I should try to set it up. I also have a few waypoints for hotels I'll try to send later.

V generous of you Motoreiter but did you know, Walter, that you can upload a .gdb file on Horizons?
Grant gave us all that facility about a year ago.:thumbup1: look here

lets try with the current version:

cool ... that seemed to work ! :thumbup1:

Its still made up from only 4 contributors tho ... there are a number of key gaps that I need filled ... so I encourage people to email me more waypoints.

I will upload updates from time to time ... when I get more useful waypoints to put in there

Nice one Walter

Amazing
 

Amazing job. A huge thank you!
I feel ashamed that I don't have anything to contribute :(
Adrian

Just WOW

That is the coolest thing I've ever uploaded into google earth and it will be getting used as intended.


Thank you I am humbledbeerchug

I have edited the first post in this thread ... it makes sense for me to post updates there rather than have people search thru the entire thread to find the latest version.

THAT is truely awesome jeiger

Do you plan on adding tracklogs to? or do you think things will get too messy this way?

As I have done this for Morocco in the past (for T4A) I save all fuel stops and food, never been bothered by acc. as were in a 4x4 but when we do our trip I will endevour to collect as much info as possible where it is missing.

Thanks for taking the time to make this possible Colebatch beerchug

G

I have all my tracklogs on different files (see below) but they are not really of use to the general public, as all my tracks have already been uploaded and incorporated in the the roadmaps on the open street map project. On top of that, they are pretty large files. A Waypoints file is short n sweet.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/...d2b9c1d0_o.jpg

Waypoint
 

colebatch,,
Thanks a million ,,
Also how is the road between Chita and Khabarovsk,, is it covered yet?
Yun in Korea

Yes its asphalt now. Amur Highway was finished 2 months ago :)

G/Day Walter

good stuff, just got a Zomo 660 for 800gs for the stans trip next year..
will contribute info when i get back in May 2011

reef

Trans-Siberia
 

Thanks to you Colbatch,, I have downloaded all your way points ,, getting my mind working for the trip ,,
2011 beginning June ,, with 2006 Harley Davidson Road King ,, alone.

When Peter and Kate came to Korea ,, a couple of years ago , I've met them got inspired ,,
In 2008 ,, 22 Korean Harley riders took that route via Vlad - Tajhikstan to Poland then Germany ,, only 9 made it ,, many injuries.

I plan to do it alone ,, whenever you get two Koreans ,, it is a trouble,,

My plan is Sokcho - Vlad than to Moscow to see my good friend ,, then to south ,,Dusseldorf, where I used to live and love ,, south to Spain via Normany and Brittany ,,Bilbao to Cadiz ,, ship my bike over from Valencia to NYC ,, spend a few days ,, to Chicago,, Route 66 to LA ,, then back to Korea ,,

If any of you young bucks can give guidance or advice ,, please p.m me

Likewise ,, if any of you require assistance or plain friendship, whie going through Korea ,, let me know

Cheers !

Hi,
great idea!

I'm preparing a trip to Russia, Mongolia and the Stans; I've downloaded the wps, they will help a lot....
2 questions.

Sorry, for my 1st (maybe stupid) question but, as they are too many for the garmin60cx (1000wp. max), have you ever considered upload them on the OSM map?

As you edited the 1st post 2 weeks ago, did you upgrade the file, or the October one is the right one?

Cheers
P

Yes, many of the waypoints (like fuel and accommodation) have been uploaded to OSM maps. But as not everyone uses OSM maps, I must also keep all waypoints in the waypoints file, for those who do not use OSM maps.

The file is the current one. I have had no updates since October. I have received no more waypoints from other riders since then.

cheers for this
 

Thanks so much for this, Colebatch!

We are travelling from Vladivostock to London via the Stans and these waypoints will be massively helpful. If we have any to add after our trip we will.

Thank you ... there is one major route across Kazakhstan for which I have no waypoints ... so still on the lookout for those ... its the route from Chimkent to Uralsk. Hopefully that is the route you planned :)

Chimkent to Uralsk
 

I'll certainly try that route, east to west, this summer, and will collect any and all useful waypoints for distribution.

Kurt

Update
 

just updated the file in the first post with a few more Kazakh waypoints. (thanks Simon)

What application software to just read waypoints
 

Colebatch, I just want read your .gdb file assuming I can read the remarks and see the lat/lon. Can it be done? Thanks

colebatch, heading out this way this summer; I'd imagine that the section between Irkutsk and Yakutsk is fairly well sketched out, anything in particular you can think of that I should try to add?

Hey Tom ... The bit I dont have is between Tynda to Yakutsk. If you are doing that leg either on the way in or the way out, please make a note of cafes, hotels and fuel stations in between those towns.

you need a program that can read .gdb files. Usually Garmin software like mapsource. Then in mapsource you can individually look at the waypoints, right click on them and see the exact lat and long.

There may be other freeware programs that can read gdb files. I dont know about that. The other option is to download the file, and run it through gpsvisualizer.com ... its a GPS conversion website but can also convert to text tables. I have never exported a waypoints file as a text table ... but That should work.

Colebatch, I'm heading through Tynda, decided I don't have enough time for the Vilyuisky route...

Looks like a pretty dreary route up through Tynda, not really looking foward to it, but will be sure to note what I can...

Thanks Colebatch, GPSvisualizer worked fine converting to Google Earth and the Text file option looks good except the lon/lat are missing their North, South, East, West indicators. What I have will work fine for my needs, I prefer paper maps but also use my GPS to calculate distances and create a route then I trace it onto my paper map and turn the GPS off. It's an old guy thing HaHa.

No problem ... I will make it real easy ... its all North and its all East :)

Updated file again today with some Lena Highway waypoints ... thanks Motoreiter.

Walter, I can't find the download link?

Sorry guys ... I was at the Horizons meet when I uploaded, and the wifi link was "sketchy". Its sorted now.

Here are the 25th June updates:

Updated with some more western KZ waypoints ... thanks Srace7.

Note ... its been suggested that for people who already have previous updates, I should also post an update file (beginning with the June updates above). Just add these updates to your existing list if you prefer to update that way. I will also still post the full updated list in the very first post of the thread.

Updates:

Updates
 

A dozen or so new waypoints from south-western Russia, northern KZ and eastern Mongolia. Thanks Maggie & Allan. Main file on page 1 updated.

If you are just after the updates, here is the update file

Kazakh Highway
 

PS ... I am still looking for waypoints for the relatively major road between Aktube (Aktyubinsk) and Dzhambul.

Anyone?

Updates
 

A bunch of updates, mostly in the East thanks to half a dozen people. Ben, Tom, Staffan, and others.

Main file on page 1 also updated ... but here are the new additions file:

Since no one said it yet
 

....thanks,

I'm sure everyone has thanks in their mind.

Zig

Hi and thanks for these waypoints, I will be over that way next year, so these will be very useful.

Thanks
 

If you read from post 1 ,, you will see many kudos ,, it is people like Walter and Tony ,, that makes our travel easier and safer...
;):scooter:

Revises Way Points
 

Using Colebatch's WPS as basis,,, I've spent some time deleting "camp sites" "UNESCO" "National Parks" "Monuments" etc and concentrated on regions Russia and East Europe. Deleted Korea and Japan. Also deleted Magadan, Road of Bones and north, where I will not be going. This list concentrates on Gas, Food and Motel/Hotel, from Vlad to Ukraine.

SeoulJoe

Please confirm that you have not ADDED any information but have customised what Walter and others have contributed to suit your needs?

My WPS
 

Not a single addition,, but deleted and customized for "MY TRIP". I have made it clear from the very beginning, that I am not interested in camp sites, submarine bases, Road of Bones, Tajik,Kajik, W.Mongolia, et al. This WPS is for some one who is heading straight out from Vlad to Europe. So that my GPS will have less clutter under 600 waypoints.
My trip plan is as follows,, Start from DBS Ferry to Vlad,, go straight to Ulan Ude then south to Ulan Bataar ,, back straight up to Irkutz then head west towards Ukraine,, cross over to Croatia to meet the last point of departure, in 2011,,, then come home, giving me the around the world line. I have not decided yet, whether to ship the bike first to Greece and head back east rather than going west. Soon the ground hog day will be here,,, before we know it ,, it will be foot itching time. Get ready folks,,,
Deleting WPS took many days and appreciate,, again Walter's and other's hard work in getting this list organized, for with out it,,, many of us here would not have the peace of mind.
What I really would like to do is to separate and post the wps for each country.

Thank you- Safe trip amigo
Do post your new file when you're in EU:thumbup1:

Waypoints Update
 

Have a bunch of new additions from Iran in particular. It not normally a specialty of mine but the waypoints from Steffen have been too good to pass up.

So I will update the first post main file. And for those of you who just want the update file, here it is:

Hi walter
Just tried to download but nothing just a blank page is there another way you could get the waypoints to me???
I will email you my email

Eric

Looks a problem with the new website - I will flag it with Grant.

IN the meantime ... send me a PM with your email address and I will email you

Walter are you considering adding these to OSM? It would be handy for tablet users (as there no Garmin software suitable).

Just a thought as sometimes a GPS not the friendliest for a coupl of days travel.

Walter you are the Man:thumbup1::thumbup1:
Received this morning and loaded
Will repay you with more waypoints when i return from China

Eric

That was done about a year or so ago. A guy from another forum uploaded a selection of them to OSM ... it doesnt include the latest few updates but is still the bulk of the fuel and hotel waypoints. Other key waypoints such as border zones or military checkpoints or self chosen camping locations etc are not really suitable for upload to OSM and will always be waypoint / poi format only.

Tried to PM you/ Messages need deleting
 

Hello Colebatch,
Firstly thank you for all the work you put into the HUB.
We are researching our return trip to the UK through Korea - Vladivostok and home. Would you be so kind to send us your GPS files for Garmin. We only have the world map - is there another better option for Russia.

Many thanks

Angie

twobikesrunning@hotmail.co.uk

You can download what ever tiles needed from Free worldwide routable Garmin maps from OpenStreetMap

How-to at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...eet-maps-64135

June 2012 updates
 

file has been updated as of now. I didnt have time to sort out a separate updates file - but have the full file, as usual, on the first page (I am on the road at the moment)

I just have to say how invaluable this has been, it is great reasource, and least gives me the confidence to ride to the next town knowing I will get fuel, a bed, and dinner. I will have my own contribution to make in due course.

Thanks heaps for compiling this Walter.

June July Updates
 

Have updated the file again ... see first post for full file.

Here are the updates from June and July.

Aug 2012 Update
 

Main file is updated as of today.

No update file at this point - but have removed some outdated waypoints - hotels that dont exist etc. Might be best to remove previous waypoints and reinstall these.

Sounds great

I have been collecting hotels and fuel down this southern way, any use to you?

Cheers from Kazakhstan
TravellingStrom

IN Australia?

Walter, Richard is making his way back East.
He says he's currently in Kazakhstan and kindly marking accom & fuel places along the way to add the collective effort.

Yep, that is what I meant, most of the Asia ones in your file are up north, these are in the south part of the continent

Cheers
TS

I do want to keep it focussed on Russia, Siberia and the Stans ... with a few from key neighboring areas such as Iran, Western China, and Afghanistan at some point in the future.

Maybe yourself or someone else can start a separate waypoints file for Southern Asia or Australia

A few more Stans and Iran additions to the file. Original on first page updated. If you just want the update file, its here:

Walter, just to let you know, you're Irkutsk MC club way point is no longer there. The building is still there, as is your sticker, but the people have moved on. I went there earlier in the year looking for some local help in shipping my bike back to Moscow but apparently its been gone at least a few years???

I wasn't sure which building it was when I got there but the sticker left me in no doubt. :thumbup1:

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_1433.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_1432.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_1431.jpg

PS: Thanks for the way points BTW, they're fantastic,greatly appreciated. I stayed in one of your hotel waypoints (the one that was a bit like a castle on the Tran-Sib Hwy) and one of your wild campsites. Ironically, I stayed at the campsite exactly five years to the day that you stayed there. I can't remember exactly which one it was but it was along the Tran-Sib Hwy, the bit that detours north to avoid Kazakhstan as it cuts the M51.

Yes we were there too this year, just to check it. I heard a rumour that somewhere else has opened up in Irkutsk serving the same function ... guesthouse, bar, clubhouse but yet to hear anything concrete. Will keep my ears open.


No probs ... thats the idea ... just to reassure people there are places to stay within x miles or fuel available within x miles. Its a good way to pool the experience of a broad number of contributors.

Which reminds me .... I am still looking for waypoints for the main road across Kazakhstan ... Uralsk (Oral) - Aktyubinsk (Aktube) - Aralsk (Aral) - Kyzyl Orda, Shymkent.

Anyone who has been recently?

I dropped by the Irkutsk biker club waypoints in early August and found it was no longer running also.
A guy in a car stopped and helped us out to find some digs, he was a biker that used to go to the club. He said that there was no longer a club house in Irkutsk.

Mark

Which reminds me .... I am still looking for waypoints for the main road across Kazakhstan ... Uralsk (Oral) - Aktyubinsk (Aktube) - Aralsk (Aral) - Kyzyl Orda, Shymkent.

Anyone who has been recently?

Yep, in 2012, I wanted to upload here but as a .zip it is still 3,8mb and the total max is 2 mb alltough a .zip's maximum is allowde till 9.7 mb........

I allways take tracks and waypoints BTW.

I tried to e-mail 2 times but get the message that it can not be dilivered??

Greetz,

Jeroen

File uploaded on behalf of Jeroen-
Thank you for your contribution :thumbup1:

Irkutsk MC club was allready closed august 2010 when we were stopping in Irkutsk. I was told this by local biker and as far as i understood person responsible of running it got tired of running it or had some other problems. My russian wasnt good enough to make difference of it. But anyway it has been dead at least two years now.

I have to check my garmin routes in Kazakstan and also Pamir Highway. I marked up few new places as i was there in June for fuel, eating and accommadation.

Jan 2013 Updates
 

A few waypoints taken from the above file, plus several others.

Here is the update file.

As always, the front post file is also updated

Thanks again Walter for creating this resource and keeping it updated.

+1 thank youbier

Another update
 

Another dozen useful out of the way WPs

Hi Colebatch

I have been a bit remiss as I have been otherwise busy.

But, I have some way points of fuel and accommodation, embassies, mechanics etc through Kazakhstan and need to know where I can send them?

There are not a great deal, but they may be useful

Cheers
TravellingStrom

Hey strom

Email address is in the first para of first post in this thread :)

Just want to thank Colebatch for this collection.It looks like a gold mine for my upcoming trip.Hope I can donate back more waypoints after my trip.

Same for me.

It also helps a lot with planning

Many thanks to Walter C for this package. I rode through Siberia in 2011 and I'm off around the World this year so they'll come in handy. I've converted them for OziExplorer HERE Save it on your computer and then open OziExplorer, click on File and "Load from File > Load Waypoints from File" and fetch the file you've saved.

Cheers
Andy
Andy Around the World

Feb 2013 Updates
 

Updates file here:

Very helpfull information, thanks alot

Very useful indeed.

Does anyone (walter?) have any experience with GPS maps in Sibera? I'm curious to how accurate the Openstreetmap.org GSM maps are.

If there are any sources for Topo maps that work with the Garmin that would be great also.

I used OSM maps right across Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, including to find my way around all the major cities.

Walter said the OSM maps are much better than Garmin's ROR and IIRC he said something about it being the basis for most of the GPSes you buy in Russia.

There is Topo 6.16 published by Russian Garmin distributor Navicom. You can find it for free download at various sites on the internet. I have Russian topo maps and OSM maps on my Montana and would switch between the two whenever I felt inspired to. I found I was using the OSM maps 98+% of the time, and only switching to the topo maps when I hit a blank area on OSM.

Many of the cities are NOT mapped on Topo maps. OSM has excellent Russian city mapping.

The highways and main roads and minor roads are 100% accurate on OSM. They are often out by several hundred yards on the topo maps.

Unless you are planning to go somewhere very very remote and previously untravelled by non locals, my experience is that you will ALWAYS be better with OSM maps. If you plan to go somewhere where Soviet army mappers went in the 1970s but still remote enough that no expeditions or travellers or OSM literate locals have been then there may be occasional times when the topo maps will be useful.

Also note the OSM maps come thru in latin script on the Garmin GPSs. The Russian Topo maps are only in cyrillic. In order to read them properly, most older GPS units (like Zumos) need to be flashed with a Russian operating system in order to read the Russian topo maps. You can get that done at Navicom in Moscow for about 20 pounds. It then is readable if you read cyrillic, but the GPS unit will not be able to properly read european names when you return to Europe. All non standard latin letters as is common in almost every european language except english will not be readable by your GPS unit.

[edit] Montana units can automatically read the Russian Topo maps without need to Operating system flash. Zumos can not.

May 2013 updates
 

Well I better get an update out before people head out to Siberia for the summer. Thanks to Noah and a few others for updates:

Here is the brief update file:

Full file, with all 1541 waypoints, has been updated in the first post in this thread. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...860#post293119

[edit - just updated the update.... so the 6 people who downloaded the update already, please re-download it - sorry]

Apologies, its not normally my habit to spit out an update weekly, but have had a bunch of new and useful waypoints in Central Asia from Bob66, Snoah and Griffdowg. With people on the road now, it will be useful to get them out ASAP.

Further, I have also added in 45 border crossings in Russia / Central Asia / Mongolia that are all good for internationals - unless clearly stated otherwise in the waypoint name and waypoint notes. I consider that pretty useful info re map purposes - since the limited number of border crossing points does create bottlenecks in travel plans. Hopefully that will put an end to questions on the board about what border crossings are good to go for international travellers. I have included a couple of crossings that are scheduled to reopen for foreigners at some stage, but at this date, to the best of my knowledge, are closed, such as Penjikent and Karamyk in Tajikistan (they are clearly marked closed in the waypoints). Others, such as the Russia-Mongolia borders at Khandygayty and Mondy are presently closed to internationals, but may open in the near future. If anyone gets updated info on any of those presently closed borders, please let it be known on the forum and I should pick it up for purposes of updating the file.

The late May 2013 updates !

Is the file above only the new ones?

or all of them?

I would prefer, if we could choose between only updates and the complete points.

Because i have cleared the ( very useful waypoints by the way ) for my route and dont want to load all of them again

thx

You can (we have already thought of that) ... the post above (and the one before it) are just updates. All of my update posts are just new extra waypoints.

The front page post (first post) is the complete set of waypoints.