Sydney to London?

[wellydave]

Hi – I recently joined the website. I'm planning on a motorbike trip from Sydney to London - sometime before I get too old! There seems to be a major blockage at Myanmar/Burma (just won't let people travel through) and China to the north (can only use expensive guides?). However, I'd like to do as much as I can by land and avoid large sectors by air or sea freight if possible - kind of cheating isn't it? I'd be grateful for people's views on the best/safest route to go - eg the following:

Riding - Thailand - Laos - China - India. Is it possible to go around Burma via China, and then enter that narrow bit of India, then all the way to Pakistan? Or

Riding - Laos - Vietnam - up China east coast to Vladivostok - then west across Russia to Moscow.

Seafreight - Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka (Bangladesh) or Kuala Lumpur to Chennai/Madras.

Airfreight - Bangkok to Kathmandu. This is what 'the Postman' did on a 110cc Honda moped as part of his Sydney to London trip - surely this has to rate as one of the most incredible feats of adventure 'motorcycling' ever? The Route | The Postman - Sydney to London on a moped

p.s. also wondering if there's an alternative to the usual routes of Iran to Turkey, or the 'stans' to Russia. ie can you go: Iran - UAE - Saudi Arabia - Egypt - Libya - Tunisia - Italy? (although I realise Libya is a no-go at the moment!).

thanks
Dave

[pecha72]

China & Burma remain the big obstacles on the way between Europe & Southeast Asia. Crossing China could be possible, but it´s seriously expensive (like double-your-trip-budget expensive!)... so very, very few ride/drive all the way. This same thing (to China, or even to Burma) gets asked about every two weeks, so the whole subject has been discussed here very thoroughly before.

So unless you can afford China, then after you´re through with SE Asia, you will probably send the bike to East Asia (Korea or Vladivostok) or to India/Nepal, and after that you should be able to ride it to Europe.

Also note, that Vietnam remains practically closed for foreign vehicles.

From what I´ve read here, Saudi-Arabia seems very tough to get a visa, so not a common option (and those who managed to do this, usually worked somewhere in the Gulf region, so could be better off with their visa applications to start with).

Even though this might sound complicated, it should be a great trip!

[pecha72]

really not a good idea in my view to cross-post this same thing to two forums.

[wellydave]

Thanks for your reply and information which has helped me narrow down my route options. Will probably frieght the bike from Bangkok to Kathmandu. Interesting about Vietnam being practically closed to foreign vehicles, and now I can understand why so few people have gone via Saudi Arabia. Sorry about cross-posting on 2 forums - will stick to one next time. Great website, with so much info in it.
Dave

[MYuksel]

I would not suggest you to take the Northern Africa route due to the political turmoil there. You can predict the people's actions at the moment. Even though they are not hostile to the foreigners at this stage you may end up in a chaos.
Also the border police may not be very friendly since every foreigner is now a potential provocateur for them. All Northern Africa is very very troubled. I had to postpone my "Around the Mediterranean" trip. Use either Russia-Europe or the good old Iran-Turkey pass.

[Tom-Traveller]

Hi

this german guy Motorradreiseseite von Martin - Auf dem Weg - Südost Asien - Reiseseite von Martin - Südost Asien mit dem Motorrad went this way:

India - Nepal - Tibet - China - Laos

They went as a group with a Unimog, VW bus and himself with the BMW

it`s all in german, but just ask him ....

Good Luck
Thomas

[KevOK]

Hey Dave,

I done the same trip in 07,

You can check out my blog or just email me if you have any questions.
Make sure you go through the middle east if you can , I found it the most rewarding part of the trip with the most friendliest of people. Freighting from bkk to Kathmandu is well easy, I think it cost me around 500$aud .

https://sites.google.com/site/halfwayround/home2
______

[wellydave]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your replies and info.

MYuksel - yep, totally agree about northern Africa now. I've also heard that even Saudi Arabia is almost impossible to cross unless you work there.

Tom - that would be an awesome route, maybe going near Everest. Seems like you do need to travel as a group and go with a guide to travel in China though.

Kev - thanks for the advice - yes, Middle East would be great too but also pretty dangerous right now, eg Syria, Iran.

cheers
Dave

[Groott]

I'm doing a trip the other way at the moment. Now in Sumatra, Indonesia. Went from Amsterdam to Romania, Ukrain, Russia, Kazachstan, Uzbekistan, Kazachstan, Russia, Mongolia and then air freight to Bangkok. Which was very expensive and a lot of hassle.

Don't know the route through India, etc but would def recommend the route trhough central asia and mongolia. People were great (not in Mongolia to be honest but scenery there is as you would expect brilliant). Going via South Korea and Vladivostok is a good alternative to air transport. Wendy Choi in south korea quoted about usd 1000 and 9 days sailing by sea between bangkok port and south korea. However, the airport at Bangkok was very good and helpful.

I am now 3 months on the road. Hope to be in Sydney or NZ in 6 - 8 weeks.

Have fun planning,

Tijs

[Fern]

Hi

I'm hoping to do New Zealand to London, from Oct 2012.

Currently trying to find out best crossings from Oz to Indonesia, and suggested routes, and duration of travel through Indonesia.

I will eventually go through Malaysia and into Thailand, either airfreight from BKK into India/Nepal, OR go through China, all depends on a funding issue that i'll know about in the next couple of months. I have a chinese annual business visa, and lots of contacts in China, will try and get myself a chinese bike licence between now and then.

Cheers

F

[pecha72]

Originally Posted by Fern

Currently trying to find out best crossings from Oz to Indonesia, and suggested routes, and duration of travel through Indonesia.

I went the other way almost 4 years ago. At least back then the main option was the Perkins shipping line between Singapore & Darwin, with a stopover in Dili. But normally you cannot go with the cargo ship yourself. Other options were more or less blurred; possibly some fishing boats or even private yachts from Kupang, for example, but no solid info anywhere. Less possibilities during the rainy season - in fact you´d probably have to go there and ask, then somebody might know something. Hell, even the state-owned Pelni tried to do everything they can, so that nobody would really know, when their ships will sail!!

Because of the coup attempt in East Timor happening at exactly the wrong time, we ended up shipping by air from Bali to Perth, but that was expensive (~1200 euros for the bike only!) But under normal circumstances you should be able to island-hop from Timor to Sumatra. It takes time, though – for us, the 30-day visas on arrival were really not enough for Sumatra, Java & Bali, we always felt like we were in a hurry. I´d recommend to get a longer visa if you can (and if you go for the VOA, do check out, where you´re able to get them, as they may not be issued at every border).

More here:
MOTO1 - Matkalla

[Fern]

thanks for that info Pecha, very useful and great blog!

I've just looked at the indonesian visa info, they want proof of flights/ferry booking in and out of the country for even tourist visa. Ummm.

I think I will try at first to get a private boat to E. Timor, transporting bike LCL or RORO, and then a $200 minimum flight for me looks expensive!