Nepal, China, Krygyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Europe
 

I'm looking to travel through these countries in the summer of '09. :helpsmilie:

Does anyone know if it is possible to take a motorbike in to China? I'm planning on buying bikes with a friend in Nepal and riding them back to Europe, going through the mentioned countries.

Has anyone taken a bike through, or just travelled through the "Stan" countries recently? (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan). Did you have any problems with borders? Were the roads good? Was Uzbekistan any more dangerous to the other countries in that area?

Has anyone been through or taken a bike through Iran recently? Did you have any problems with visa restrictions or paperwork for the bike?

If anybody has been through these countries and has some advice regarding travel through them, I would be grateful for any comments!

Best,

Bigmonts

ermmm... I think I remember seeing heaps and heaps of excellent information about most of these questions, and about most of the countries mentioned in general, rather recently, on this site.

So you might want to try the search function first, and then post questions, that have arisen, and havent already been answered.

About Iran I´ve got some first-hand info (although its now 1 year old): its a great country to travel, we didnt have any serious problems with visas (Finnish passport) but nowadays you might have, if you happen to carry, say, a US, or UK passport.

For the bike, we had a document called carnet de passage (which is well worth yet another search) and it at least made entering much easier. And Pakistan & India will 100% require it for foreign bikes, so for us it wasnt optional.

If you plan to do this on an Enfield (?), then you must be quite confident your mechanical skills will be able to keep it running all the way?

China - the land of red-tape
 

Your main problem will be China. I've looked into China and even though it is possible it will be very very expensive.

You would probably need significant funds or sponsorship according to NAVO an agency that specialises in adventure trips through China. China self-driving tours; drive chinese vehicle in China – NAVO TOUR

I'm planning on riding from Malaysia to Europe through China but I'm faced with a big issue of Money. I've heard of people sneaking past borders at night but my concern is navigation and the military checkpoints - there are a lot of permits required for riding/driving your own vehicle in China - each provence has it's own permits.

Start reading now and speak to your local Chinese consulate is my advice. I'm still looking for loop-holes in the system so if/when I find them I'll post them here.

Good Luck.