tibet to Mongolia
 

Dear Friends,

Can any one offer me advise and trip planning to ride from Tibet to Mongolia UB. in the shortest possible time, has anyone done this trip?.

I havent been able to make a breakthrough on this.

Happy New year to all!

Regards

Kinley

If you are in a hurry I suggest you take the plane, as you aren't going to see much anyway.

For info on China see the topic (mis-)named "China is open".

hello,

do you live in bhutan ? are you a foreigner in bhutan or a bhutanese ? warm welcome on this forum, you may be the 1st bhutanese :-)

BHUTAN : it s difficult for foreigners to enter bhutan on a bike or without bike : if you have any ideas to help us ? very welcome :-). they have the "little volume / big value" tourist policy in bhutan : they volontary limit the amount of toursits to avoid spoiling the country like thailand and it costs around 200 usd per day to have the privilege to see your beautiful country.
the immigration kicked me out of the country because i had no proper visa/paper/bill in 2004, see : http://vincent.danna.free.fr/infos/bhutan.html

YOUR RIDE BHUTAN or TIBET TO MONGOLIA : you ll have to cross china (i guess), which is hard with a vehicle but feasable with some patience, help, perseverence : see all the posts about china on the SOUTHERN ASIA forum and other forums.
officially, you can go but need the CITS or CTS (tourist government agencies) help : it will cost you around 200 usd per day + little freedom because a guide will follow you, etc ...

good luck, let us know if you have any plans/ideas alreday about your trip. it may help us to orientate you better.

Hi, Thanks for the msg. Yes i am a native from Bhutan. I am by profession a Tour Operator a Motorbike tour operator, but am really not a good business man, as bikes is a differennt section in my biz. Just my passion, 2 years back i made a big trip to Tibet, kailiash Mt everest base camp, i orgainsed this trip for Austrian Bikers as we have our own machines. 07KTM 640cc. Was a great success, and ever since i have been wanting to make a trip to Mongolia and back, i have people who want to go with me and use my machines. So i am looking for a practical way.

As a mtter of interest on the 18th, a guy named Erik Saue from Norway is going to visit our country and i am making his arrangements for his papers etc. He contacted me through horizonsunlimited, great site!. Well you are right that its quite difficult to get into Bhutan, need papers, Visa etc which is quite expensive, however if you are going to ask tourism agents, and big tour companies they are going to make some money out of their services and they arnt going to go out of their way to make arrangements for one biker. Its a pity we werent in touch when you were at the border, i could have guided you, there are many ways how you could have visited Bhutan. I am all out to help motorcyclists who want to visit Bhutan, because i want to meet them, talk with them and just have fun!.

I started off also because when i was a school kid in my 9th grade, i met a man in Thimphu, capital of Bhutan, who was on a world tour on a Goldwing, then on i decided i am going to do this one day!

I was studying in Europe in Austria and there i met a man who wanted to finace my project, so i am the only one in Bhutan you could get the best information about routes, paper works etc. ..i ride a lot too in these regions that is Sikkim, Darjeeling, kalimpong Bhutan etc.

Will do some research and get the ball rolling for Mongolia and one day i will post the journey right here!

rgds



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hello, thanx for your answer.
which kind of services do you propose to visit bhutan compared to big tourist companies if we arrive with or without a bike? the main problem is the 200 usd per day thing, can we/you avoid it ?
cheers.
ps : when i arrived at the border Phuentsholing, in fact, i have no visa etc ... but they let me in. i only staied one day at the border then the immigration office people saw me in town, i had to follow them and they told me nicely that i couldn t stay. apparently, even if they hadn t caught me, i couldn t have gone further than the border town, because there are road police checks just outside the town.

Hi Kinley,

Nice to see you an this forum. I'll be in Arunachal Pradesh around the middle of December this year on a bike. If it is possible to get into Buthan, I would be more than interested in getting some info from you as to how this can be done. As Vicent mentioned, is there a way around the $200/day issue? Please let me know. Ive emailed you as well.

Cheers,
Kevin

Hi Kevin

Thanks for your mail. Good to know you are riding this part of the world.

Erik from Norway just left from Bhutan http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...e/archives.php He is on a world tour and we just had a Ball of a time, he is also probably the first person from Norway who visited our country on wheels. Erik came out on our TV and also the newspaper!. Congratulations Erik!

For your Tour there are two options:

1. You could just ride straight from Phuenstholing, this is the West Bengal border town of Bhutan and India. Ride the whole country in about 7-8 days, from West to East and drop to Eastern Border town of Bhutan, the place is called Samdrup Jongkhar and this town is just about 3 hrs to the city of Gauwhati, you have to go to Gauwhati if you are going to Arunachal. This will avoid the boring ride on the national Highway from Siliguri to Gauwhati. You would have done the whole of Bhutan.

2. You must budget yourself USD 189/night. From this cost Hotels and meals would be paid for. You just need money for gas. The Govt of Bhutan charges a high amount as Visa Royalty per night per person. But in the border you don't have to pay this amount, the Royalty in turn supports the nations free health and education facilities and developmental activities. Usually for just one person tour companies charge USD 240 and not USD 200. For 02 person its USD 230 and above 03 person its USD 200.

You can mail me if you need advise for Itinerary etc. I have lived in Shillong for 03 years, in the state of Meghalaya, the north eastern India. I probably find the North east India the most fascinating part of India, its a pity that so less people know of this region.No wonder the British used the north east part of India esp. Shillong as their capital for the northeast. You will love Arunachal.

Cheers

Hi, Just to let you know that when you pay USD 200/night, you also get that value for money. This is inclusive of transfers, Full board, accomodation in A grade Resort Hotels, Guide, all entry fees to sights where applicable. Many people have the notion that they get ripped off but thats not the case in Bhutan. The Department of Tourism has rules by which Tour Operators have to abide with and provide the value for money the tourists spend in the country.

However its just my personal interest that i want to assist motorcyclists because i am in the process in my country to popularise the Motorbiking scene. Make a community. Thats the reason i try to make the trip as less expensive as possible so that people on long tours can visit the country.

The ball is just begining to roll now.

cheers

Hi folks

No question about it - Kinley is our man in Bhutan.

Just like many other bikers I thought it was problematic to enter the country with my own motorcycle, and if I made it I'd had to travel around with an escort. Forget all that. My efforts were no more than to wire the mandatory tourist fee to the New York account of Bhutan National Bank (took five minutes by internet), and to obtain an emission test in India (issued at petrol stations in every major city such as Siliguri for less than 100 rupees). Kinley fixed the rest (including visa) in just a week notice. So really, the issue of whether or not you can enter Bhutan is dead. Just contact Kinley at http://www.himalayan-adventures.com ,and you're in.

One more thing - Kinley is a very friendly and interesting guy. You will enjoy meeting him.

[This message has been edited by Eriks (edited 26 January 2006).]