Hey Rex,

I rode my DR 650 from Brisbane to Europe between 2016 and 2019, back when you could do the trip without shipping the motorbike over closed borders. I followed the classic route of:

Timor-Leste - Indonesia - Malaysia - Thailand - Myanmar - India & Nepal - Pakistan - Iran - Armenia - Georgia - Turkey - then up to the EU via the Balkans

Unfortunately my bike was stolen from a mate's shed during COVID, but I'm currently planning to buy a bike in Europe and carry on through Central Asia and the Middle East later this year.

As far as I know, your route is the only realistic option of doing the trip overland at the moment (due to the situation in Myanmar) - but there's some significant obstacles along the way.

Azerbaijan's border crossings have been closed since COVID. No one knows when the border will reopen, it seems to be in response to the conflict in Ukraine and a fear of attacks on their oil/gas pipelines. Your only option is to ship the motorbike from Georgia in a truck and then fly in to Baku. I'm currently contacting a fella in Tblisi so I'll let you know how that goes. It is also possible to ride from Georgia to Kazakhstan via Russia if you can get a visa.

Central Asia is all pretty straight forward, but if you're there after September it'll start getting bloody cold and might have some early snow up on the mountain passes. Black ice on the road is a bit of a showstopper for motorbikes.

Riding through China is only possible with a guided tour through an agency. They'll help you get a temporary Chinese driving licence and registration. Dunno anyone personally who has done it, but I've heard it's pretty expensive.

Not sure about Laos, but I believe Thailand still technically requires a permit and guide although that may no longer be enforced. Unfortunately Indonesia now requires a Carnet de Passage.

Timor was an absolute highlight of my trip, and shipping from Dili to Darwin is fairly straight forward. It's a lot cheaper if you find people to split the cost of a container. You'll have to completely strip your bike down and clean every bit of dirt off it before shipping to pass Aussie biosecurity. There's a company in Dili that can do it for you.

Paperwork

Georgia and all the Stans (excl Turkmenistan) are visa free for Aussies

Russia needs a tourist visa from an embassy in the country you reside + a Letter of Invitation (LOI) from a Russian travel agency OR a transit visa from the embassies in Tblisi/Yerevan (sometimes difficult to get)

Caravanistan is a great resource for up-to-date reports on visas/border crossings in Central Asia - both the guides and the forums. Also has this handy map of which border crossings are open.

Getting a Carnet just for Indonesia could be difficult/expensive - maybe better to ship from Malaysia or Singapore to Aus. BUT, if you are going to get a Carnet that opens up the Iran - Pakistan - India - Nepal route. There are shipping companies in Kathmandu that are familiar with flying overlander's bikes to Thailand or Malaysia - might be cheaper than crossing China.

Iran and Pakistan were my other highlights of the trip. Incredibly beautiful countries, great riding, and some of the friendliest and most hospitable people I've met. Didn't have any problems back in 2018/2019, but obviously things in that region can change in an instant and it's unlikely you'll find travel insurance that covers you for those countries. Getting a visa for Iran can be tricky as well, my eVisa applications were denied three times (they still took my money), but I still have contacts there I can put you in touch with.

Regarding paper maps, if you're in Aus at the moment, check out MapWorld. They have paper road maps for most countries. Just ordered some for Central Asia myself.


More than happy to answer any other questions you've got, although aside from Central Asia my info might be pretty outdated - same goes for what I've written above.