Hello folks,
Im in the initial planning stages of a trip down to oz next october, the emphasis will be on taking things as they come and not getting exited when things dont go to plan, hopefully i will be camping along the way as the budget isnt the biggest !! anyone welcome with asense of humour !!

Hello mate,
Would be interested to know more of your intended plan, route, budget expected, timescale etc. Myself an a friend were thinkng of the same trip, albeit from London-Sydney for next year. We were thinking Eu,Turkey,Iran,Pakistan(safety permitting),India,Thailand and so on.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Lee

Hi,
I would like more info.
Isn't October leaving it a bit late to miss the monsoons? - I suppose it depends on how much time you are going to take to get to Oz?
I have just returned (September 2008) from a trip that took me as far east as Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Roads in Kazakhstan weren't the best!!
Look forward to hearing more about your plans.

Bob.

hello lee,

i was thinking of the same route through turkey,iran,pakistan. as for the buget im not really too sure its my first time doing a trip of this length so i was just going to save up as much as i can between now and d-day and hope for the best !!

as for the time scale i was thinking around 3 months but this is just a guide as the only factor really will be how long the money lasts ! it would be good to hear of your plans ideas ? im not too sure of the departure date i have to look into to weather and seasons a bit more carefully

any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated !
cheers adam

Hello slim
Not that advanced myself into planning. A friend of mine is meant to be coming with me but he's working abroad at the moment so its a bit difficult to get the ball rolling or make definate plans.
I was thinking of doing quite a lot of camping myself. Dont want to carry too much gear, but it would be nice to be able to stop when you feel like it, rather than having to push on for the next town when you're creamed.
I was also thinking of keeping the purse strings tight-ish while in Europe, dont think Iran to India will be expensive anyway, and taking some time out in Thailand, have a holiday etc. Myself and my mate both worked there around the millenium, teaching scuba.
Timescale is another grey area... i'm self employed so i can stay as long as money permits, and i wouldnt want to really rush it. Would like to get off the beaten track a bit, take the x-country route here and there where possible.
Also have to factor in the cost of getting bikes/selves from india to Thai, as Burma/China are pretty much no go areas.
I saw tonight a post from someone who's just crossed the Iran/Paki border... seems like no real problems apart from shitty roads the Pakistan side, but all adds to the adventure. Have you looked into getting visa's??
Not required for Thai/Malaysia. Oz should be straight forward. Just Iran and Pakistan might be bit more difficult but obviously do-able.
What bike do you ride/ planning to take. I have an XR650R, and aside from a big fuel tank and strengthening the rear end, i'll pretty much ride her as she is.
Cant think of anything else, hope to hear your thoughts soon. Email me if you want on lee1042@hotmail.co.uk
Cheers, Lee.

Also, as far as weather goes, i think that whenever you leave it will be shite somewhere, so sooner or later will just have to take it on the chin and be prepared.
Was thinking of Flying from Katmandu-Bangers. Cant do that in the winter ( i dont think anyway ) europe will be horrid winter time, Iran/Turkey bloody hot in summer. Basically, unless you have a year to do it, sooner or later it may hurt a bit, but if its too easy its boring.

hi lee

i was hoping to ride from nepal down through myanmar and onto thailand and maybe vietnam, all depending on the political situation of course, alot can happen between now and then.
as for the visas i dont think there will be a problem with iran pakistan as long as you have no israel stamps in your passport and you go to the right places to get the visas i could be wrong tho !!
the bike i have at the minute is an f800gs ive just sold my land rover discovery and bought the bike, im trying to decide what panniers to go for and what mods to get ?!
I do like the idea of camping and being self sufficiant most of the way, im not sure how easy this would be in iran ?!
ive applied for a quote for the carnet so as soon as i get that and see what sort of price that is i can get the ball rolling ! and hopefully work will pick up so i can start saving some johnny cash !! heres my email if you want to get in touch adamhulme81@hotmail.com.
cheers adam :confused1:

Hi Adam and Lee,
Would it be possible for me to join you guys?
I don't really fancy doing this single handed - though I will if I have to.
I'm British by birth and a naturalised Aussie however, I live in Plano, Texas. It's a long story mainly tied to work.
The bike I used to go to Tashkent, earlier this year, is stored in Suffolk.
I am retired so time is not too important to me.
I have contacts in Iran. My visa for Iran (again earlier this year because I thought we were going that way, but didn't, because we took the ferry from Baku to Turkmenbashi) took 30 days to get.
I'll be 61 in January next year. I am very fit - even if I do say so myself.
I ride a 2008 R1200 GS Adventure - that needs new panniers after the (300 km dirt) ride through Kazakhstan. I will look into the Metal Mule panniers when I am in the UK next April/May.
Cheers,
Bob.

I have no problem with that whatsoever young man, obviously i am only speaking for myself. Good that you're fit... it'll make up for me !!

Hi Lee,
Thanks for your vote of confidence. Let's see what Adam says.

My thoughts on the route are similar to yourselves.
My Iranian contact has an apartment in Shiraz. I'm discussing whether we can use their address to help obtain our visas. When I applied for my Iran visa earlier this year, they said it would help if I had a contact address in Iran - I tried without and still got the visa.

Besides the route, it would be really good to discuss some of the equipment to take. If you plan on camping in remote areas (off the beaten track) then I recommend carrying a satellite phone to keep in contact with home.
It is the one thing I missed most on my last trip - Skype is just not good enough, unless you have the internet connection.

Should we hook-up by using email rather than going through the BB each time. My email is rt.day@verizon.net

Thanks,
Bob.

Hello bob hows it goin ?

Im open to all sugestions im easy ! this will be my first time on a trip like this so someone with a good few miles under there belts will be a great advantage, as for your fitness you would probably show me up im 27 going on 80 !!

i was also thinking of a sat phone only to use in an emergency though, i would'nt want to be next to it waiting for it to ring all the time !
your contacts in iran could be useful, i cant wait to get there and see it for myself.
has anyone any idea of a rough budget for the trip assuming we will be camping where we can ?!

cheers adam

Hi Adam and Lee,
For any rough budget, you can always double it and that will only come close to what you really spend.
I guess it starts with asking how long you are prepared to be on the road?
Do you want to see everything there is to see or do you want to see how quickly you can get to Darwin?
Are there any countries which are a must see?
I would like to get to Nepal and see Mt. Everest as one of my goals. The Taj Mahal would be another goal.
Do you have any trip goals you want to achieve?
I am open to camping, but once you get into Turkey and beyond there are hotels and pensions that don't charge UK prices.
What sort of mileage do you plan each day?
Has petrol gone down in price in England recently?
For the GS I use an average of 40mpg and 400 miles per day giving 10 gallons of juice per day.
The 'as the crow flies' distance from Dublin to Darwin according to Garmins Worldmap is 8764 miles. Let's say we cover 10000 miles, that will take 25 days and 250 gallons of petrol. If it is GBP1.00 a gallon then 250 quids worth of petrol should get us to Darwin.
However, I think one of the biggest costs is airlifting the bike from say Kathmandu to Thailand to get round China and Myanmar (Burma).

Just something to start with ...
Cheers,
Bob

Just a thought fellas.... do you have msn, or if not, can you get yourselves on it?? I think we could have a 3 way conversation on there.
Cheers , Lee.
P.s. Bob, do you have sat nav that works in unusual countries, and if so which one and how do you rate it. Going to sell my Tom Tom Rider, as its only useable in the western world.

Taj Mahal and Everest were on my list also. As far as time, dont want to race but dont have unlimited funds either.

Lee,
I'm not really an expert on this subject but the Garmin Motorrad III I used on my trip to Tashkent got lesser and lesser detailed the further east I went.

I'm currently looking into running a sat nav antenna from my laptop - which isn't hard to do. Getting the GPS compatible maps is the headache.

I have the Garmin City Navigator Europe 2008 and Worldmap v4 loaded on the laptop. City Navigator Europe is excellent for mapping street routes however Worldmap v4 isn't - it's more dedicated towards seafarers!

The other problem, with a laptop, is reading the screen in direct sunlight.

I'll get setup with msn in the next day or to. As previously mentioned I have Skype, username: rtw2008

Cheers,
Bob.