Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - UK - Magadan/VLAD 2014/2015

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- - UK - Magadan/VLAD 2014/2015 (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/travellers-seeking-travellers/uk-magadan-vlad-2014-2015-a-68982)

Ted, 5-6 months in many parts of world is one thing ... 2-3 months that includes the Old Summer Road, the BAM, Mongolia, deeply satisfies and will exhaust you more than you think possible from 2-3 months. Ask HarryG / MarkK himself, or Chris or the JABA Mundus guys, or Felix or Phil ... you are physically and emotionally shagged at the end of several months of good hard offroad up there. I too called it a day at Yakutsk last year, instead of battling on and shipping out a shock for the last 2000 km to Magadan. 3 months of physical offroad every day is more than enough !! There are ways and means to plan the trip to work within your budget, but I am very confident you will not be feeling "unsatisfied" at the end of a few months in that part of the world.

HarryG' / Mark K s container to (and possible from) Vladivostok, is something to really think about. Once you are actually there, fuel and beer are cheap. If you are camping mostly, your daily expenses will be small. Less than 1000 quid a month. There is very little to spend it on except hotels. If you avoid that, you avoid half your costs.

Something else to think about is leaving your bike in Mongolia ... wintering it somewhere like the Oasis, and getting it the following summer while you come back via Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by colebatch (Post 435601)

Too right Wes ...

Something to think about Ted ... If you want to go to Magadan via the legendary Old Summer Road, go next year.

The single biggest challenge on that road is the Kyubeme River crossing right at the western end of it.

Its the bridge where Ewan and Charley were faffing about at and Claudio just climbed across the collapsed bridge and went to sleep in the abandoned village on the other side. Eventually the bikes were loaded up into their support trucks and driven over the next morning.

Well to cut a long story short, the collapsed bridge, which had been collapsed and derelict for 30 years, finally got swept away in spring floods last year. The remains of the old wooden bridge were pulled down in October last year and this year a new concrete pylon was planted in the middle of the river for a new concrete bridge to be completed by the end of next year.

So next summer is your last chance to do the Old Summer Road, complete with the full Kyubeme River crossing. Once there is a brand new concrete bridge over the hardest part, it wont feel the same.

If you are worried about costs, skip Turkey and other expensive close to home bits that you can do another time.

I am constantly putting up to date info on that part of the world, as well as historical pics of interest from the BAM and Road of Bones on the Sibirsky Extreme facebook page (link in sig line). It may be useful to follow it if you are planning to go to that part of the world.

Somebody suggested it previously, so sorry for the repeat. Nobody will force you to ride the new bridge. You can still take the wet route.:funmeteryes:

My advice is: If travelling West > East, when you get to Tynda having completed the western BAM check the likelihood of the OSR being doable (weather/rain etc). If it's not, (like this year), I would seriously recommend not riding to Yakutsk via the M56, nor Magadan via the NFR.

For me, the western BAM (and Mongolia and the Altay/Pamirs before that) were real adventures with lots of great experiences. I found the M56 in the dry and the NFR in the wet to be the most forgettable and pointless motorcycle rides I've done in many a year.

( In joke: Had I had the displeasure of riding the M56 between Yakutsk and Tynda in the wet, I would be able to boast I'm a real dirty boy adventure biker and question whether others who have just finished the BAM actually did so, because their bikes are so "clean". :offtopic::oops2: )

I can now "boast" I've done the road to Magadan (and I am claiming the silver patch... :innocent: ) and I'm sure my memory of the journey will develop a rosy tint, but if the OSR looks unlikely, I'd head straight for Vladivostok (assuming that's your final destination because you're freighting from there).

The road from Tynda to Yakutsk and then on to the start or the old summer road is a ball ache, we did it in good weather but it was still boring. Took us about 3 days to do, I wouldn't want to do it in the rain!
But the old summer road is great and the Tenkinskaya track into Magadan is also very scenic.
It really depends on if you want to ride to Magadan or not, as we started from there we didnt have a choice but to ride the roads. Which was probably a good thing as you can't give up or turn back :scooter:

i disagree about the road from Tynda to Yakutsk and beyond.

the scenery wasnt great, but for me, i love a good road, and the driving was fun.... but i will make a point, make sure that your suspension is above standard as it will get a good work out, Walter suggested deserts, and now i am a believer... ensure that you are traveling light. oh, and you might want to bring a dust mask or two, the road between yakutsk and the ferry crossing was extreme dusty conditions...

between ust-nera and susuman, i was unable to find benzin in artik, maybe i wasnt lucky, but ensure that you have enough fuel for 400kms

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edd (Post 435783)

i disagree about the road from Tynda to Yakutsk and beyond.

You might change your mind when you compare it to the bam and roads and tracks between lake Baikal and Mongolia as well as Mongolia itself or Altai Russia or Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan which a lot people will have ridden if travelling west/east.

Indeed, the fuel station at Artik is derelict. I had no problem with dust. Wonder why ;)

Magadan then heading west bound to mongolia/ stans/ europe and beyond is now confirmed as on 100% for summer 2014

a friend just bought a new (to him) KTM 640 adventure (with 2000 miles from new), so if you see a mirage of two orange things on the horizon (possibly dirt brown too) heading towards you at speed or laying down in a river crossing as you ride west that'll be us, make sure you flag us down, or help us pick the bike up doh

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-N5...-N5rp477-S.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Pd...-Pdrt95W-S.jpg

hope the weather cooperates in 2014, i know Walter will be watching

Good luck with the trip, you will have a fantastic time. Do the tenkinskaya trakt out of Magadan it's a nice ride.
We may bump into you in Tynda if we and you are lucky, should be there middle of August.

We will go west to east on 2 KTM 640 Adv., good chance for a KTM mini meeting out there.:thumbup1:

Watch out you don't get overtaken by a Lada... :helpsmilie:

Quote:

Originally Posted by noel di pietro (Post 434136)

OK Leo, so in what stage of planning are you and when do you plan on leaving? What is your timing, driving pace, hostels/camping, heavy off roading with ultra light bike or moderate, unsurfaced/gravel type of roads? The Trans-Siberia Express sounds like a good idea, always wanted to do that trip too!
:D

Cheers,
Noel

Hi Noel:

stage of planning ->
- planning route / specifics countries /
- details & costs visa / carnets /
- planning to finalize the planning in the next months

When do you plan on leaving?
- I think May 2014 - (best period for Mongolia seems most critical)

What is your timing
- aiming at 8 weeks but this might be a little too short
- would like to get out of Europe reasonably fast.

driving pace, :scooter:
- I think a bit on the fast side of average but surely not racing
- Can get quite fast on boring highway roads and relaxed when taking in beauty :mchappy:

Hostels/camping,
- prefer camping but hostels might sometimes be more practical
- Try to travel light - use compact lightweight gear (tent - bag - pad - etc.)

heavy off roading with ultra light bike or moderate, unsurfaced/gravel type of roads?
- In between - Planning to use Yamaha Tenere 660 for this trip - reasonably fast and comfortable on tarmac - and reasonably capable off-road.

The Trans-Siberia Express sounds like a good idea, always wanted to do that trip too!
- maybe we can join..
- lets try to plan (part of) the trip together ? :D

Cheers,
Leo

Quote:

Originally Posted by leonardo (Post 437327)

Hi Leo,

I have my head split between two idea's, either two trips next year, first Morocco some 6 weeks then North Cape another 6 weeks. Or one longer and more adventurous trip to Mongolia which is equally appealing. With respect to your comments above; it pretty much aligns with my idea, except maybe for "travelling speed and boring highways". I tend to avoid boring highways all together and prefer to take 'local' roads which sort of automatically limits achievable average speed. I will take this thread off line and send you a PM, see what we can do.

cheers,
Noel

I'm trying to turn my trip into a RTW. Still heading to magadan/VLLAD though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noel di pietro (Post 437516)

This is not a question: MONGOLIA :thumbup1:

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* (Post 438395)

I'm trying to turn my trip into a RTW. Still heading to magadan/VLLAD though.

shame you're not starting in magadan or vlad, i just got my confirmation of the RO/RO out of Tilbury to Uruguay (stops in Dakar, Senegal and Santos Brazil) to carry on RTW...this would make your RTW a lot smoother and cheaper...maybe you should take up that offer of shipping your bike east first and riding a fresh bike west bound, not vice versa

I want to finish my trip in Argentina.... And maybe stay there.. Who knows !