world trip
 

Hi all
We are leaving the UK late June 2014 and crossing Russia between August and September starting from St Petersburg to Moscow and east to Mongolia. We need to get from there into China and down to Vietnam, to Thailand and Malaysia. Then onto Australia spending about 3 months there from November. Then off to the USA. If anyone has any advise or is travelling at any point of the same route please let me know. Its always good to meet up with like minded travellers.
David & Sally

If youre planning to travel through China with your own vehicle (you are on bikes I presume) you need chinese guides. And as far as I know the guides need your paperwork at least 3 months ahead of your planned arrival to the country to make all permitions etc ready for you.
Its not cheap - so you better plan well and have a nice savings account also...

Entering Vietnam with a foreign-registered vehicle isn't straightforward either. If you don't have advance permission to do so from Hanoi .. then forget about it, as you will more than likely be turned away at the border.
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RTW China, Vietnam
 

Hi Keith
Thanks for info. I have a passage de carnet sorted but if you think that I still need to contact Hanoi I had better get on with it. I know China is going to be a pain but its the best route through as trying to avoid the "Stans".

Vietnam permission
 

Permission to take a UK registered bike into Vietnam took approx 2 months to negotiate for a visit last August 2013.

David, it's always good to have a carnet up your sleeve .. :thumbup1: .. especially for big chunks of SE Asia.

However, Vietnam is not one of those countries where a carnet is a prerequisite; always assuming you get permission to take your bike over the border, which is probably a non-starter - or 50:50 at best. But there's no harm in trying.

Best of luck

Keith

PS - I wouldn't know where to start looking for permission from Hanoi. I did manage to get my bike over the border into VN from Laos - along with a handful of other bikers - back in April last year (2013). I/we just got lucky with the timing through one particular border crossing. That window of opportunity was closed down shortly afterwards, so I understand.
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I think Vietnam can still be arranged with an agency & guide but you could also cross into Laos instead. For china if you are able to join a group going the same way, the cost will be substantially less. Search the threads, there are lots of people looking to join up.

Si [Niello8], I made a decision a while back that if I couldn’t travel independently within a country, then the government of that country can stick it, all of it, right up where the sun don’t shine. :nono:

Example: I can travel freely in your country - have done - and your government is kind and gracious enough to allow me to go wherever and whenever I want, without any encumbrances, providing I observe and stay within your laws - that is and was the only condition.

This is the way it should be. Anything less .. and I don’t want to know; I’ll go spend my money in some other place .. where I'm more welcome.

[rant over!]

Keith

Hi David and Sally,
For vietnam, at least for cars, you currently have to have a guide. This rule came into force in January of this year.
I am pretty sure they told me it was the same for motorbikes, but could be very wrong there.
I can PM you the travel agencies we were using if you want.
I would go from china to Laos to Cambodia to Thailand. That way you have a better chance of joining a group going from Mongolia through China.



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