New here! Planning UK-India
 

Hello everyone!
I'm planning a London-India by motorbike starting in September so I'm sure I will be spending good hours here :).

I've been reading quite a lot in the last few months and now I am getting serious to get all the paperwork and route ready.

"See you" in the forums!

Nice:) I will leave in oktober from germany to india. Are you interested in meeting up for some parts in Pakistan / iran?

Gesendet von meinem ONE A2003 mit Tapatalk

Would be great! I am still in a very early stage of planning but I think I would be entering Iran in late September.

Let's keep in touch and good luck your your planning!

IF you you guys are in Hunza (Pakistan-China border) look us up and let us know if we can help!

welcome!

I'm so jealous of all these non US/UK/Can citizens that can just pop into Iran :( :( :(

I hope you post all about it so the rest of us can live vicariously through you!

Hi we are planning this in 2019 have 5 to 6 months to complete and fancy spending some time in Russia.

How did you get on.?

Any watch outs you can tell us about or any advice.

We are also considering sending bikes to India and coming back to UK.

Thanks in advance Guy

Hi,
I have done two very long road trips driving Land Rover Defender in Russia with no problems except mad drivers and bad roads. In 2013 I drove from Kirkenes, Norway via Murmansk all the way south to Vladikafkaz in the Caucasus and then exited through Donetsk, shortly before the war started. In 2015 I drove Barcelona to Vladivostok including a big loop through Mongolia.

Border formalities are straightforward and no issue as long as you have your paperwork in order. Traffic police will not hassle you unless you are speeding or committing other obvious traffic infractions. People are friendly and will try to help you, even if their English is very limited. There are lot's of speed traps on the main highways in European Russia, but once you get to Siberia they are usually only near large towns. Russia is a beautiful country and there are lot's of things to see.

The negative side: Russian drivers are some of the most manic in the world. Drive defensively and be prepared to see lots of speeding Russians and very reckless driving. It is easy to be collateral damage! I saw a fair amount of very ugly road accidents. The roads are occasionally pretty poor with lots of bad asphalt. It's not for the lack of road maintenance. It's just that there is too much road to maintain and harsh weather conditions to deal with.

I felt a lot more secure in Russia than I did in Poland, where I was fighting off drunks at my nightly bivouac sites. In Russia I had no problems and there are hundreds of places to slip into just off the main roads for night bivouacs. Every larger town has decent grocery stores and some have downright nice shopping malls. Fuel is easy to get, cheap, and Euro norm quality readily available. Fill at the major stations to avoid getting bad fuel. Paying with credit card is no problem at the major stations. You always have to pay in advance or leave a deposit before they turn on the fuel.
Enjoy.