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Burma
I'm sorry I know Burma has been discussed plenty, but apparently there are borders open at India and Thailand.
Does anyone know anyone who has successfully crossed Burma? The FCO website says you have to enter and leave by the same border crossing and movement within the country is highly restricted. My friend is confident that we won't have too many issues getting in and out and the Ozbus crosses every couple of months. (strange their website doesnt have any blogs or photos from past trips but hey-ho) Any ideas? Thanks :blushing: |
India Burma border open??
Unless things have radically changed in the last few weeks, I'm afraid you're misinformed. This border has been closed since the late fifties. I think the Oz Bus is probably put on a boat from Kolkata to Singapore or something similar. Very occassionally people make it across, but not without half a lifetime's worth of political wrangling with both the Indian and Burmese goverments. Forget it. Daniel |
As long as the current government stays in power, it´ll be nearly impossible to get there with your own vehicle, nevermind cross entire Burma with it.
Getting there as a backpacker, joining a guided tour, etc., that should be possible. I dont get it, why such noble servants of their own people, like the governments of Burma, North Korea, and Zimbabwe seem to remain in power forever. If there was a free election, they know they wouldn´t get a whole lot votes (that´s probably, why there never is - or maybe there once was in Burma, but the military junta ignored the result!!) Taking good care of their personal well-being seems all these so-called leaders are capable of. |
I have heard several reports of the border being open and that it is now possible to move from India to Thailand overland. I am in Nepal at the moment and a few people have commented on it because it is so unusual.
I don't know of anyone trying the actual crossing though and I would expect to get across with a motorbike would be utter hell in which you would be escorted everywhere, not allowed to see the people or the country. You would probably have to follow one road and I suspect, unlike in Pakistan where you are obviously escorted both for your own protection and to keep an eye on you, you would be watched like a hawk by whichever a**hole is in charge of locking people away for a very long time. If you decide to do it I would speak with professional diplomats, specialists on the country and maybe even consider kidnap insurance. It isn't really in the spirit of exploration but then Burma isn't really into the hospitality thing! Ride safe, Ol |
Thanks for the replies. We've hit major problems with the trip planning.
The Chinese guide has told us the Chinese Gov't aren't letting people cross the border from Nepal, that the crossing at KKH may also be closed or have huge difficulties crossing there. The best place to enter would be Krygystan, which is a huge detour. Last resort is shipping from India to Thailand - just been doing a search and didnt see any mentions of time or cost... I personally think Burma would be a bad idea, imagine getting there with the paperwork and still not being allowed in :( Its all very frustrating! |
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I´ve got some friends, who´ve tried quite recently from all possible borders between Burma/Thailand, and failed. Not that they had very high hopes in the first place! But sure, I think we would all appreciate, if someone had the time and the patience to actually give it a go from the Indian side. |
I'm friends with an Indian who rode Burma a few years ago. He said the fuel and roads sucked. He said Burma was the first time he dropped his bike and that he dropped it 13 times in a 2km section if I remember correctly. I asked how he managed to get the paperwork and he kind of trailed off and said he could do it because he was Indian.
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Stop press....
We might be OK by August, something is going on March/Apr time but hopefully we can go ahead with the Tibet-China-Vietnam route by August. We'll know for sure by May. Back up plan being enter at Krygystan or get a double entry for India and back track for shipping Bay of Bengal to Thailand Fingers and toes crossed everyone! |
Jelle, do you mean that China is opening up to vehicles without guides?
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driving burma
We looked into this in 2006. We finally tracked down the 'real' reason for not being allowed to enter from India. It seems it's the eastern Indian states that are the stumbling block- the government will not allow access to the region without a permit and you can only get a permit from within the region?!!
We heard that there is a German agency that can 'help' but they are obviously not that good as we've heard no stories of vehicles entering. We did hear of Americans that drove into Burma from Thailand, did a tour then entered Thailand again. Not sure what registration the vehicles had- maybe Thai plates get allowed in?? On the China front- we also heard rumours that the government were considering changes for foreign vehicles entering. The fact that the Chinese have spent lots of cash changing all their signs to english and chinese is an indication that there may be some truth behind the rumour. Fingers crossed! :cool4: |
Getting permits to the easternmost states in India sure could be one thing. But I find it kind of hard to believe, that if you´d manage that, then foreign vehicles would be allowed to enter Burma from there without a problem. They most certainly are normally not allowed to enter from Thailand, and I dont think Thai plates would help.
I did read about someone entering with a car from Thailand, and then got like to the first checkpoint after the border, and had to make a u-turn. Hope that´s not the same "tour" of Burma, that you referred to. Got a friend near Bangkok, who did RTW in 1974, and has been riding hundreds of thousands of km´s around SE Asia by bike. He´s never been to Burma with his own bike, so that should give you some idea of how thick a wall you´re looking at. But like I said, if you want it so much, then go to the border and try, then you´ll know. And please do also share the information afterwards. About China, will only believe there will be any change, when I see it. |
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As some said, might be worth going to the Burma border just to see what happens. And my China well.... :censored: Best of luck, Ol |
Put the bike on a cargo ship to sail the Bay of Bengal, and you should have about 2 weeks spare time, buy a rucksack, get a flight to Yangon, and explore Burma as a backpacker, before you go meet the bike at the other end. That should be fully do-able, and if I had an obsession about that country, that´s what I´d probably do.
Been trying in vain to get into Vietnam with a foreign-regoed bike, and I wouldnt waste my time trying to do the same with Burma. Even if some miracle of biblical proportions happened, and I´d be allowed entry, I would most definitely not be allowed to ride all the way, so what would be the point? Certain amount of optimism is often ok, but still I would use my time on the trip more efficiently. |
Hi all
FWIW here's my 2 penn'oth. I drove through India and reached Calcutta in Jan 08. overlandcruiser.net - India I would have liked to drive from India into Burma, but didn't even bother trying as I had been told it was impossible. So I stuck the car in a shipping container in Calcutta and jetted off to Burma with a backpack for a couple of weeks before rejoining the car in KL. Imagine my surprise when I met Thierry and Coralie in Inle, with their French-registered Landrover. They had driven in from Thailand, through the Mae Sai border. Overland from Mandalay -->Imphal ... - Thorn Tree Travel Forum - Lonely Planet I tried to find out how they had managed to negotiate the bureaucracy to get into Burma, but they wouldn't tell me - didn't want to open up the floodgates (as if!) I think, or rather I know, that Thierry was very good at talking to people and getting what he wanted without directly asking for it. But you will be interested to know that even Thierry, having enlisted the help of the French Ambassador to Burma to speak directly to his Indian counterpart, was not able to get a permit from Rangoon to travel through the North Eastern Region of India. This was categorically NOT the Burmese junta refusing him, but the Indians. I am told that this was nothing to do with visa issues, nor where the permit was applied for, but due to a then-imminent crackdown against separatist rebels in the NER, which the Indian government did not want foreigners to witness. So Thierry and Corali had to return to Thailand through Mae Sai. By all means go to Burma, but I wouldn't get too worried about not taking your own vehicle. If nothing else, you will have a lot of difficulty getting decent fuel for it - Thierry and Corali had to threaten a diplomatic incident every time they wanted diesel from the government filling stations. I remember one time when they ended up buying 5 gallons of government diesel, at the black market price, only to see the government filling station people promptly using their money to buy 5 gallons of black-market diesel from outside the station and pour it back into the government diesel tank! We heard many stories of people's engines being ruined with black-market fuel; government fuel is rationed, and can only be bought with ration books issued to vehicles registered in the same division as the one they are buying fuel in. I was also told in Calcutta that the border between the NER of India and Burma IS open, but only for Burmese/Indian citizens ie no 3rd country nationals. Mark |
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Wow that is some news. Ill be looking forward to hearing about this journey. I hope it works out and your time invested pays off. |
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I better clarify what we're doing because this thread has gone to rat shit with all kinds of rumors starting!!
We're driving UK to Oz in Jul 09, we have a Chinese guide lined, up mucho expense..... if anyone wants to join us they can but be quick we have to pay the deposit soon. The China guide emailed our mate and said the Nepal - China border will be closed until Apr 09 and they would have to find an alternate route. Either Krygystan - China Pakistan - China - which again maybe closed. So these guys have been approved to go over KKH into CHina, with more expense involved. One of my group decided that Burma was the way forward and had heard about people doing it.... thread on here about 5 years ago! Anyway she's been talked out of it now. The China guide has emailed me and said we should be fine to enter China from Nepal late August but will confirm in May. So to recap we're crossing China late Aug 09 from Nepal to ?Vietnam. With a guide! **** Pecha72 - have you been unable to get a forgien reg bike into Vietnam? I've read about some big issues there, is it worth avoiding?***** |
In December -06, I was with a group of 8, trying to enter Vietnam on 115cc scooters, with Thai plates, from Cambodia and Laos. Didn´t work. But maybe the size of our group also made it harder to succeed, we were pretty close many time (tried a total of 5 times on 4 different international border stations). It seems that they basically reject all foreign bikes, no matter if its 50 or 1500cc. I heard of someone, who made it with significant help from their embassy, but have no personal experience about that. The Vietnamese consulate in Phnom Penh certainly wasnt helpful at all.
I would imagine that crossing with your own vehicle from China to Vietnam could be even more complicated, as they´re less than friendly neighbours, and both have very strict customs regulations for vehicles, etc. But that´s just my assumption, could be wrong (and I think very few Westerners have tried crossing there, who knows if that´s actually good). Maybe if you got time before you set off, trying to get some backup from your embassy could be worth trying. Very few authorities at the borders spoke any English (some spoke a little French, though!), so if you´re lucky enough to get some recommendation letter or anything on paper, make sure you´ll have it in Vietnamese, so they´ll be able to understand it. |
funny you should ask
i am currently in the state of Mizoram in NE india. asking in kolkata and the mizoram houses in guwahati and shillong brought no success for a permit. a local staying at my hotel told me i could get it easily in silchar. jso i went there. it is easy...for a local. BUT, i got the relevant tel numbers in aizawl and with a phone call, a fax of my documents and another phone call i got the permit from the govt in aizawl!
they put my name at the bottom of the list of 8 japanese names. you must be in a group of 4 or more or a married couple. still cant figure out any logic for that reasoning!! lol (0389) 2328897. tel # of Rami. she is the secretary to make things happen. fax # 0389 2322745 those numbers are in aizawl, the capital of mizoram. the permit was free. i made copies of the permit too. the roads all around silchar are shit. but once you get into mizoram, they are great. any bad roads are being worked on now and should be ready by june just b4 the monsoon. at the state border NOBODY asked to see my permit!! damn, i wanted to show it off now!! anyway...riding through aizawl a guy pulls alongside me on another bullet ( i am riding a 350 standard bullet) and invites me over to his shop. its a bullet mechanic shop. hot wheels and HQ to the aizawl thunder bullet club. a week later we were 13 bikes riding for champhai near the burmese border. a beautiful ride through the hills. hotel tourist lodge in chaltlang aizawl (0389) 2341083 or 234 9421. plenty of parking and nice views. IR 400/night. us$8 the day after arriving we set out for burma and rih lake ( rihdil ). it was part of mizo b4 the british split it into burma years ago. the india immigration there doesnt seem to mind anyone leaving into burma from there. i asked them on the way out and they told me if i had a burmese visa, i could exit india on my bike. now, the guys were worried that i might be stopped and present problems so i left my bike in champhai (tourist lodge tel#953831 235866 IR 300/night) and rode passenger. to be sure, when we passed the indian officers i looked the other way with full helmet, face scarf and sunglasses. no problem and we crossed the bridge without stopping. when we entered burma my buddy and i pulled farther up from the checkpoint to avoid eye contact with the burmese officials. people in champhai had told us that 'white people' were not allowed in to burma at the point. but after a couple of minutes i realized all was well and pulled up my helmet and lowered my scarf and helloed 2 or 3 of the burmese guards. they were all smiling and only cared about having their photos taken sitting on an enfield! and of course the entry fee for each bike. a fews rupees only. then, we hit the bars there. mizoram is a dry state so the burmese border sells a good selection of alcohol! then, its a few kms to the lake. now, the road from champhai to the lake is atrocious. and the road leading further into burma was dirt as far as i could see. i've heard it is absolute hell all the way in to their main road. i didnt ask the burmese officials if i could have gone further in because i didnt want to make a potential problem for the others, in case i was detained or something. the border closes at 5pm every day. the lake is a popular site for indian tourists to visit on a day trip. so the border guards on both sides are used to people coming and going and are pretty lax on checking documents and all. there is also a guest house at the lake. i didnt ask the price. the burmese officials wrote down every license plate number that entered and i THINK wrote them down on the way out. but i know the bike i was on didnt stop for that. we crossed immediately upon reaching the bridge back into india and waited for the others to shop. sorry, but that is all i have on that. if you entered and said you were only going to the lake and took off for other parts of burma maybe you would be stopped further in by a more official set of guards. i dont know and the guys here dont either. for many, it was their first time to the lake. for their shop in aizawl call Rock 9436154103. the shop is in khatla area on peter street. all great guys and good mechanics too. maybe this will allow someone else to try that border and go in further to see what is possible. its not in my plans to do this on this trip and i will be leaving aizawl in a couple of days. i will be off to the rest of the northeastern states over the next 3 months. later |
Re the access from Nepal, I remember reading in the last few weeks that there was a temporary lock down on Tibet because of an important anniversary coming up and Chinese concern that there could be demonstrations. Im assuming that that is what is going on March/April which means it should all be open and fine again later in the year.
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yes, something is definately going on in march. 50years ago the dalai lama left tibet. and if there will be riots like last year you can bet on it beeing impossible going into tibet for some time. with or without car/bike...
but burma ::: tried to rent a 150cc bike there two years ago. no chance at all. no even for 2hours to look for some missing friends (in pagan that was). since jan 2007 foreingers are not allowed the rent bikes anymore so i can hardly imagine that the authorities let us ride our own bikes in/trough burma!!! |
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