traveling with a motorhome from Vietnam to easten Europe

[aahmadi83]

Hi all,
Me and my husband have decided to travel with our motorhome starting January 2017 from Vietnam to eastern Europe for a whole one year. We are from USA. is it possible to travel with a motorhome through Vietnam-Cambodia,laos, Nepal?are international driver license are accepted in those countries?do we need to pay any tax for our motorhome at their borders or we just need to get a temporary permit?
I heard cars in Vietnam are so expensive, so we might need to ship our motorhome from USA or just buy a RV from somewhere in Southeast Asia.which one you recommends?

Cheers,
Aral

[Tony LEE]

Might be wrong but I thought Vietnam didn't allow foreign vehicles in without huge amount of red tape.

What sort of motorhome have you got back home. Typical US motorhomes aren't really first choice for travel in remote locations, especially a new one that requires low sulphur fuel.

I would have though buying a motorhome in most of Asia would be very slim pickings.

Have you considered shipping your motorhome to Europe instead and exploring from Iceland to Morocco to Turkey and Russia plus Scandinavia and of course Europe. That you can easily do in most vehicles and by yourself.

Or South America.

http://www.epicycles.com/ is a detailed blog of an Australian couple who took a 4WD truck from Australia to Europe and Morocco and then back to Australia. There are a couple of sections devoted to planning and getting appropriate visas - one at the start of the blog and another at the start of the return trip so you might get some ideas from that.

One thing you need to check is do any of your proposed countries require you to have a Carnet for the vehicle and what sort of conditions apply to getting visas for yourself ie some visas have to be applied for in your home country and you might find some countries difficult to get into at all. Other countries have very limited periods of validity for both first entry and duration and this can make planning very difficult, especially if prior application is required. This forum has a section devoted to paperwork - see "Get Ready" in the top menu bar, and in particular Carnets so you should have a look at that too. WikiOverland is another resource for country specific info.


https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...tions/messages is a forum where once you join, you become a member of another group which has information on driving the Europe Asia routes

[Warin]

Look at carnet, International Drivers PERMIT (not licence) .. stuff covered in the blue bar thingys at the top of this page

Direct link Paperwork | Horizons Unlimited

That is only part of the 'GET READY" blue bar. Try to read most of it .. lot of information there .. will answer questions you have not though of yet. Once finshed with the "GET READY" stuff move along to the next ... heaps of reading!

Vehicle. Most people would chose a narrow vehicle .. these fit down narrow roads better. And most experience people would chose a vehicle that fits inside a shipping container - width and height are mush reduced compared to a normal american motor home. Tend to fit under bridges as well as being cheaper if you ever have to ship.

Route
Try to avoid shipping .. cost lots. So a continuous land route from Vietnam to Europe... have you plotted a course? Check for safety, visas? And then that roads actually exist of a suitable quality? Suggest you come up with a route .. list the countries and maybe the cities you think comprise a suitable route... Good Luck.

[bk190502]

Hi aahmadi83

Yes, to enter/exit Vietnam indipendently with your vehicle (motorcycle, car, motohome...) as they required a permit from the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (Ministry of Transport) then you can get a temporary import/export from the border for your vehicle.

To get this permit, you will need to contact a local tour operator from Vietnam who can do this job for an extra fee.

For your long trip you can ship your motohome from USA to Vietnam. It may take up to 6 weeks but shipping is not expensive. Why you should bring your own motohome as it is under your name (owner name). You also can get the Carnet de Passage (they don't issue in SE Asia (accept Malaysia) as most of the countries will ask fro the Carnet de Passage.

To buy a RV in SE Asia for this trip doesn't seam to work or you may have to get a 3-6 months visa for Malaysia and get a resident contract...and hire some garage to organize this for you for an extra fee (if you prefer to buy, I strongly recommend to buy in Malaysia or Thailand) as they are only countries can easily accept for foreign owning a vehicle under their name. But buying an used vehicle in SE Asia you must know the history of the vehicle (if it was floaded...) as they could give you lot of trouble along the road.

Your trip sound very interesting and since my experienced it is no problem for the road from SE Asia (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Iran...I would drive over Iran, Turkey, Bungary, Greece, Albani...I prefer Easten Europe than the West as it is cheaper, more culture, nature....

Good Luck!!!

P/s: Here is a link you can contact one local tour operator in Vietnam for information about overland crossing borders permit MOTOTOURS ASIA: Overland crossing borders motorbike tour Southeast Asia
They do motorcycle tours around SE Asia so hope they give you advices

[m37charlie]

1) Exactly what type of motorhome is it? Is it a typical Class C (too little ground clearance, usually way too much overhang, poor ground clearance, too wide) or a bigger diesel pusher (too long, too little ground clearance, too wide, need for ULSD if 2007 or later)? Or is it set up better for 3rd world travel? Can you survive no RV parks with no "plug-ins"?
2) Do you plan to go thru China (much planning, escort, $$$$ needed, cheaper if in a group), then Mongolia and Russia; or ship across Bay of Bengal from Pt. Kelang in Malaysia to India (Myanmar so far not friendly to independent travellers except with expensive escort, like China - cheaper in a group), then drive thru Pakistan and Iran to Turkey?
3) Carnets for North Americans are a big problem right now. the Canadian CAA was doing them bailed in March 2015. A European agency has to my knowledge not yet stepped forwards to do carnets for North Americans. They are needed for Malaysia and I think India and Pakistan; Iran is a maybe I think, also Thailand.
My next trip is likely to be Alaska to Halifax, then Antwerp to Mongolia and back to Germany, then next year Germany to Magadan and back, possibly Central Asian "stans"; also little detour to Israel and back by boat; NO carnets needed!
Shipping across Atlantic can be cheaper than Pacific by a factor of up to 5 to 8!! Personal experience with both.

Charlie