Evening folks,

Myself and my girlfriend and planning a year out next year from work...never did the uni gap year so we figured now's a good time with the economy in the state that it's in and having saved a couple of pennies.

Last couple of years I've developed a dislike/fear of flying and that's opened up overland travel for me.

We're planning to travel from Moscow on the Trans Mongolian/Manchurian to Beijing, spending some time there learning Mandarin and exploring. Then we're heading to Shanghai for a bit more of the same. After that we will keep traveling overland to HK (where my girlfriend is originally from and has a house there) where we'll spend a month or so seeing relatives and relaxing before heading to Vietnam.

When we get to Hanoi we plan on buying a motorbike and exploring the north before taking the bike down to HCMC then into Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia where we will stay for a while.

From there we were going to try and get overland to India but I'm not sure if that's even possible (or probably very £££).

We'll spend some time in India, traveling all over before flying home - I'd like to carry on and see Turkey but I doubt that our money would last that long!

Our other option is doing this trip in reverse. I'd like to know if anyone has an opinion on either direction, the route or some good old advice.

We both like to get off the beaten path and have a big interest in food. Neither of us is against stopping off to work along the way, and if we can organise something, we'd like to help out with some sort of charity/conservation group.


A couple of questions...

1. I've read a few posts on here and other sites about crossing VN, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia with a bike and there seems to be conflicting information on border crossing.
Can you take a bike, bought in VN, across these countries?

2. What documentation will I require?

3. In China, I've read that you simply can't buy/rent a bike and drive through the country. Is this true? and do you need a government guide if you are going out of the cities?

4. Does my girlfriend, who has a HK card and passport, get any benefits i.e. allow us not to require a guide?

5. Is it possible to travel from Thailand to India? I expect that it's Burma that's the problem. Does anyone know if it's possible to travel through there? Failing that I'd be keen to get on a ferry/cargo ship of some sort.

6. I'm sure there's been plenty people who have done this sort of trip, could anyone give me a rough indication on how much to budget?

7. Depending on which way round we're going to travel, can anyone tell me what might be a good time, weather-wise, to start in each country. We're not bothered about being in the rainy season but I'm concerned about biking through VN etc as that's going to affect our travel.

Also, if anyone is doing all or part of these places next year it would be good to share tips/research and maybe hook up along the way.

Thanks for reading, happy biking!

Re no 5 I have been interested in the Thai-India route for some time so I'll follow your attempts with interest.
Bloody Burma !
India worries that that the Andaman islands (India) are too close to Thailand and Malaysia so are quite strict with entering and leaving India this way.But in recent times there has been a loosening of rules with direct flights from se asia so I think it may be worth pursuing.

Hi TwoBob

I would like to keep to overland travel as much as possible but this might be one part of the trip we're probably going to have to be sealed into a can of other people's farts and flung into the sky!

Other than that I read a book called Escaping the Winter by Anne Mustoe (which isn't that great and seemingly aimed at people with plenty money) which suggested some cargo ship companies that have a few places for passengers. It would be a fantastic way to enter India but I'll have to see about the restrictions.

I'd like to see Burma, there's quite a lot of mystery about the country but, as you say, Bloody Burma!

I believe you can do Burma (or at least parts of it) as a backpacker. But going overland between India & Thailand is another thing. Especially with your own vehicle — sure you´re free to try, but I REALLY would not count on succeeding! If you´re first time in the region, might be easier to simply forget it, and think of other options; probably saves you a lot of headache.

It seems it might be possible to ride all the way from Laos (not Thailand — look at the map, and you´ll see why!) to India... but it means a long trip thru China, and likely to cost so much with the guides & paperwork, that it´s out of reach for most travelers. I believe that on this forum, there has been a figure of +6000 euros (per head!) for going that route in the other direction in 2007. And Tibet is a sensitive region, so might not be possible every time (plus you´d be crossing the Himalayas as well as the Tibetan plateau, so don´t take the weather challenges lightly!)

Bay of Bengal: NO ferries between India & SE Asia since decades. Possibly some big cargo ship, with a very limited # of cabins, going between Chennai & Singapore(?), but appeared random and all but cheap. It is possible to freight relatively cheaply, by sea or by air, between several cities/ports in the region, and because of the reasons mentioned above, that´s how vehicles usually travel between India & SE Asia.

Browse the forum, and you will find plenty of discussions about exactly these same topics.

Thanks for the info. There's quite a lot of info about overland travel from Malaysia to India, some of it conflicting, some good news and some bad news but I think, for the most part, it's going to be quite a costly and lengthy task to get through Burma.

We're currently looking for a route by sea from Malaysia to northern India. If anyone has info on this it would be most welcome.

thanks again.

I flew into Rangoon from Bangkok, about the only way to get in, for three weeks backpacking last year which I normally wouldn't do but it is a great place to visit and would recommend it.

Thanks for the recommendation Mark. Is travel within Burma not quite restricted by the government?

Yes, you can only stay in licenced guest houses and go where they want you to, but there is enough of that to make it worth while and there was not the oppresive atmosphere that some places with questionable governments have.

1. I've read a few posts on here and other sites about crossing VN, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia with a bike and there seems to be conflicting information on border crossing.
Can you take a bike, bought in VN, across these countries?

As of May 1st, Thai, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam has agreements to allow land inter-travel. It means you can freely bring any vehicle from the 4 countries in the 4 countries.

2. What documentation will I require?

Ownerships and registrations.


3. In China, I've read that you simply can't buy/rent a bike and drive through the country. Is this true? and do you need a government guide if you are going out of the cities?

Yes. it is true. However, you can bring a bike from VN into China. No it is not true.

4. Does my girlfriend, who has a HK card and passport, get any benefits i.e. allow us not to require a guide?

No.

5. Is it possible to travel from Thailand to India? I expect that it's Burma that's the problem. Does anyone know if it's possible to travel through there? Failing that I'd be keen to get on a ferry/cargo ship of some sort.

Yes you can by pass Burma (land travel) into India but it is longer.

6. I'm sure there's been plenty people who have done this sort of trip, could anyone give me a rough indication on how much to budget?

Depends on you and your girlfriend's need of comfort level. In Thai and India, I spent U.S $45 per day but it gets cheaper if you share room and gas.

7. Depending on which way round we're going to travel, can anyone tell me what might be a good time, weather-wise, to start in each country. We're not bothered about being in the rainy season but I'm concerned about biking through VN etc as that's going to affect our travel.

In that region, mid Nov is a good start but you want to complete your trip prior to late March since it will enters the rainy season.

Also, if anyone is doing all or part of these places next year it would be good to share tips/research and maybe hook up along the way.

We (3 males (2 in early 70s and one in 50s) and 1 female (60 yo) are flying into Hanoi, pre-buy 4 125cc motorcycles drive to Quang-Binh for the largest cave in the world), Ho Chi Minh trail into Laos visiting Luaung Prabang, dropping down to Ankor Wats,floating city, cut north to Chiang Mai and then down to Bankok. We simply donate the bikes to charities and fly home from Bangkok.

Have a great trip. I wish we have as much time as you do.

Can you please give us a source for this? It will be a major boost for bike travel in the region.

If this is true as well it would open up overland bike travel from SE Asia to Europe during the summer months.

__________________
Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

trying your blood's worth bottling
"As of May 1st, Thai, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam has agreements to allow land inter-travel. It means you can freely bring any vehicle from the 4 countries in the 4 countries. "

more here Explore Indochina & Vietnam Travel.
Quote
"Reportedly, the next three Indochinese countries will sign an agreement to allow road vehicles in circulation means more easily within the three countries of Indochina.Travel agents is expected after the deal, two-way tourists travel by road will be the growth sharply today."

There's a new site to promote the Mekong countries Explore Mekong
have registered but can't post on its forum , will keep trying to get an answer
This could be good news

awesome! that's good news. Going to speak to the embassies and see what they are saying about it.

That might change our route a bit now - in a good way. We might have the option of exploring China on the bike now. Also will look into Burma more as I'm really keen to go through/round Burma and see Darjeeling and Assam.

Your trip sounds good, I think we'll include the cave. What are your trip dates, it'd be great to meet up along the way.

Just had a look at the Mekong site, it looks pretty good albeit lacking in good content but I'm sure it'll grow. Adding it to my 'research' folder.

Suggest you research stories of people who have already gone through Burma. Just one morsel of info: to get to the Burmese border in India you need an Inner Line Permit. Apparently, it's about as hard to get for a foreigner as permission to cross Burma itself.

__________________
Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10