help

[parko]

help parko here,i am currently on a rtw trip,left england 8 weeks ago now in vladivostok went to ship the bike to south korea and they want me to leave $3000 dollars with the bike till i leave the country witch i havent got,there is an alternative to go ot japan but i ahve no carnet as i planned to go to korea but didnt no about this money.does any body have any idea what will happen if i turn up in japan with no carnet,i was going to fly the bike to usa but they say it wil have to go to moscow first costing a fortune any body got any ideas please

[Chris of Japan]

If you show up in Japan without a carnet there is a (very) slight chance you can get a temporary import permission.
A New Zealander did it in 2005, but it took him 3 days with the help of a Japanese person. Customs might remember how to do it, but there is no guarantee.
If you do try, ask for form C5014 "Delcaration of Temporary Importation or Exportation of Motor Vehicle."
Again, this is not a guarantee. Just telling you there is a slight chance. Customs prefers you use a carnet.

You might try to see if Korea will accept the deposit on a credit card.
They you wouldn't need the cash.

[petefromberkeley]

Yeah, I think you would be taking a pretty big chance turning up in Japan with no carnet. They tend to follow the rules there and the rules say you need a carnet.

[Phil Flanagan]

Parko

Japan with no carnet - very unlikely !

South Korea. (we came here a week ago)
We are in a 4x4 and left on the Dong Chun ferry from Zarubino (south of Vlad, 200kms) but same ferry also serves Vlad, Zarubino port is quieter and easier to deal with (VERY EASY) and the ferry runs 3 times a week from there but only once a week from Vlad.

We DO have a carnet but it is not recognised (valid ?) for South Korea.
When you arrive here you will have to buy insurance and leave a deposit which officially is supposed to be 40% of the vehicle value.
We bought 3 months insurance for about $250 (bike should be cheaper)
We negotiated the deposit from $2000 to just over $1000.
A friend of mine came in the week before and he too negotiated his deposit from $4000 down to about $1500.

If you want to see Korea (and I highly recommend you do - it is beautiful and such a delight after Mongolia) then you will have to pay.
The deposit is fully refunded on exit.
You have to pay in Korean WAN (bank at port), if you need to use visa only 1 bank in town has facilities. Their machine will spit out 500,000 wan each day for you !

Ferry cost : $250 per person vehicle cost $450 (bike should be $200)(we were the only vehicle on the ferry from Zarubino).

1 guy in customs office here speaks acceptable English and he is extremely helpful.
We are using Wendy Choi of aerokorea for arranging our shipment to States in November.
Wendy is excellent. & she has helped no end (at no cost) for getting us into the country. I cannot recommend her high enough. USE HER !

We were met at the port (SokCho) by the guy who speaks english and he completely walked us through all paperwork - absolute breeze.
Everybody here is very friendly and very helpful, scenary is gorgeous, plenty of excellent facilties, camping etc and all free coz it's out of season !
Get this - in SokCho City Hall are toilets and showers available for tourists & Vips !!! very clean and all weird electronics ! not UB style !!!!!

If you don't want to ride here in Korea then Wendy can arrange 'bonded freight' of your bike from Zarubino direct to ???? (USA) she did this for MotoEdde just few weeks back.

If you do get here, we may have space in a container across to LA, probably leaving towards end of October.

Phil.

MotoEdde - regular on HUBB, you'll find him.
Wendy - wendychoi2 (who is AT) gmail.com

[parko]

hello there thanks for the rpelies do you have any idea how much it costs to ship the bike direct from korea to usa,and how often the ferry leaves and also can you go as a passenger,i need to be in the usa by the end of the the month at the lastest running in the new york marathon in novemeber so need to be there i will email wendy and see if i can get some ifo thanks paul

[Phil Flanagan]

hi Parko
PHIL here ! yes the name is PHIL.

Cost of bike to US - find MotoEdde, he's often on HUBB, PM him.

Yes, you can go as just passenger on ferry (exactly what edde did.
You could then at least have some time in Korea and utilise their excellent train system.

Cheapest flight we can find is from SEOUL to LA with company called NorthWest Airlines (via expedia) $850 one way.
Next cheapest is to use air china vi beijing

Phil.

[parko]

hello all made it to south korea,here at busan port may get my bike on a ship to seattle soon,absouletely knackered,got stuck here no way out i thought maybe have to leave bike ,may be ok at the seamans mission busan port ,never thought trying to do a rtw trip would be like this everyday a challenge but good no ide who i am going to meet or end sleeping from one day to the next been on the road 3 months,everbody i have meet has been lovely my cash card didnt work over weekend and somebody gave me 200 dollars,this world is s great place to live in nice people trying to help me everyday its unreal at times any enough for now bye

[Izatafac]

Hi Parko,

just to let you know (if you're not aware already) that Monday/Tues/Weds 24th, 25th, and 26th (next week) is a huge Korean holiday called Chuseok (Thanksgiving).
It's the biggest holiday of the year, and all Govt offices, banks, businesses, schools, etc are shut for the whole time, so you won't be able to get anything much official done or organised then. Shops are probably open, but some have limited hours. If you need cash I'd advise getting it before this weekend, because the cash machines run out of money, and the machine-filler-upper-people are on holiday too.
And traffic will be mental with people visiting their hometowns to pay respect to ancestors.
Hope it doesn't impact badly on your plans.

[Phil Flanagan]

wet wet wet ! and wet some more.

Hi Parko
Glad Wendy could help you out.
We stayed with friends in Seoul via the couch surfing program. We've had to leave them now and are in fact heading south (Friday).
They can't help with accom as they've got their couch booked.

Seoul is great (especially after the fun n games of the lastest few countries !) but it is pricey. Don't get lured into those coffee houses, they'll steal all your money.

How much longer you planning to stay ?
Who with / how / when are you flying out ?

Anyone know of place to sleep in Busan ?

Phil.