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Northern and Central Asia Topics specific to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea
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I haven't been everywhere...
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  #1  
Old 11 Sep 2008
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London- Sumatra
Hi there,

Just wondering, would 8 weeks be long enough to travel said route on a honda XR400 without putting ourselves under huge time pressure?

Thanks
Tom
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  #2  
Old 11 Sep 2008
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Smile 8 weeks?
please be adviced that in 8 weeks you will be barely out of India, even if you ride hard and not look around, borders, police checkpoints, fuelstops, not to mention you will have to stop to eat and drink, think twice about speeding towards your goal

airfreight to Malaysia, do Thailand and to Sumatra,
costs about 1000 eurofor airfreight

regards
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  #3  
Old 11 Sep 2008
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Thats not a route, its a starting point and destination. There are many routes you can take, especially through Central Asia. Turkey and Iran have good roads, Pakistan and India have all sorts of roads, good and bad. Covering the distance in India is slow and painful, often only 150-250kms per day is enough.

We airfreighted from Chennai to Bangkok by Malaysia Airlines, cost around 600 euros. But we had a Vstrom, so if you can make a smaller crate for an XR400, might be cheaper. That was via Kuala Lumpur, so I would think it shouldnt cost much more to go there.
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  #4  
Old 12 Sep 2008
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woops
sorry, I was in a bit of a rush when I wrote that!

What I meant to say was that I have an 8 week slot next summer where I would ideally like to travel east from london. In the back of the 'Adventure motorcycling guide' there is a dutch lady who claims she rode to sumatra on a honda C100, clearly I misunderstood the claim as travelling through the whole of Europe beforehand!

Nevertheless, I would love to travel as far as possible, allowing myself time to enjoy being on the bike and not consta ulanbataar ntly chasing targets etc. Also, considering Europe would consist predominantly ( if not all ) of nice asphalt and sealed roads, I think a considerable off road experience would be in order as well! Would it be possible to make ulaanbaatar via kazakhstan?

I apologise if everything appears to general, the original trip I planned had to be canceled due to some somewhat unforseen circumstances!
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  #5  
Old 12 Sep 2008
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London - Ulannbatar in 8weeks would be OK and enjoyable but that would be through Russia not Kazahk. As far as I know the crossing Kazahk/Mongolia is sometimes easy sometimes difficult. You have to consider what countries you will go through to get to Kazahk though, and the time itll take to get through them.
London - Sumatra in 8weeks is insanity IMO. We just spent 4weeks in Sumatra alone and that was barely enough. You will be constantly looking at your watch/GPS/Speedo over those 8weeks that you wont see anything else. Agreed 8weeks is enough for Thailand and Malaysia if you want to keep moving at a steady pace.
It depends on what you want, we prefer to spend more time chilling out off the bike.
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  #6  
Old 12 Sep 2008
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Yup, the sumatra entry I looked at was a tour of the surrounding area, not actually a trip there...

As a rough outline, would it be viable to travel, UK-France-Switzerland-Austria-Hungary-Ukraine-Russia (via Volgograd )- through Kazakhstan and then to Mongolia in possibly just over two months? Also, would the XR400 stand up to the trip, or is it better to go for something such as the KLR650?

Thanks,
Tom
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  #7  
Old 14 Sep 2008
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Both those bikes are more than adequate for your trip, you will enjoy the trip more though if you are comfortable working/servising the bike yourself.
The only problem I see is your time constraints.
Its easy to use up 2months in Kazak and Mongolia alone... 2 fantastic countries. Give yourself more time.
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  #8  
Old 14 Sep 2008
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alas, if only I had that option! it's very much a case of 'grab it whilst you can' as I have been offered 8 weeks off with a contingency week and half if required!

I would love to spend more time in both countries as they will no doubt form the most unforgettable part of the trip :-(. Out of interest what is the best route through both countries over July/August considering the limited time frame? And is it feasible to cross the border into Kazakhstan via volgograd or should we aim somewhere else?

Thanks again,
Tom
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