hi guys!
live end of april for a 3 months trip through the stan's to mongolia then back europe through russia. is there anyone made a similar trip? and how you manage your money? cash? cb? euros? dollars?
thanks
Mickael

Don‚t you worry any of those that you mentioned they are going to be taken from you along the way..they love all world currency's.

safe ride and enjoy the adventure...

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Serbia to Japan 2014
Central and South America 2016

I used Dollars.

In some countries, also in Mongolia in smaller cities they refuse to change Euro ( and maybe also GBP ).
All they wanted is USD, and even there only new ones and 50 or 100.

In bigger cities they change more likely everything.

In the Stans this was sometimes a real issue to get people to change smaller notes than 50 Dollar, a lot of them refused to do that.
And you need cash, in Usbekistan it is hard to find ATm to get money.

In Russia on a lot of ATM you cannot get more than 8000RUB at one time, in Mongolia not more than 80.000 Tugruk one time.
It depends a bit on the card and which ATM ( called bankomat there ) you use

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www.klausmotorreise.com

Mickael:

I can't comment on the Stans, I diligently avoid any country with a name ending in '-stan'. That suffix means 'fecked-up country'.

So far as Russia is concerned, there are ATMs everywhere. I have been to many very small and remote towns in far eastern Russia, and all across Siberia, and never had any difficulty getting money out of an ATM.

I suggest you organize the following for your trip:

1) Two credit cards - one MasterCard, and one Visa. Set up automatic payment with your bank, so the bills get paid directly out of your bank account when they are due. You can review your statements online from anywhere.

2) TWO ATM cards. You need two because if one gets lost or damaged, you don't want to be stuck without an ATM card. If you explain what you plan to do (your trip) to your bank, they should be able to issue you two cards.

Banks that issue ATM cards belong to various interbank networks such as Cirrus, Interac, Electron, Plus, etc. Ensure that the ATM card that your bank issues you works with at least two of these networks. In some countries, individual bank ATMs only support one network, which means that you might have to shop around a bit to find one that works with your card. But, this has never been a problem for me.

I don't suggest you carry large amounts of cash (any more than what you need to keep you going for a week).

Michael

Well, I can not agree with your way about talking of the "Stans"

For me this are beautiful countries and worth riding it.

Only in Tajikistan and Kirgistan I found corruption with police, but also this is able to handle.

And I never had problems with large amounts of cash.

You say you don't go to the Stans but give advice about money there?

In Usbekistan it is very hard to get money from ATM, there are just very few and you have to find them.

Kirgistan and Tajikistan just in larger cities easy to find if available.

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www.klausmotorreise.com

As I am using a VISA-Plus card for getting money at ATM bancomats I use this website to find the locations on the map, get the gps-data by comparing at google-earth and transfer that as waypoints to my navigation device. Hopefully it will work even in the Stans next year...

Hi Mickael
I leave Ireland early May on a similar route to you but i am finishing in Magadan or Vladivostok.
As a newbie to this kind of thing, I have been asking those in the know and been advised to take US$3000 in cash plus euros for Europe. Plus a mastercard, a visa card and two eftpos cards.
So thats what I am going to take with me.
I would appreciate any feedback on this.

I think if you are carrying that amount of cash on you I would add two bits of advice:

- this may be too obvious, but have some kind of secure hidden money belt. I've used these to carry cash, a spare credit card, passport, etc. You can't be too careful.

- a 'throwaway' daily wallet. Keep the cash you need for the day in this, say $50 or equivalent. Maybe add an expired drivers licence, invalid bank card, etc. That way if you get pickpocketed or robbed, you don't suffer too much grief.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

hi, maybe we have chance to meet on the road !
what is your motorbike ?

totally unnecessary to carry that amount of cash, it puts you at risk of losing (possibly painfully) a substantial amount of money. $1000 or equivalent max, but thats several months salary in some of those countries so even that is probably too much

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014