Hi all,

I have semi planned a trip from France to Vlad and back (Europe, Turkey, Caucasus (Georg-Arm-Azer), Iran, Stans (excluding Paki- and Afghan-), China, Mongolia, maybe Nepal, Russia), from may to august on my old KLR, but I am lost in the paperwork required.

Searching through the forums I made some useful discoveries but would like to confirm and get additional information, and here seems one of the best places to ask for it, helpful answers and available guys.

What do I need?

- International Driver's Licence : check

- Carnet de Passage : read that it is required for Iran, but if I skip the country, do I still need a CDP?

- Insurance : seems you can get it at borders. Is there any other way? What's the cost?

- Russian visa : read it's a mess to get and you need to justify every night you spend in the country. How do you people do to be allowed to ride a bike there?

- China : I just discovered here that it's a big no-no. I guess I'll have to scrap that

- GPS / Maps: I got Reise Know-How maps but couldn't lay my hands on anything covering Eastern Russia. GPS seemed to be hard to smug... get into Russia. Any confirmation?

- Gas : is it a problem to get?

- Rock solid butt and love for dirt : check

- Tight budget : check