i'm in the middle of setting up a trip to travel from europe to australia only by vech, and car ferry (only where need).. and i plan to travel through europe and down through turkey to israel and to UAE, from there to dubai and into iran and to thialand and the island hop to australia.. my plan is to do it either with bike or a 4x4.. to be honest i'm pretty clueless about what to have, what to expect and if the route is safe..

any help, thoughts or experiences who be great!!..



David

First question I would say you have to ask yourself is how are you going to get to Thailand. Through China? Burma? China is more possible than Burma, but is more expensive.

There are tonnes of threads on here about China, but essentially you need a guide and that costs lots of cash and restricts where you can go. There are a very small number of people who get away without it, but they would seem to be people who like to take risks, and are good at it.

Burma is jsut next to impossible, but again I have heard of a very small number of people doing it, undercover so to speak.

Another option is to ship, but that is not following your rules. Otherwise you are looking at going over the top of Russia at a guess ............

I would guess it would be easier by bike, just because you can put a bike in a much smaller boat than car.

Good luck either way!

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

I´ve got a friend who lives near Bangkok, and has done two RTW-trips, and ridden around most of SE Asia for 30 years now. He´s been to all neighbouring countries of Thailand dozens of times (he told me he´s been 150 times in Cambodia by bike!) but never Burma. If there was a way to get your own vehicle into Burma, believe me, he would´ve done it.

And for an occasional tourist, who doesnt speak the languages, and doesnt know his way around the bureaucracy, and isnt very familiar in dealing with the officials (and doesnt have months of spare time to just keep banging his head against that concrete wall!) - better just do yourself a favour, and forget about it. Dont mean to sound pessimistic, and maybe someone has done it, but it really seems virtually impossible.

Hey sounds like an amazing trip.

There are some websites set up to help you travel over-land from Europe out to Australia - it's not for the faint of heart - but then we wouldn't be here if we were!

This is a good place to start

How to travel from the UK to Australia without flying

and just googling Overland to Australia pops up loads of blogs of people who have done it.

I've been looking into doing this the other way round when I've finished my current stint in Oz - I'll be doing it on a bike - mainly because it'll be cheaper and because that's my thing

Although the above site is aimed at public travel (trains etc) it is a handy resource - mainly for the problematic last part (or first from my point of view):

"Although there are ferries from Singapore to Indonesia, there are no regular passenger ships to Australia from either Singapore or Indonesia. Or anywhere in the Far East, in fact. You therefore need either a cruise or passenger-carrying freighter for the last leg from Southeast Asia to Australia. To find out about freighter travel, try Welcome to Strand Travel Ltd. We’re one of the UK’s leading, independent travel specialists. We’re dedicated to providing you personal and professional service that’s second to none., CruiseAZ, The Cruise People Ltd [Europe], Freighter Cruise and Travel Club Int'l (Since 1958) & Freighter Travel with Freighter World Cruises, Inc.. Indeed one report suggests there are no longer any suitable freighters willing to carry passengers from Asia to Australia, but try asking the various agencies, and feedback would be appreciated."

My theory has been to head down to Turkey, then Iran, Pakistan, India then a ferry over to Malaysia. Although, there's no easy route I'm sure there must be some way. Obvious and easiest choice is of course Russia, Kazakhstan then China. Visas permitting.

Keep us up to date on your solutions - most helpful. And when you get to Oz drop me a note and say hi - I'll put you up for a few nights at Cashmore Towers.

Ah yes and whilst I remember - go watch 'By Any Means' the latest Charley Boorman trip - which had much the same problem - I don't think the solution will work for you - but it's worth watching none-the-less.

m

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http://thelondonbiker.com/blog

Watch some of my camp cooking videos

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This thread is also very helpful

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...d-2008-a-27599

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http://thelondonbiker.com/blog

Watch some of my camp cooking videos

AIM: mattcashmore
SKYPE: matthewcashmore
MSN: matthew@matthewcashmore.com

Hi, I'm taking part in a rally to Oz in July 09.

You're more than welcome to join us and split the costs down further for travelling through China and we have a charity discount on Carnets too.

Oz Rally

Rachies Big Adventure.com - Home

Give me a shout if you're interested!

Rachie

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http://rachiesbigadventure81.blogspot.com/ :tooth:

thats a very pink blog rach!

Thanks! I love pink! I saw a pink 'Blade with diamontes at Knockhill...... one day

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http://rachiesbigadventure81.blogspot.com/ :tooth:

Hey David!

I'm looking into the same trip myself! May be we should get in contact, split the research! I've only just started looking at this so could be a good idea! Was planning on doing it solo but may be if you fancy it we could hook up? at least for some parts of the journey!

Nick