That trip sounds pretty nice, but I have not seen yet info in the posts about Visas and CDP.

I have a bike (kenyan registered) in South Africa and thinking about shipping it to anywhere; Mombay could be a good place and then ride to Europe. But I do not have CDP. This is not requiered in Turkey, but how about India, Pakistan and Iran? Can I get away without it?

Ok, I ve seen the schedule it is so optimistic, but how long could be the whole trip from Mombay to Instambul?

I rode Turkey few times and I know how long can be from Istambul to Madrid. Less 10 days getting ferrys.

Thanks.

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www.miquelsilvestre.com

Shipping out of India is a large headache, I can tell you that! Shipping into India I dont know, but could be worth doing some more research on that, I´ve got a feeling it might not be so straightforward... and Mumbai is HUGE, getting around without the bike (or even with it!) will be exhausting. Chennai (where I´ve shipped out from) on the other hand, was surprisingly manageable for a city of ~6 million.

But I think India requires the carnet 100%, and so does Pakistan. Iran probably could be done without it (but I havent tried that myself, as I had the carnet).

Mumbai-Istanbul, I guess you could do it in a month, or even less, but the faster you go, the less you´ll see of the fantastic places (and people!) in the countries along the way.

hi all,


well that trip didn't happen, didn't have enough time to sort out all the paperwork, so had to fly back to europe plus had some accident near delhi, luckily nothing really serious. though still had fun in india, made over 7k kms. now no more resident in india, so the only option seems to be getting enfield and carnet from nepal.

all the research done remains valid and i'm still eager to do that some day

if anyone is concerning about visas - it seems iran is most complicated - you need apply to travel agency to get confirmation no., then apply to the embassy (there's online system for that, though i'd prefer to sort it out in person Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran ), for pakistan or india it should be straightforward - go to the embassy and get one - EMBASSY OF PAKISTAN IN

if remember correct, for nepal you may get one on arrival (at least if you fly in)

edit: as for girls riding - at least in india (i guess even more in pakistan/iran) it is very uncommon to see one riding anything else than scooter in the urban area. i had one friend who was riding in delhi and some trips around, the biggest one being delhi to leh. she used to get a bit more attention on top of what normally foreigners receive, but most of the time (apart from local commuting) she was with some guys in group (actually the only girl, didn't hear of anyone else riding), so can't really comment on security.

it is advised everywhere not to ride at night, but having covered >20k km in india, i can say that it is more convenient, cause traffic is much lighter, you may cover at least 1.5 times more in the same time, but watch out for something on the road without lights, like tractor with trailer.

happy riding and sorry for "a bit" late reply,
balis