Hi all,
I’ve been in the process of planning a year long continent spanning ride from London to London by way of Russia and Central Asia for over 6 months now with the intention of leaving early next year.
While investigating the necessary paperwork required I did a little more digging into the Carnet de Passage rules, due to my route passing through Iran (which looks amazing).

Now the Carnet cost looks to be a bit beyond my means, and I’m worried about buying one in the UK since I’ll be flying directly in from New Zealand, buying a motorcycle and looking to leave ASAP. It looks like I have a few options, each with their own challenges.
1. Buy the Carnet in the UK (if possible, quick and cheap enough).
2. Bypass Iran entirely and take a freighter from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan with a Turkmenistan transit visa (anyone have any experience with this – seems like I would have a very short window).
3. Ship the bike from Turkmenistan and hopefully be able to pick it up somewhere in Azerbaijan, Turkey or Armenia while experiencing Iran via public transport (my concerns here revolve around having the bike out of my sight as well as the language barrier).
4. I’ve read about a character by the name of Hossein that may be able to provide informal Carnets, however some of the reviews detail scams and extremely short timeframes as well as there being two Hosseins which is adding to my confusion. I really don’t want to be trapped in Turkmenistan on a transit visa if I try wing it with Hossein.

Does anyone have experience with any of the above or any alternative suggestions on how I could continue my ride from Central Asia into the Caucasus in a way that won’t cost me thousands of dollars? Hoping I’ve posted this in the right place.
Cheers,