Hi Everyone,

I have been stalking this community for the last year while I build up information on what route myself and SO will take to get to Australia.
Below is the anticipated route. Going 2 up on a DL1000.
Please any comments would be gratefully appreciated.

1. Ireland (Home)
2. France
3. Italy
4. Slovenia
5. Croatia.
6. Montenegro
7. Albania
8. Greece
9. Turkey
10. Iran - Carnet Required
11. Turkmenistan - Tough to get Visa i know
12. Uzbekistan
13. Tajikistan
14. Kyrgyzstan
15. China - Local Tour Guide Required (https://www.roadpioneer.com/tour/6325/)
16. Laos
17. Vietnam
18. Cambodia
19. Thailand - Local Tour Guide Required
20. Malaysia - Carnet Required
21. Indonesia
22. Timor Leste
23. Australia - Carnet Required

Looking for people who have done similar trip. Possibly even people who could join us! (...and split the bill of china / thai tour guide).
Planning on getting to the Stans Late August to avoid worst of weather. China for month of September, South East Asia for October

All feedback welcome including calling me an idiot.

Welcome to HU!
No idiots here mate, er well LOTS of people call ALL of us idiots, but they're all soooo boring!
Have a good look at Travellers Stories to read more about people's experiences. Also check out Destinations for places to see on the way.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Tour guide and permits required for Vietnam too Im afraid.
For Thailand the guide and permits thing werent very strict enforced before the Covid pandemic, but who knows what its gonna be like after the pandemic...?

Carnet required for Indonesia too 100 % sure. And also for East Timor (at least it seemed so when I passed through there in 2015) But you already have a Carnet arranged for the other countries so it shouldnt be a problem.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

You didn't say when you were planning this route (2021?). Assuming we are post-Covid, we're planning a similar route, 2-up on a 700 Tenere, but may be 2022 before we leave Europe, as we're planning to spend the last half of 2021 in and around Europe (shipping into Dublin). Will definitely be following this thread to see what other tips turn up.

If you are planning for 2021: I am currently putting a group together to cross through China in September from Kyrgyzstan to Laos.

Snakeboy - We are willing to go with tour guides if required but obviously prefer to be without them. Hopefully Thailand is still lax with the tour guide thing. If not im sure we will meet others such as ouroboros2015 to join us!
As for the Carnet - at least the single Carnet will cover all of the countries. Bit worried about arrival in Australia however. We plan on staying in Oz for a year on a Working holiday visa. Not sure how to get the Carnet reimbursed if we plan on registering the bikes in Oz... Will need to look into it a bit more.

Dates - Planning on leaving Ireland early June 21. 50 days in Europe. 40 days going through Turkey, Iran and the Stans. Doing China in September. That link that i had posted for Roadpioneers had a 30 day tour for Kyrgyzstan - China - Laos. then south east Asia for a month and a half. Entering Australia mid November.

We are currently nailing down route/what roads but we are building in flexibility where we can. The above

StaleFish & ouroboros2015 - we would be delighted to meet up with any other travellers if possible! September is exactly when we planned to cross china.

@ Grant Johnson - If it wasnt for this site i would be lost! And agreed - been told that i'm mad multiple times. But it just increases the desire to explore!
Wasn't sure if it was possible to do 2-up until I read you and Susan account of going 2-up. Much appreciated

my job is done...

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Patrickneedsfood: I will be travelling through Tibet on my trip. I see the route you have outlined in the link goes a different way. Are you set on that route, or do you fancy Tibet?
Cheers.

Just a few words of advice about some details. Not to be taken too seriously but still...

Going through China from the west Kazakhstan/Kyrgizstan/Tadjikistan in September is from my knowledge a good time to cross. Not too hot through the Xinjang deserts and most of rainy season will be gone in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China. And you will arrive SE-Asia in October just at the end of the rainy season and you will have the cool and dry season to ride SE-Asia.

However planning to spend only 1,5 months to ride through SE-Asia is a bit shocking to me. For example I spent 3,5 months in Indonesia and felt like I could really get a tiny glimpse into the country and I could easily have spent 2-3 times as much time there. Yes you could ride through Laos in 2-3 days, Thailand in 4-5 days, Malaysia mainland in 1-3 days but riding through Indonesia is a slow affair, a really slow affair. A 300 km day in Indonesia is most places a looong day. Because the roads are very narrow, heavily traffic congested and generally quite bad! Ferry schedules between all the different islands are a bit uncertain, for example from Flores to Timor there is only 2-3 ferries pr week and they are easily cancelled due to bad weather, mechanical problems etc etc.
Also in Indonesia the weather is a bit opposite compared to most of the rest of SE-Asia as most of Indonesia lies south of the equator and the rainy season starts October-November and runs to March-April (with geographical and yearly variations of course)

If I were you I would have spent plenty of time in SE-Asia. Beautiful areas, cheap in general, great food, lovely beaches, friendly locals etc. I would have spent time in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and possibly Vietnam and Malaysia from October to March or so, then shipped the bike to Indonesia in March-April and spent a few months there. Maybe aimed at arriving Australia in August-September.
But of course - Im not you and you have other priorities and time limits.

About Carnets - when my Carnet expired I just got a new Carnet from my Automobil organisation. It coated around 100 €, soit wasnt that bad. Another option is to extend the Carnet. I have heard about several travellers who have done that.

I also notice you plan to arrive Australia (presumably ship your bike from Dili, East Timor to Darwin) mid November. Remember the shipping schedule Dili to Darwin also are a bit uncertain and that the ship goes from Dili up to Singapore and then to Darwin. This means the shipping takes around 20 days or therearound.

Also do some research about the weather in northern Australia in November-December and further to February-March. Its a moonson season there and it can really poor down there and flood the roads totally and make them impassable. Maybe our aussie mates in here can conform these information and elaborate.
Anyhow - arriving Darwin in November-December will not be the best time to get there and travel on imo.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Patrickneedsfood:
Iran, as I remember, requires guide if you are from uk.
As danish, I cant ask for a visa, by myself, only by a certificated Company
Vietnam; its not easy to bring your mc in .
I was lucky, at the southernmost border, from Cambodia, veeery early in the morning.
Laos - Cambodia border , almost imposible, but not the other way.
Thai guide: bordercrossin at South ( from pakxe) not need a guide, before corvid.

TS is irish, not from the UK...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Snakeboy - I have read many of your posts on other peoples threads as well so greatly appreciate your feedback. Definitely will look into staying longer than 1.5 months if possible. We were limiting ourselves to get to Australia before it gets too hot there but maybe it is a good idea to arrive after the summer in Oz.

We have put a lot of research into Europe and the Stans but are only now concentrating on SE Asia. I will post up the exact route for review.

ouroboros2015 - Ideally we would like to be in a group and our times match but we are worried about having altitude sickness. Prefer not to risk it.

Pan - as snakeboy said, Iran is a lot stricter with Visa's from UK but im not from UK! For Iran there are:
Tourist Visa - best option.
Visa on Arrival: only available at airports.
Transit Visa - only gives 5 - 7 days in Iran.
Carnet obviously required as well...

But all advice welcome!

Patrickneedsfood. No worries; if our paths cross on the road, I'll buy you a . Cheers.

You are most certainly not an idiot. Good luck.

Believe it or not, in 2016 I rode a similar route on a bicycle, I'm from Northern Ireland so have a British and an Irish passport which is the best combination to do this route in my opinion. Iranian visa not an issue and 90-day Chinese visa without a question asked.

I am actually looking at the possibility of something similar again by motorcycle, with my Dad, and your timing looks good to me. I'm really keen to follow along with your planning but am new to actually using Horizons unlimited so I may miss a lot of your posts.

Stay in touch!