North America to Russia (Magadan)
 

A friend and I, are planning a RWT for may 2010.

The beginning will be from North America to Russia. I think that at the HUBB there is extraordinary information of how to get to Vladivostok (passing through Korea or Japan). From there, we would depart to Mongolia, Kazajistan and we pretend to get to Europe on September 2010.

A real wish for us would be to travel the Road of Bones.

I have been investigating at the HUBB how to get to Magadan from Vladivstok or directly from United States (I know that Magadan Air does not exist anymore). The best I have found at the HUBB, is a guy that has found a service with DVS that consists on a travel by boat from Magadan to Vladivostok (I guess you can make it the other way around then. In fact, I already sent to DVS a mail asking about that possibility).

Does someone know any route to get from North America (USA, Canada or Alaska) to Magadan? I don’t see as a possibility to send the motorcycles by ship, because it is well known that it is almost impossible to accomplish the established time of routes. Although anyway I already sent a mail to FESCO asking about sea transportation. I know that that this is a very frequent question at the HUBB, but frankly I have not found a useful answer.

In the case that there would not have been a real and viable possibility of arriving to Magadan, we would take the route from Vladivostok to Mongolia (losing the great challenge of the ROB). If that were the case, where is the most recommended place for taking the ferry to Vladivostok, Japan or Corea?

Does someone know any possibility of sending the motorcycles form Valdivostok to Magadan? Would it be prudent to ride from Vladivostok up to Magadan and after coming back by the same road but arriving to Mongolia?

Thank you for your valuable comments.

You need a carnet if you come to Japan.
If you have a carnet, everything goes very smooth in Japan.

If you don't have a carnet, go to Korea.

There are ships from Alaska over to Magadan.
watch LWR - they miention the name of the company I believe that flew their bikes and them over.
There may be a SEA ship method, Dunno

Magadan/Vladivostock
 

There are Russian cargo ships of various lines (companies) sailing between the two, departing every few days. Unfortunatley there is no 'central' agency acting for all of them and we had to visit several agencies each acting for their own shipping line to get expected dates of arrival and then deal with the best for our purposes.

Some ships will also let you travel on board - ours did not, so we flew.

Sailing time was about 6 days and varies as to whether the ship calls at other ports en-route.

Cost for two bikes was 9,180 rubles (about US$300) plus 6,000 rubles 'tips' for those who loaded the bikes on and off the ship.

Although this was a container ship, the bikes were not crated or in containers but loaded by crane into the hold where we fixed them securely with rope to part of the ships structure.

We ended up using Transfes Agency. Their office in Vladivostock is just behind the main railway station. Phone number +7 (4232) 497053. Konstantin was the guy there in charge of Magadan route and spoke sufficiently good English. Others in the ofice had excellent English and all were helpful

This was at the end of July this year. Details, including riding the "Road of Bones" (known only as Kolyma Highway in Russia), in our Blog at Sibirsky Extreme » 2009 » July

If there is any shipping between Alaska and Magadan, the agency to contact would be TransFES / FESCO. FESCO is the largest shipping company / agency in the Russian Far East and the largest in Magadan. If there is anything, they will know about it. FESCO Transportation Group – container transportation & logistics.

If there is shipping between Magadan and Alaska it would not be frequent at all ... I cant really imagine what would possibly be shipped in either direction. Anything Russian going to the US would go thru Vladivostok or possibly Vanino, where there are rail serviced ports. Local Magadan produce like Salmon and Crab is unlikely to be shipped to Alaska, as Alaska has the same stuff, and vice versa.

As you mentioned, the airline that used to fly between Magadan and Anchorage went out of business in 2006. There is no air service between Magadan and the US, or Magadan and anywhere international. There is still a bunch of customs guys at Magadan airport, but they do quite literally nothing - as there are zero international flights (passenger or cargo) at this time.

In theory it would be possible to charter a cargo flight from Alaska to Magadan, and it does occasionally happen for things like filming movies etc ... but it will cost you a few hundred thousand bux (there was a charter flight or two to Yakutsk from Canada last year to fly in huskys and other gear for a film project).

As Tony P said, get to Vladivostok, and contact TransFES / FESCO there. As Chris said, going via Korea is the easiest option. Air freight to Korea is relatively cheap. Cargo capacity is all used up the other way, going OUT of Korea. From Korea its a simple ferry to Zarubino near Vladivostok.

Thats pretty much the current state of play.

As for riding up and back the same road from Skovorodino thru Yakutsk to Magadan and back the same would drive you nuts. The Road of Bones is still very accessible. But almost every single person I know that rode to / from Magadan this year shipped bikes from Magadan to Vladivostok or vice versa, or in one case, flew bikes into Magadan from Moscow. There was also one bike this year that went to Magadan and returned back to Yakutsk on the same road.

magadan/ulan baator
 

Intersting trip,a friend of mine did it two years ago.He flew his bike in from Australia and rode from Magadan to Ulan Baator.