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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 31 Mar 2020
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Planning RTW trip
So we're in the early stages of planning a trip from Western to Eastern Canada and fly with our bikes to Ireland, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany. From there we aren't sure where we want to go next but the end goal will be in South-East Asia. We have almost a year available and are hoping to get some help with what countries would be best to visit based on fun roads, affordability, and ease of travel including borders, traffic blockades and safety. If there are some countries that are too unsafe for moto travel that would be helpful too.
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Old 1 Apr 2020
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Anywhere in Europe is 100% safe (pretty much) and there is a huge choice of history, roads, etc. Far too many to make specific recommendations in fact.

After that the question is how do you get into Asia and obvs that will depend on lockdowns, border requirements and any post-virus unrest. Last year I'd have said if you want to visit SE Asia you need to go via Turkey and Iran, because just about the only country you can't visit is Afghanistan, and it's a roadblock depending on whether you go north or south of it. Iran takes you south of Afghan and into Pakistan and thence to SE Asia. Once you're past Turkey the cost of fuel, food, hotels drops drastically.

Personally I'm more interested by Central Asia and the Stans, but to go that way you would need to go through China which is quite restrictive and expensive due to rules about guides, official hotels and inflexible itineraries.
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Old 1 Apr 2020
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Thanks Tomkat, we'll make sure to stay out of Afghanistan. We'll also be camping most of the time and eating as cheap as possible during the more expensive countries especially. Something we're also considering is going through Russia and either Kazakhstan or Mongolia. How do you think those countries would compare to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan?
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Old 2 Apr 2020
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Mile for mile, I would say Turkey, Iran, Pakistan would be 10 x more interesting than the interminable steppes of Russia and Kaz.

But if you're Canadian then you're on the Iranian blacklist (escort required, if you even get a visa).

So, in that case, I would choose Turkey > Caucasus and take it from there.
Whichever way you cross (or circumnavigate) the Caspian you can swing into the Stans which, as Tomkat says, are not to be missed.

From Kyr you can head east via Kaz and Ru for Mongolia. Or from Taj slip through Xingjiang on a 2-3 day escort (via Tashkurgan - see map) into fabulous Pakistan for India and all the rest, ending in KL (or Timor) before shipping/air freight required.

Note that currently there is no longer a RoRo ferry from Vladivostok area to South Korea for easy shipping out of Busan.
And the way things are going, that ferry won't restart soon.
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Old 2 Apr 2020
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Originally Posted by CooperButchart View Post
Something we're also considering is going through Russia and either Kazakhstan or Mongolia. How do you think those countries would compare to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan?
Chalk and cheese, though all are Muslim countries (some nominally, some more so). In past years all have welcomed travellers. But as I said, if you go RU-KZ-MN you can't get south without going through China.

PK does have some dangerous areas but the authorities offer a free armed escort service ("the Levies") to travellers passing through those areas.
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