RTW Express
 

Hi all,
On March 29th I'm going to start my Round The World trip from Warsaw.
My path leads througth
1 Europe/Asia 29.03 – 23.05
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Emirates (Dubaj) ->flight to India (Mombaj), India (Kalkuta) -> flight to Thailand (Bangkok), Wietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malesia, Indonesia (Jakarta) -> flight to Australia (Melbourne)
2 Austarlia 24.05 – 10.06
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Melbourne -> flight to Canada (Vancuver)
3 America 11.06 – 10.10
US from West to East and back along south coast to Mexico, Belize, Gwatemala, HondurAS, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama -> ferry to Columbia (Cartagena), Equador, Peru, Boliva, Chile, Argentina, Brasil, Urugwaj, Argentina (Buenos Aires) -> flight to South Africa (Cape Town)
4 Africa 11.10 – 21.11
South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenia, Etiopia (Addis Abeba) -> flight to Europe (Brussels)
5 Europe 22.11 – 25.11
Belgium, The Nederlandes, Germany to Poland.

If there is somebody who want/can join the trip or part of it – very welcome :-) 

I would appreciate also your tips especially for motorbike transfers and documentation.

Safe travels, do you plan to write a ride report maybe, will watch closely ;)

Cheers
Dooby

All the best...am on it one year later:2017..

'Bike on a Hike'. Available at WWW.Amazon.com

Hi Bobesz and welcome,
You seem to have quite ambitious plans and my experience is having ridden most of the places that you hope to is that it never goes to plan. This looks like a route for three or four years travel, possible in two but not 8 months if I read this correctly.
There is no time allowed for shipping your bike, air freight is not always available, customs clearance can take between a few hour and several days, both yourself and your bike will breakdown which can takes days or weeks for recovery of yourself or repair of your bike and it does not take into account seasons and weather conditions which can make some places impassible at times.
Apart from that you will be missing what to many is the main reason for travel, to see foreign places and experience different cultures, I would suggest you read a few ride reports and see the pace most people travel at, in the time you have allowed most people will have reached Southeast Asia or Australia, no further.

Slow down
 

Wow, that's quite an itinerary for such a short time.

We are on a similar trip route from UK to Australia and we set off in July 2015. We are currently in North Sumatra, Indonesia awaiting the shipping of our bike from Malaysia (it's at port awaiting clearance - been here 4 days already!).

It has taken us 8 months to get here and we have been rushing a lot of the time and have had to miss some things that we wanted to see because we did not have time. One word of advice is to slow down and take in the surroundings, culture and people. Going so fast you will not see anything just the road, and you will not enjoy the trip.

While you may be able to do a lot of km in Europe, once you get to Iran, India and beyond you will not be able to go so fast. We were rushing to get up to North East India from Hyderabad and it took us over a week to do 2000km riding 12 hour days into the dark through crazy traffic. It was not good for us or the bike and you end up suffering and get ill due to tiredness. we needed a week off to recover.

Your Australia section alone is over 7000km and will mean you will have to do over 400km per day everyday. We are trying to work out Australia at the minute and are worried that we will not have enough time to do what you are doing in 3 months!

I also don't know if Vietnam will be possible with your bike, for us it was not without a guide but some others have been able to get in.

You also need to allow time for other things like sickness, breakdowns & repairs, servicing, shipping, borders, visas etc. You can waste a day at a border in some places and if you get sick you need to recover. Be prepared to wait when shipping also, you need to factor in at least a few days at either side.

We got stuck waiting for parts for 2 weeks and that altered our plan as we were on a tight schedule at the start of our trip.

On our trip we met a couple of people who planned EU to Australia in 8/9 months and they couldn't keep it up it as it was putting too much strain on them and their machines. They decided to slow down and embrace the experience, instead of racing everywhere and really started to enjoy their trips.

I don't want to seem negative but in 8 months I would not attempt to do more than EU to Australia otherwise you will feel like you have not seen anything at all.

Everyone is different and I hope you have a good trip, I am interested to see how you get on and if you have any specific questions about borders, countries, paperwork etc. let me know.

Be safe.

Dear All,
thanks for your opinions and cautions. I am aware that this plan looks quite crazy but I want to face it. I don't know if I succeed but I must try.
I appreciate very much people who travel RTW long months and years trying not to miss anything. Its probably fantastic to spend some hours contemplating breathtaking views of nature or socialise with inhabitants of small villages more than one evening.
But is not my way, I'am a kid of rush, I don't like to seat arround more than fiew hours. As <<pheasant56>> said everyone is different so I will be grateful for all your advices which can help me to execute my plan.

If you get to Bangkok, let me know, I can't give you anywhere to sleep as my partner and I are only in a one room apartment but we can meet up for food and drink
All the best with the trip

Wayne

Thanks, I will write before departure from Kolkata

Are you still starting your trip in 4 days?

Good luck with the riding and hope to see you in BKK

Wayne

Yes, I am on my way, I have started yesterday. Follow me https://share.delorme.com/RTWExpress and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RTW.Express.2016/

Anybody Wants to Join? You are Wellcome!

Great
Ride safe

Wayne

Estimated Day of my arrival to Bankok is 29th of April

Ok Bobesz, Just to let you know I am going in to Laos on the 1st to the 4th May to renew my visa so I hope you make it, keep me informed, I live on Sukhumvit Road, Soi 22 to give you an idea of the area to come to
Safe travels

Wayne

So we will probably meet in the middle of May. My plan also includes Laos

Hello!
My trip takes aldeady over 40 days. Now I am in Vietnam. It is possible to drive your own bike but permision is needed to arrange in advance (the latest time to send final documents is 3 weeks before). I am driving on my own without guide. the only thing is I had to meet guide at the entrance border to collect permit and exit border (I have time limited due to local election)

You can follow my trip : https://share.delorme.com/RTWExpress and https://www.facebook.com/RTW.Express.2016

How was finaly your transfer from Malesia to Indonesia?
Please advice about company you took and schedule information. Soon I will take ferry same direction.

Mr Lims vegetable boat are running again and he has shipped hundred of bikes from Malaysia to Indonesia. And he definetively knows what he is doing.


Georgetown, Malaysia to Medan, Indonesia
The easiest way is to do it with Mr. Lim (he is the man)
Cakra Enterprise
187, 2nd Floor
Lebuh Pantai
10300 Penang, Malaysia

Tel: 04-2625879
Mob-cell: 0124 709717
E-mail: cakrashipping@gmail.com
Coordinates of the Office: 5.414588, 100.33842

Could you tell where you got your permit to ride in Vietnam and how you got it and what was the cost of it?

Permits in Vietnam
 

It is known that if you wish to travel on your own bike in Vietnam you need to apply for permission in advance (minimum 3 weeks). The best and the easiest idea is to contact with local tourist agency specialized with this service. There are many of them and permit is not cheap. I have chosen MotoToursAsia (Vietnam Motorbike Tours - Ride with #1 Tour Operator in Vietnam). It costs me 1615 USD and it covers governmental permits and assistance at indicated borders. They offer also bike renting and single guided trips or guided groups.

Hello!

My trip is taking now 90 days. I started in Warsaw, crossed Middle East, fly and ride in India, took a circle in Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia) and I had accident in Australia . But plan is , of course, to continue

See my location and route I have done
https://share.delorme.com/RTWExpress
I have some important tips for riders.

Hotels In Iran
At this moment booking.com is not cooperating with hotels in Iran. There are several local webs selling accommodation but offered prices are double or triple. I DON’T RECOMMEND APOCHI.NL to book ANY hotel!!!! First of all, they sell hotels, that are closed, don’t exist anymore. Also, prices are very high if you compare to those offered to door. And the most important thing! Their service is not secure for credit card details (no SSL). After booking I had three unauthorized transactions in Paris, London and LA within 5 minutes.

Ferry from Bandar-e Abbas to Sharja
I was planning to arrive to Bandar-e Abbas at noon the day of ferry departure. Unfortunately it is not possible.. at this moment it is possible to find hotels at booking.com but those one are only expensive resorts. Also You can cooperate with local agencies and take their options. I drove myself down the city and search place for overnight

It is needed to visit agent office early morning(8-9am) to start procedures and walk from office to office. Around afternoon paper procedures are finished and I lad lazy time off waiting for boarding. My boarding should be at 6pm, bike boarding at 7pm, ferry departure at 9pm. In real we start journey around midnight. We arrived to the destination at 9 am.

There are two people in the city from Valfajr shipping company responsible for service for travelers like me (transporting own motorbike with CDP). They are very helpful. Price 2900000 IRR (400 $) includes bike transportation, custom clearance, my ferry ticket, late dinner and breakfast. Also I tip 40$ a person helping me with formalities and bike security.

Contact numbers to local representatives
0098 9171611181 Capitan (sorry I forgot the name)
0098 9185079270 Mr. Zarei

In UAE clearance procedures are not complicated. RTA is not needed any more since CDP is accepted. Clearance cost:
Inspection 20 Dirhams
Shore handling 40 Dirhams
BOE charges 80 Dirhams

BMW AGMC service in Dubai
This is the only place where you can check BMW motorbike. And it is like hell. No matter how early you talk with them you have to wait. Due to the fixed time I followed I needed to hurry up them.

They provide only Metzeler tyres. If you search for Anakee 3 you have to search and PAY to book them in advance in different place or wait for new supply there (it takes 60-90days, they said).

Air freight Dubai – Mombai
I was searching through many shipping companies but they requested for ATA instead of CDP. Finally I have chosen Skyline Freight &Logistics LCC. I was corresponding with Darshna. She was VERY HELPFUL and she worked at night after working hours to finalize shipment.

Contact
Ms. Darshna darshna@skyfreight.ae , T:00971 4 2556888, F: 00971 2556444, M: 00971 502 937026
Skyline Freight &Logistics LCC
P.O Box 181096
Al Khabisi Building
Office No: 202, Deira, Dubai, U.A.E

Charges:
AIR FREIGHT DUBAI TO BOMBAY BASED ON APPROX CW 732 KGS
DIRECT FREIGHT CHARGES : USD 1.73/KG
DUBAI LOCAL EXPORT CHARGES : USD 475.00
DG HANDLING CHARGES : USD 400.00
CUSTOMS INSPECTION : USD 100.00 ( IF ANY )
COURIER CHARGES : USD 100.00 ( IF ANY )
INSURANCE : 2% OF VALUE ( IF REQUIRED )
FUMIGATION : USD 300.00
Crating: 325$

Be prepare to show oil MSDS (safety data sheet) like in link below as example: http://www4.total.fr/asia-oceania/au...ing%20MSDS.pdf
MAKE SURE THAT CDP IS STAMPED PROPERLY AT THE SAME PAGE!! CUSTOM PLEARANCE DID IT WRONG TO ME!
TIP: FREIGHT CHARGES
The Agent will provide you two weights: dimensional weight and gross weight. Charge will be based on higher weight value. So make sure to remove or release front glass to make volume smaller/charges lower.

Custom clearance in Bombai
I have cooperated with Capricorn Logistic. I have chosen them because they have many offices in India and I planned to do air freight from Ned Delhi to Bangkok later. It was easier for me to keep everything in one place.

So… First of all they informed me that to collect motorbike I need a local driving permit, not only CDP and international driving license. It is better and cheaper if you do it yourself in local automobilclub than provided by Capricorn. In fact, it is only to confirm that your CDP is original. I had to call to Polish Automobilclub to receive answer back immediately (lady in the office was so surprised that confirmation is needed – but I didn’t want to discuss with Indians)

I have decided to pay for custom clearance and for air freight by bank transfer. I recommend to pay at the moment when they issue FINAL invoice, not PREINVOICE with ESTIMATED cost EVEN THEY INSIST. I had to wait for a long time, reminding many times to send the balance back.

Air Freight from New Delhi to Bangkok
Like it was before I had to control their work – Indians has their own way of time understanding but my time was very valuable. In fact they did good job.

Charges below:
Air Freight rates : $ 1.01/kg
FSC: $ 0.31/kg
SSC : $ 0.13/kg
X-rays: $ 0.06/kg
AWC : $ 0.04/kg
AMS: $ 15.00 Per Shipment
AWB Ch.: $ 15.00 Per AWB
Airline DG Fee: $ 120.00 Per Shipment
DG Handling : $ 100.00 Per Shipment
Crating 525$ (!!!)

Custom clearance in Bangkok
It is definitely NO NEED to ask for agent. It took me 3 hours and total cost was 2761,67 THB It is easy procedure and explained in details in link below but is also worth to get assistance from the airport (tip extra)

LINK ->Customs English

BMW BKK Motorcycle Service
I highly recommend this place. They have Anakee3 without any problem, they are experienced with motorbike travelers and they HAVE VERY reasonable prices!
https://www.facebook.com/bkkmotorcycle

Vietnam – riding own bike
It is known that if you wish to travel on your own bike in Vietnam you need to apply for permission in advance (minimum 3 weeks). The best and the easiest idea is to contact with local tourist agency specialized with this service. There are many of them and permit is not cheap. I have chosen MotoToursAsia (Vietnam Motorbike Tours - Ride with #1 Tour Operator in Vietnam). It costs me 1615 USD and it covers governmental permits and assistance at indicated borders. They offer also bike renting and single guided trips or guided groups.

FREIGHT SPECIALISTS
http://www.Motofreight.com – the title of this chart should be enough
They are specialists in vehicle shipping for individual travelers wanting discover the world on their own way and own style/ They are very experienced and know the answer for any detailed question. They provide great service!