SEA Reopening - AUS to INDIA overland
 

Hi All,

Back in the planning stages of the very delayed Aus to Lon trip and thought it might be good to put some findings on here to spark a conversation on what is possible for travel in the region.

We were just on the phone with Timor-Leste consulate this afternoon who have confirmed that tourists are now welcome back into Timor. I think this is updated since the end of the year, as there was something posted on the Darwin Consulate's website around then.

We also got in touch with ANL who manage the shipping from Darwin to Dili - they put us in touch with the freight forwarder who is sending over some details. It sounds like you have to get onto container which they will fill and then ship to Dili. Since the last 2 years there have been delays of a month waiting for space on a vessel, but the route is still going regularly.

Onward, Malaysia and Thailand have both announced easier border entry from February. Thailand has included a requirement to stay in a specific hotels on days 1 and 5 of your trip for testing (but there seems to be many options for different borders). Indonesia is currently the sticking point with them opening the country slowly in stages. Currently only Bali for fly in, but I think they will not be far behind their neighbours.

There are then, of course, problems in Myanmar and China. I don't see either opening in any reasonable timeframe. Perhaps China will ease up after the Olympics, but everything points to a later year opening which won't work for those mountainous crossings. Myanmar may not open for years.

This leaves the option to crate and fly/sail the bikes to India. Happy to do so, perhaps flying out of Bangkok is a possibility but I haven't looked this far into it. I believe sailing might be more difficult, particularly from Thailand - perhaps better down in Malaysia? And where do people start in India then? Chennai? Calcutta? We had always thought we would come in from the top of the country, so this opens up a whole new route through the country.

We hope to leave late May for this trip, so the borders are only going to get better and better over the next couple of months (touch wood). I am wondering if there are other travellers like us, sat in Australia, waiting to start the journey up to the Northern Territories later this year?

Thailand land borders are still closed. You can fly in with the correct requirements fullfilled - but crossing a land border is still impossible. From my understanding its the same in Malaysia. Also note that Thailand in 2016 added a requirement for guides and permits for overland travellers. Its wasnt 100 % enforced precovid but it seemed to be more and more enforced up to the time covid arrived. How it will be post covid nobody knows but my guess is that it will become more and more difficult to cross land borders in SE-Asia….

Although I have no personal experience with buraucrasy in India all I have heard and read about it seem to be a nightmare. Buraucrasy in Thailand can be rough too. From my understanding flying a bike Nepal to Kuala Lumpur or opposite would be the easiest option - but again its just what I have heard and read.

Anyhow - we all hope for opening of land borders in SE-Asia soon, but I wouldnt hold my breath….

Malaysia already opened a land border with singapore, and the border with Thailand was supposed to open for tourists in December. It was paused with omicron, but I am hopeful that they renew the plans in the next few months now that they are making entry easier.

Yes, India is crazy for bureaucracy - lived there for 5 years, so it's nothing new. But the Nepal idea is not bad, we were hoping to get there to visit an old stomping ground, so it might actually solve a logistical question.

As for Thailand, you can only try to get a pass from the officials. I used to teach in Isaan - maybe I can appeal to the Thai respect for educators and we will get away with no guide, but you only know when you get to the border.

I think the Singapore / Malay border is open to locals only, not for 3rd country nationals at this point. Malaysia is also closed to (most) non nationals (my wife is Malay and they won't let me in). This will hopefully change sooner rather than later; when are you planning to set off? As snakeboy said, these countries are beginning to open up, but only for arrivals by plane at this stage. I am currently in Cambodia and plan to go to Thailand in a few weeks; the required paperwork is a real ball ache!

Is India even open to non-Indian arrivals by land?
As of three weeks ago, India was only issuing tourist visas for air arrivals, and only for 30 days from the time of issue (not arrival), non-extendable.

Source of info, Consulate General of India, Perth, Western Aus, 13 Jan 2022.

Ah I hadn't realised it was only for Nationals, but that makes sense as it seems to be a pretty limited crossing anyway. I think it is the fact that they are opening land borders at all that gives some hope. We hope to be able to cross into Indonesia in June and Malaysia in July, but we will have to see how the next few months unfold.

I hope you can get to visit your wife sometime soon!

Yes,I heard that. That one is also not ideal, but if we are shipping, then we can just arrive at an e-visa port like Mumbai, and hustle to get out of the country within 30 days. The visa is online, so I think it shouldn't be overly complicated to do in another country then fly over once it is approved. Hopefully they will go back to issuing traditional visas in the next 4 months, but if not, the limitations become part of the adventure.

I have just read that Malaysia may open their borders on 1st March without quarantine. Given they were planning to open land borders to Thailand in December, this could be good news for Overland routes, but everything is a bit vague for now.

This is a recommendation from the NRC only and has no weight. It is HIGHLY unlikely land borders will open in March. Frankly, your best option in getting out of Australia without incurring multiple shipping costs is probably to go to Mumbai directly. Dont hold your breath on India reopening Wagah anytime soon if you seek to go further afield. Burma will be closed for years and china will lockdown harder after the Olympics.

The VTL operating between Msia and Singapore does not apply to tourists. You only option would be the Langkawi travel bubble at this time but then you are only succeeding in being stuck in Malaysia.

I think 'SE Asia reopening' is a little optimistic from an overland point of view. Living in the region, Omicron is currently in full swing and it's anybody's guess when things will open after that.

Even if you get to India, you'll currently only get a 30 day tourist visa (unless you have the means to get a different type of visa) and cannot exit to Pakistan.

If, as your signature line suggests, you are planning a RTW trip from Australia, maybe it's time to think about going east instead of west. Hopefully in a year or two India and SE Asia are (partly) re-open.

EO

I am planning to come the other way and reading this it sounds like shipping the bike from the Indian sub-continent straight to Australia might be the most feasible option.

I am still hopeful that Wahga border will open later this year.

Cheers,
Benjamin

Thanks for your thoughts.We would always plan to do the Asia route first and then consider a stage 2 once we get to Europe.

Wondering how you get the sense that SEA will take a year to partly reopen? Possibly, you just mean China and Myanmar, which I agree and that's why we're thinking of crating from Thailand.

As for the other countries, I think it should be OK in a couple of months. Based on news from Indonesia, they will drop all quarantine in 2 weeks and allow VOA on Bali. Given they already have Motain border open with quarantine facilities in Timor, it seems the crossing is already possible as long as they approve your visa (which should get easier as VOA is possible elsewhere).

For Malaysia, they are looking like they will give their timings any day now. Apparently they have the dates in mind, they just wait to announce. They have also discussed with Thailand last week the land borders.

For me, it all looks positive. Even India have been speaking of thawing relations on the Pakistan border. But perhaps I'm being overly optimistic - I do read every piece of news eagerly for updates.

I live about 20 km from a Malaysian land border which has been sealed now for almost two years. As far as I know, Malaysia was toying with the idea of opening up to [B]fly-in[B] tourists, but aborted that idea in view of the current wave of Omicron.

I've just returned from a trip to the Middle East - in Iraq nobody gives a damn about covid as far as I could see. In Turkey also little attention. Europe is relaxing slowly. But SE Asia is still deeply worried about covid. I flew in here at the weekend; I had to be fully vaccinated to get on my flight, needed a pre-departure PCR test, an ART test on arrival at the airport and am currently sitting in hotel quarantine, waiting to do a Day 5 PCR test and be allowed to go home.

It sounds as if you could ship to East Timor, see Indonesia, ship to India, spend a week or two there and then ship out elsewhere, but that's hardly an overland trip in my opinion as you'll need to fly between ports.

I am hoping that Malaysia opens its land borders later in the year, but you still have the issue of guides / permits for self-driving in Thailand, Burma I think will be closed for years, and India I am not sure about. The worst thing about India is that you will only get a 30 day visa, valid from the day of issue. Pretty useless for ship-in-ship-out travel as you'll have hardly any time in country once you get yourself there and deal with all the logistics of boxing / unboxing.

I hope I'm wrong, but that is how I see things!

EO

Yes, I think once we get over the Himalayas, the journey west becomes much simpler. Saudi now able to visit, and Iraq. Who thought we would live to find SEA on a list of hardest places to travel?

I think that if in 6 months both the short Indian visa and the Pak border is still closed, then we may look to ship direct to Oman from BKK (assuming Malaysia opens). But if one of the two issues are resolved then I think it's no issue to visit India, except costs of expensive freight on either end. The cost to cross China with a guide would likely be just as expensive whenever they open up.

I think there is some fun in finding creative ways to cross, and who knows how long you would need to wait for a true overland route. Better to actually get out there and have to crate a couple of times, than holding indefinitely...I think.

I do wonder about the guide situation in Thailand. It seemed that it has been hit and miss for a few years. I am interested to read reports from people crossing before the lockdowns and wonder if a friendly bit of Thai and the old "Chan ben Kru ni Pratet Thai thi laew" might help. I know the teacher card used to get me out of tickets when I lived there in the past.