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Silk Route - Any difficulties on route? Silk Route - Any difficulties on route?
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Photo by Hendi Kaf, in Cambodia

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Hendi Kaf,
in Cambodia



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  #1  
Old 11 Jun 2007
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Silk Route - Any difficulties on route?
Good morning fellow travellers!

After our bikes were swiped in Germany our insurance has now paid out and we've all just bought new F650GS's and "Touratech'ed" them.

We are gonna be leaving to do the Silk Route in August. We have decided that due to Chinese restrictions on Licensing, Plates and Chinese Insurance we are going to stop in India and turn round. Then return via the Northern Route through Russia.

I do not mind a challenge but is anyone aware (or can foresee) any issues with this trip. Any advice on counties to avoid (politically) etc?

This will be technically our first major trip (Except the Italy thing that went a bit wrong )

Any opinions, thoughts, advice is more than welcome.
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Old 11 Jun 2007
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If you can't/don't want to cross China then India is a cul-de-sac: China sits between the Indian subcontinent and the "Northern" countries. You will either have to fly over China or return to Iran before heading North.
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Old 12 Jun 2007
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There IS a viable route through China (via Kashgar), as far as I remember this pops you into Kyrgzstan or Tajikistan if approached from the south, you can then pick up the northern Silk Road from Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan then via the 'classic' silk road cities of Samarkand and Buchara, then Turkmenistan (the best Stan - do NOT miss it!!)
As far as the Southern route goes Pakistan should be fine but I'm not sure about Iran at the moment. A safe option would be to go out through the Caucasus, get a boat across the Caspian Sea then go TM, UZ, KZ, KYR, TJK, China, Pakistan, India then double back on yourself (if you are definite on getting to India), then head further north and come back across Russia.

Hope this is of some use
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Old 12 Jun 2007
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Question A slight change of plan!!!
Great advice - thanks to all - However this route has changed slightly over the last 24hrs.

One of the guys mentioned that we are already half way to Australia. So we may as well go the whole hog and finish in Melbourne! travelling through:

> Bangaldesh
> Myanmar
> Thailand
> Singapore
> Indonesia
> Papua New Guinea

Anyone see any issues with that? - I am still REALLY green to the Motorcycle Touring Scene. Despite the fact I am slowly reading through all the blogs on HU, some of the above aren't covered.
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Old 12 Jun 2007
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I remember recently reading something about problematic areas in India near the border of Myanmar, which might be off-limits.

And Myanmar is anyway probably one of the hardest countries on the planet to enter with your own vehicle... maybe there was someone, who did it some years back, but not after literally months of preparation and endless negotiations with the authorities (and still not allowed to cross the whole country but freight the bike part of the way). Its much more likely that entering Myanmar is not going to happen.

Air- or shipfreight from Nepal or India onwards to Thailand or Malaysia seem much more realistic options.
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Old 12 Jun 2007
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You might want to do some research on the state in PnG at the moment, last I heard was bad bad news but that was a few years ago now
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Old 13 Jun 2007
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Silk riders.
Do a google search on "silk riders" and get a copy of the Morgan's ride through the silk road on 650 BMWs - well worth a read for anyone interested in motorcycle touring.
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Old 13 Jun 2007
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Howie - Thanks for the idea, that makes for superb reading!!

Thanks to all who posted PnG could be very interesting - Cheers for the "heads-up" from HenryUK

Myanmar will have to be frieghted across unfortunately But hay-ho, you live and learn!!

Cheers again to all!!
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Old 13 Jun 2007
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Just noticed that you are touring on a Ninja, good skills!!

Make sure that you go from Shymkent to Almaty in Kazakhstan. You will be wondering why I told you that until you meet up with the new road. It's as good as the road to Split in Croatia, superb surface, no traffic, bends you can see all the way round for miles thanks to the landscape.

I was wishing I had a blade for that bit. The Elefant probably handled the sand better though!
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Old 13 Jun 2007
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Good to see that you havn't been dissuaded by your unfortunate experience in Germany. I first suggested that you drop in on the Motorcycle Restaurante. Still do that on your way through Europe If it fits. As a matter of interest I saw John my mate who cooks there each northern summer being interview on telly just last week. He has for the last couple of souther summers spent his time cooking on the Aurora Australis. Australia's antarctic supply vessel. Never a dull moment. If you make it this far look me up, I'm on the coast half way between Melbourne and Sydney. Or e-mail me on gkdrperkins@hotmail.com,
Cheers,
Graeme.
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