Switzerland to Kuwait - perhaps Oman and back?
 

Alright ...

I'm new here - so please if I am making any colossal mistake, please let me know.

I got the recommendation to post this here on horizonsumlimited from another forums (advrider) which I've been posting for a few years.

hoping that the whole covid-shit-show will be somehow "over" (managed) in 2021 and international travel will be easier again without the potential hassle of ending up having to quarantine etc.
But having missed a LOT of epic touring in 2020 - I had a bit of time to ponder cool ideas for upcoming longer trips.

I've travelled both on the motorcycle and as backpacker for a long while and have spent a lot of time all over Asia, Europe, some of Africa, etc...
The route I've got in mind however contains a good many places I've not been before, especially on the Motorcycle - and hope to find some planning advice.

short story:
I've got a friend in Kuwait and one in Poland.. so I thought why not do that on a motorcycle - starting in switzerland.

So far I thought I'd route it as following:

Switzerland
Italy
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia
Albania
Greece
Turkey
Iran
? ferry or cross through short bit of Iraq
Kuwait
from there I'd like to continue through
Saudi Arabia, UAE and finally Oman
From Oman I'd like to return.
Ferry to Iran
Turkmenista
Kazakhstan
Russia
Ukraine
Poland
Czechia
Austria
Switzerland

General stuff
I pretty much plan to "speed" it into turkey... I've been down that stretch a few times - and whilst I really would like to spend more time in the balkans, it would probably stretch out my trip far too long.
So until Turkey I'd probably ride a lot of highway, hug the fantastic coastal roads etc...
Also that region isn't TOO far away from my perspective, I'll be visiting those areas plenty more times. but on that trip, I'd like to put more "focus" on the part from turky down to oman and back.
If time is really getting shortend I might even cut out Saudi, UAE and Oman.

Road selection wise:
I don't mind tarmac - I'm an "OK" off-road rider but certainly not excellent..
I am perfectly happy though even with bad gravel roads ;)....
So my route CAN include off-road but knowing I'm usually a slow rider in serious off-road terrain - I can't plan a full-off-road-only trip... but again, I love grave, fire roads and don't mind tarmac.
Can anyone shed some light on how to plan the route from turkey onwards?


Time & Distance
it's not a small trip - and much of it depends on how much time I can really get freed up for this.
So a lot of the details - on how much offroad / onroad, how many ferries etc will be involved or if I have to "short" it by a good bit are still very very open to debate.
again, this is just a rough idea ...
But overall it's trip which I wanted to do one way or the other for quite some time.

Depending on the global and my personal situation, I *hope* I can pull it off in 2021 - but it might be 2022.

I've figured that I'm looking at approx. 17'000 km...
on my Switzerland to Morocco trip I've done approc. 8000km in 19 days including visiting a friend in france on the way back... I found my pace to be "relaxed enough" .
So from that I'd say if I can "invest" 2 month it should be do-able.
honestly this will probably boil down to road-condition in some regions.
I have hopes to be able to afford full two months of riding - perhaps SOME more ... hopefully not much less. again it's a bit of a weird time to plan - but plan I must ;)


Season
Any reccomendations in regard to season...
I’m pretty keen on not finding myself in winter and now in Russia ... any experience?


More questions:
In the mean time I have a few questions to anyone here who has some knowledge on the individual regions:

Overall:
- taking your own bike across some of those borders?? what sort of prep am I looking at aside from regular visa stuff...?
- Is a Carnet (ATA Carnet) still a thing that you need to prep in advance in 2020 ;)?
- Are there any countries on my list where entering with my own "foreign" motorcycle is plain prohibited or near impossible?


Iraq: HOW rideable is it these days...?? I mean aside from a few sketchy areas, and I'm not a safety freak... but is there stuff to REALLY avoid unless you're suicidal?

Iran: is it still feasible to enter with a ferry on your own bike?
Anything to watch out for in terms of visa requirements?

how about the "Stans" ...
I know europe and some of the former eastern bloc states quite well - but anything past ukraine is new to me (and thus very appealing as a travel destination ;) ).
I essentially plan to "hug" the route around the black sea mostly -

Russia:
Last time (2001) I wanted to go into russia was a huge issue (as a backpacker, not on my bike) - I would have had to have hotels booked etc...to obtain a limited tourist visa... later I was told by russian friend that I should have gotten a business visa through some companies... that would allow for "unrestricted" travels... how's the situation in 2020 - how is it in regards to your own bike?


Everywhere
Anything in each of the countries that bike wise are either considered absolute "highlights" or "avoidances"?


General route recommendations?

Anyone here who's done something similar "recently" and cares to share some experiences?



Thanks!

Welcome to the HUBB, Eastroad!

I'm just going to suggest that your best bet here is to read up on existing posts addressing many of your questions, so that you begin with a solid knowledge base and can ask more specifically about missing pieces. For example, lots of people before you have posted on Russian requirements, and only somewhat fewer about the Stans. The site search function takes a lot of criticism, but I find it works fine.

Again, specific questions tend to attract useful answers. The people who really know are unlikely to go through a long post responding in any degree of detail, since that would be an overwhelming task (even now, when most of us have too much time on our hands!).

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Kudos on planning an ambitious trip! Lots of distance to cover in a short time, and a lot of borders. But, as long as you're flexible, it's certainly doable.
A couple of brief answers to get you started, then as markharf says, browse the threads, do a search - there's a ton of detailed information on all of that already answered for.
Season: You don't want to be in the desert in the middle of summer, BTDT, not good. So spring or fall will work best, and with Covid, I would aim for the fall, more chance for everything to settle.
Carnet - NOT an ATA carnet, that's for merchandise, not vehicles. See the Carnet page.
Iraq - I would avoid it, but it's possible, a few have gone through carefully, but I advise against it.
Iran - it depends on the day, mood of the moment - wonderful country if you're allowed in. Ferry unlikely at last word. But that can change.
For the rest, you'll have to read through the many posts on the subjects! The more you read the more you UNDERSTAND INTERNALLY or "in your gut" the areas and what you have to face and how to deal with it.
None of it is impossible, all have varying degrees of difficulty / risk. It's up to you to judge your own appetite for risk.

There's a wealth of information here, have fun reading all the travellers stories and experiences.

Be sure to browse the dropdown menu above, it will give you great info on where to find the answers to all the usual FAQs.
Also sign up for notifications when there is a response to your thread. (Thread tools)

And welcome to HU!

Switzerland to Kuwait - perhaps Oman and back?
 

Back in the day, there were boats that traded between Kuwait and Banderabbas (?) in Iran using either the Tigris or Eurphrates rivers..... haven’t a clue whether or not this is an active route nowadays as I did this route when the Shah was still on the throne.

Oman is a wonderful country, well worth a visit especially on a bike


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