Hi everyone!

I'm planning to ride solo the Trans Siberian Highway from Vladivostok back to the UK. At present I plan to ship my bike (Suzuki GSX650F) to Vald then ride the whole way back to the UK in good time via Moscow (maybe 3-4 weeks)

Does anyone have any tips on the following:

Road quality in Russian, especially in eastern Russian
Transporting the bike from the UK to Vlad (I'm awaiting a quote from James Cargo)
Safety in rural Russia
Visa situation
Any places to visit along the way

Also if anyone wants to meet up along the way then let me know.

Cheers

The search function will give you answers to most of your questions.
i.e. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-highway-74520

You will suffer the wrath of some of our regular users if you don't bother to look up the existing information first! (Probably me too, but I have to be fairly nice as a moderator.)

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Japan touring information

Top banter Chris.

I Had a look and much of the info was out of date but thanks to your reply I now have some useful more up to date information. Posting my thread was useful after all!

The entirety of the Trans Siberian Hwy is sealed bitumen with long sections of road works. Other than the obvious differences in driving standards you may be used to, it's no problem at all.

Just travelled it a few months ago.

Road quality in Russian, especially in eastern Russian

As said, pretty good. Russian roads are far better than they are reputed to be (in terms of surface quality, lines etc). There is a nasty bottleneck on the M5 between Ufa and Chelyabinsk, lots of lorries and police, be careful, stick to the speed limit and do not overtake on a solid line.

Transporting the bike from the UK to Vlad (I'm awaiting a quote from James Cargo)

No idea about this

Safety in rural Russia

Very safe, though as always it's best to be discrete when camping. There used to be a little problem with banditry on the eastern sections between Chita and Khabarovsk, but these days it's largely apocryphal, I've never ehard of anyine getting in trouble there.

Visa situation

There is no point asking about visas unless you state your nationality. Obviously the website of the Embassy / Consulate in your native country is the best place to ask. In general they are easy to get, but you need to do it in the country you live in.

Any places to visit along the way


Lots, we're talking about the world's largest country. Why not buy a guidebook?

The backroads of the Urals, the Republics of Altay, Tuva and Khakassia, and Lake Baikal and the nearby Barguzin Valley are my personal favourites. That said, with only 3 to 4 weeks you will spend most of your time staring at an asphalt road.

I just finished a report from my 2010 trip to Lake Baikal, the Barguzin Valley and the Buddhist monasteries south of Chita. You can read it (and many more articles on the region) here:

http://eurasiaoverland.com/2010/10/10/23/

Good luck

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

...Other than the overlander who as murdered two years ago.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ood-news-64424

Granted, this is a very rare occurrence; best not let people know where you are camping, though.

How awful, I never heard about that one.

Now I think about it there were reports many years ago of a couple of tourists (not overlanders) being brutally robbed while camping near the road between Kyakhta and Gusinoozersk.

Still, these are tiny risks and fairly easily mitigated. I'm sure more tourists have been killed camping in Europe or the US than here.

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...workshop-76720
to have an idea of our capabilities, multiple photos
МОТО-Сервис "Stoppie"'s album

Thanks for all the replies. Very useful info

Depending on your financial situation and how much time you have. I suppose it would be A LOT cheaper to ride bike into russia (e.g. St Petersburg) and then put it on a train urself. I transported Omsk -> St Petersburg. I dont remember the cost but it was cheaper for the bike than it was for me. Maybe $200 USD.