Salaam Alaykum ya shabaab.

I'm planning to go away again in April of next year, and I want to pick your veritable collective brain.

The rough plan is to pop down Europe, transit to Libya, cross Egypt to Jordan, Syria, Turkey, back up into Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Russia again and then skip over to Japan or Aus, where I will stop and earn, and ponder the next move.

I'm comfortable with the North African and Middle Eastern bit. I'm also excited, I've not been back since before the revolutions, and I'm hoping to get lots of contact with the regular Joe on the ground, and get some really good material about post uprising life in those areas, which will form the meat of the book I want to write. I'm hoping being an Arabist, and having a fair bit of experience with the culture and people will give me a good angle on this.

The bit I need help with is, er, everything else.

I am quite happy to admit that I am bloody clueless when it comes to anything outside of Africa or the Middle East, this is going outside my comfort zone.

I would be hitting Russia in late July I estimate, then a couple of months to get to Magadan, so maybe the end of September to arrive there? Would this be enough time, and an appropriate time period to travel these areas on my 125?

Second stupid question, I normally sleep in a basha, or in a bivvy bag on my travels, but I don't know how suitable this is in these areas? Will I get eaten alive by wolves and bears without a tent? I can't afford hotel stays, so it will be 95% camping all the way. Is this legal and 'doable' in these countries?

I hate snakes. Do they have snakes in this expanse of Asia? I never, ever want to wake up with a snake again, it really upsets me.

Thanks in advance, this is really just a fishing post, to see how many flaws people can poke in my plan, and what general advice I can garner. I've been reading, and re-reading lots of travel reports from the area, and I'm rather excited. It makes working as a mechanic, translator, proof reader and window cleaner all week almost bearable.

Birdy