I don't really see a reason to speed through Russia - either you make the decision to avoid it altogether, or at least see the highlights you've mentioned.

Regards the stretch from European Russia to, say Novosibirsk vs. going through Kazakhstan to Pavlodar/Semey and then into Russia, both are nice; I would probably choose Kazakhstan (but stay south as long as you can).

Mongolia, to me, is utterly unmissable. It's far into Asia and not somewhere you can quickly visit in the future. If you take advantage of the capabilities of your vehicle and explore Mongolia away from its road network, you'll have an experience which I don't think can be replicated elsewhere. The fact that Mongolia is experiencing massive urban drift means I really would make the effort to go now as the traditional, rural culture is (maybe not-so) slowly dying out.

Iran, Pakistan, India are great places to winter, but also (in the case of Pakistan and India) places you really want to visit in summer to get into the mountains. Try to time it so you can go up to Ladakh and at least one high Himalayan trekking area. Nepal is pretty much unmissable too in my opinion.

I think you need way more time to do this area justice. As you know, I did a trip which got no further towards Australia than Bangladesh (albeit with a fair few diversions) and that took 4.5 years (from an inital plan of 18 months) - and I still went back a few times more. I think it's worth at least 2 years.

As far as I know, there is no way to avoid shipping/RORO getting between peninsular SE Asia and out to Sumatra/Java/Borneo, though once in Sundaland you can use the Indonesian ferry network to get around.

Come and visit Borneo too!

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.