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15 Jul 2023
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Ulaanbaatar >>> Zürich 2024
Hello Community
As the title suggests i will be Touring from Mongolia to Switzerland next year and i have a ruff plan of riding for 8 weeks. Since there is so much experience in this Forum i was hoping i could get some insight into what are the "Must have ridin" areas on the trip. Here is an outlining of the route to be done:
- Mongolia (Need Tips)
- Kazakhstan (Need Tips)
- Uzbekistan (Need Tips)
- Turkmenistan (Need Tips)
- Iran (Need Tips)
- Turkey (Need Tips)
- Greece (Need Tips)
- Albania (No Need)
- Montenergro (No Need)
- Croatia (No Need)
- Italy (No Need)
- Switzerland (No Need)
If possible focus the answers on "Motorcycle Offroad Tour" because thats what i will be doing  
Thanks for any recommendeations and godspeed to all you Riders! 
Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Ulaa...er=0&entry=ttu
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17 Sep 2023
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Hi how are you planning to do the trip? Bringing your own motorcycle or buying in Mongolia?
Wondering also about the visa situations for the countries youre going through apparently you will also need a carnet de passage.
Just asking because I'm from Switzerland myself and am thinking of doing the same trip in the opposite way
Interested to hear about your thoughts
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17 Sep 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halomichiman
Hi how are you planning to do the trip? Bringing your own motorcycle or buying in Mongolia?
Wondering also about the visa situations for the countries youre going through apparently you will also need a carnet de passage.
Just asking because I'm from Switzerland myself and am thinking of doing the same trip in the opposite way
Interested to hear about your thoughts |
I don't believe you need a Carnet for any of those countries.
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17 Sep 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mark manley
I don't believe you need a Carnet for any of those countries.
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You do need a Carnet for Iran.
Looks like a cool tour! You forgot Russia (one of the three potential bottlenecks I can see) in your list of countries  .
If you have time, I would really recommend to include one or more of the following extra countries (none of which have difficult paperwork requirements):
1. You could move the route a bit more East in Kazakhstan (visit Charyn Canyon!) and include Kyrgyzstan and maybe even Tajikistan on the route. In Kyrgyzstan you have the typical must sees like Son Kul, but you have endless other possibilities as well. We did Kegety pass on our tour, which was super beautiful, but probably one of the hardest challenges (on larger travel motorbikes...). Not sure if you should do that alone (but this pass is also frequently used by locals). Also, this was 8 years ago and maybe they built a road since then (I know they were planning to). In any case, Kyrgyzstan is so much cooler than just riding through plain flat Kazakh desert.
2. You could include Georgia (maybe in combination with either Armenia and Azerbaijan, both have their distinct interesting aspects). For example, Bjormi-Karagauli National Park in Georgia is both a beautiful place and a nice off-roading area.
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17 Sep 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Habii
You do need a Carnet for Iran.
Looks like a cool tour! You forgot Russia (one of the three potential bottlenecks I can see) in your list of countries .
If you have time, I would really recommend to include one or more of the following extra countries (none of which have difficult paperwork requirements):
1. You could move the route a bit more East in Kazakhstan (visit Charyn Canyon!) and include Kyrgyzstan and maybe even Tajikistan on the route. In Kyrgyzstan you have the typical must sees like Son Kul, but you have endless other possibilities as well. We did Kegety pass on our tour, which was super beautiful, but probably one of the hardest challenges (on larger travel motorbikes...). Not sure if you should do that alone (but this pass is also frequently used by locals). Also, this was 8 years ago and maybe they built a road since then (I know they were planning to). In any case, Kyrgyzstan is so much cooler than just riding through plain flat Kazakh desert.
2. You could include Georgia (maybe in combination with either Armenia and Azerbaijan, both have their distinct interesting aspects). For example, Bjormi-Karagauli National Park in Georgia is both a beautiful place and a nice off-roading area. |
You are correct I missed it in the middle of the list, if the OP wants to avoid needing a carnet and the pain that I believe is Turkmenistan they could get the ferry to Azerbaijan presuming it is running and the border with Georgia is open and as you say Georgia is well worth a visit.
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17 Sep 2023
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8 weeks is 56 days, and 12 countries is ~4.5 days per country….”off-road.” . Something has to give way (or am I missing something?).
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18 Sep 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Habii
You do need a Carnet for Iran.
Looks like a cool tour! You forgot Russia (one of the three potential bottlenecks I can see) in your list of countries .
If you have time, I would really recommend to include one or more of the following extra countries (none of which have difficult paperwork requirements):
1. You could move the route a bit more East in Kazakhstan (visit Charyn Canyon!) and include Kyrgyzstan and maybe even Tajikistan on the route. In Kyrgyzstan you have the typical must sees like Son Kul, but you have endless other possibilities as well. We did Kegety pass on our tour, which was super beautiful, but probably one of the hardest challenges (on larger travel motorbikes...). Not sure if you should do that alone (but this pass is also frequently used by locals). Also, this was 8 years ago and maybe they built a road since then (I know they were planning to). In any case, Kyrgyzstan is so much cooler than just riding through plain flat Kazakh desert.
2. You could include Georgia (maybe in combination with either Armenia and Azerbaijan, both have their distinct interesting aspects). For example, Bjormi-Karagauli National Park in Georgia is both a beautiful place and a nice off-roading area. |
I don't see why Russia could be a problem; I have gone through 3 times this year.
+1 on Kyrgyzstan, the land of beautiful landscapes, dirt roads and annoying cops. Have been there many times and will come back in a heartbeat.
Sent from my BV4900Pro using Tapatalk
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2 Oct 2023
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Also going to strongly recommend Kyrgyzstan...I vastly preferred to Kazakhstan although only tickled the edge of Kazakh crossing near Karkara and then round in a loop through Almaty and back to Bishkek.
I found the tw ocoutnries had gone in different directions... Kyrgyz felt like what I imagine the Dolomites may have been like 50-60y ago, focused on outdoor, relatively sustainable adventure and outdoor travel...the people are amazing (if you can try and chat to herders and you may get invited to stay in a yurt, don't expect private space but one of my most memorable experiences) the food is brlliant and there are a surpriusingly high number of craft breweries, always nice.
Kazakh on the other hand felt like it had gone for the 'pile high, low cost' method. The famous lakes were rammed full of tourists, bussed in, near dead looking horses carting them on rides, pedaloes on the water etc etc. still absolutely stunning scenery just expect a different style of tourism.
will have a think about specific recs for both
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11 Dec 2023
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Feedback
Hey there fellas, sorry i didn’t pass by this Site in a while:
Questions:
You need a Carnet de Passage for the Import of a Bike to Mongolia, all the other countries provide them on the border, if they let you in that is.
We are skilled Offroad Rides, no Dakar Champions or anything like that, but we move. So, the 8 Weeks seemed enough, also from the time we enter Greece it’s all home territory so, should be good
Please keep the info coming, the trip is starting soon and we need as much info as possible
Greetings to you all
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11 Dec 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halomichiman
Hi how are you planning to do the trip? Bringing your own motorcycle or buying in Mongolia?
Wondering also about the visa situations for the countries youre going through apparently you will also need a carnet de passage.
Just asking because I'm from Switzerland myself and am thinking of doing the same trip in the opposite way
Interested to hear about your thoughts |
Hey there, we are shipping the Bikes to Mongolia, since there is more logistics going in then out of that country. So shipping the bike back is a larger hassle then getting back from there
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15 Dec 2023
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Join Date: Aug 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Habii
You do need a Carnet for Iran.
Looks like a cool tour! You forgot Russia (one of the three potential bottlenecks I can see) in your list of countries .
If you have time, I would really recommend to include one or more of the following extra countries (none of which have difficult paperwork requirements):
1. You could move the route a bit more East in Kazakhstan (visit Charyn Canyon!) and include Kyrgyzstan and maybe even Tajikistan on the route. In Kyrgyzstan you have the typical must sees like Son Kul, but you have endless other possibilities as well. We did Kegety pass on our tour, which was super beautiful, but probably one of the hardest challenges (on larger travel motorbikes...). Not sure if you should do that alone (but this pass is also frequently used by locals). Also, this was 8 years ago and maybe they built a road since then (I know they were planning to). In any case, Kyrgyzstan is so much cooler than just riding through plain flat Kazakh desert.
2. You could include Georgia (maybe in combination with either Armenia and Azerbaijan, both have their distinct interesting aspects). For example, Bjormi-Karagauli National Park in Georgia is both a beautiful place and a nice off-roading area. |
Thank you for the Tips, we will definitly take those into consideration and keep to the east, i was also thinking of taking the Caspian Sea Ferry to Aserbaijan and move to Georgien from there. Still working on the details
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13 Jan 2024
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Make sure you check the borders for Azerbaijan and Georgia, I believe the land borders are still closed at the moment.
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Ulaanbaatar >>> Zürich 2024
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