Hi all
I am planning my first big trip and was after any advice from more experienced travelers.
My idea is to ship my bike out from the UK to somewhere in SE Asia, thinking KL or Jakarta, then to spend a year or so traveling around Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, then i am going to meet my father in Vietnam and we are going to ride south to north for his 70 birthday
After that i am thinking of riding back to the uk, taking my time and seeing the sites.

Few things i'm not sure about, i know i need a Carnet for Malaysia and Indonesia but as i am not planning on returning for at least a year, do i need to get a carnet with all the countries i will be passing through (India, Iran)or can i add extra countries on the road as such.
Also do i need to get visa's for these before i leave or can i do it while i'm away?
Thanks for any input

Mat W

Going to be a rather special birthday I think
Better start packing my bags

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Honda Wave 110i (2014) Maxsym 400i (2013)
Sterling 125 2017.

To travel around in South east Asia a year is a great plan. Interesting countries, great food, great people, great roads intersting culture and lotsof sightseing to be done. The traffic can be ehemmm...rathern chaotic and totally insane at times - but its worth it as I see it. And most things are dirt cheap - a huge advantage.

Visas to most south east asian countries can be arranged on the border or in neighbour countries as you pass by - depending on your nationality. If you start in Thailand or Indonesia I would get a 60 day visa in your home country before flying down and picking up your bike.
Getting a big foreign bike into Vietnam will be a very difficult task and it will need involving a tour company or something similar. Not many have been able to do this but there have been a few.

I dont know how the automobile federation in your country make the Carnet - I just got a good number of sides in mine so that I was sure it would cover enough and all possible Carnet countries I would travel in and I got it dated a good bit into the future to the approximate date I would enter a Carnet country.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

You will love it
I have only done a bit in Thailand and Laos and it was awesome
I could do you a list of places to visit...but just have a look at my Ride report, it might give you some ideas on where to visit
all the best with the planning

Wayne

Edit, forgot to add this site, lots of info
http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/forum.php

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I see you reckon getting a "big" bike into Vietnam will be a problem. The bike in question is a CG125 Cargo so is it more likely to be do able with a 125?
The original plan was for Mat to travel for a year around SE Asia then we would leave his bike outside Vietnam and meet me somewhere inside the country and hire/buy a couple of bikes for the Vietnam part of the trip.

Would be great if it was easier to get a small bike in but from what I have heard it seems unlikely.

Steve W

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Honda Wave 110i (2014) Maxsym 400i (2013)
Sterling 125 2017.

I ship my bike from Australia to Port Klang, Malaysia in December 2015. I arrived in KL 29 th Dec & immediately started proceedings to get my bike through customs.

To get the vehicle through customs you'll need 4 things.
1. 3rd party insurance ( Available at any Liberty insurance office).
2. An ICP (International Circulation Permit) free from the Ministry of Transport head office, Kuala Lumpur. For the ICP you'll need photocopies of; Vehicle Registration Papers, photos of the vehicle showing its number plates, your Carnet, Vehicles Valuation certificate (what you used to get the Carnet), Auto club membership paperwork & the 3rd party insurance mentioned in point 1.
3. All the receipts stating that all port fees & freight costs have been paid in full.
4. You'll need to "invite" the customs officers to come & inspect you vehicle.

Steps 1-3 are relatively easy once you know what you need & where to go for it.
Step 4 on the otherhand, well... The Malay's like to remind people that it's their country & as your vehicles not going anywhere theres no real need to rush to get it done.
I arrived not knowing what to do or how to do it. I was sent to the wrong department of the wrong office for a ICP, to the right department but at the wrong location for a ICP. When I finally got the right office at the right location I discovered you can't get an ICP without firstly getting 3rd party insurance.
Basically I toured Kuala Lumpur, Klang & Port Klang by "Teksi" for 5 days before I got my bike. And without the assistance of the management & staff of Hotel Histana, Klang (that's a plug) & Port Klang Police (I walked into the wrong office by mistake & ended up with an armed escort untill my bike left the port) chances are I'd still be waiting for customs clearance. I rode the bike out of the Port about 9 days after I arrived in Malaysia, but that included New Years day & a week end.

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When in Cambodia don't be surprised if your half way around a blind bend & you suddenly find you have 4 lanes of traffic coming at you on a 2 lane road.
Cambodians are very polite, respectful people.... until the get behind the steering wheel of a vehicle. Then it's the biggest vehicle with the loudest horn rules the road & everyone else needs to get out of his way.
That said... I really enjoyed my time in Cambodia, I should have stayed a little longer. I'm currently in Laos.

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Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful.

Lonerider, loved your ride report, have saved it for the future, lots of place to add to the list.

Herman, thanks for the description of what I will need to do. That's a massive help.
Will take your hint on the hotel, will good to have someone to help.
Mat W

Had a change of plans, plan is now to fly out and buy a bike (Honda EX-5) instead of bringing mine over.

Any plus's or negatives to buying a bike in either Indonesia or Malaysia?

Will i need a carnet?

I don't have loads of money so i have been thinking to camp whenever possible, is this a possibility? i have read lots from people saying not to bother with camping but it will make a difference to my budget if i can even a few nights a week.

Regards
Mat

You must decide which countries you want to travel in. If you buy a bike in Indonesia you will need to ship it into Malaysia - except if youre on Borneo/Kalimantan. And shipping is very expensive if your budget even dont allow you to hire a room that usually can be found for 5-6 £ a night. And I am not even sure if its allowed. And its probably time consuming as well.

If you wish to travel in Indonesia - buy a bike in Indonesia. Riding around in Indonesia taking in the sights and meeting up with the locals will easily keep you busy for several months, I would say 5-6 months easily if you go to Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Getting visa for all that time would probably be a bigger problem.

A malaysian plated bike goes into Thailand without a Carnet but Im not sure if it would grt into Laos or Cambodia. Those are not Carnet countries so thats not a problem or the problem. What do you say Recom273? I think it would be better to buy a bike in Thailand as it gives you access to Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia - Malaysia without a Carnet I belive. I belive also bikes are cheaper in Thailand. Although I have never seen or heard about the model you mention in Thailand

If you buy a bike in Vietnam it should go into Cambodia and Laos, heard different stories getting a vietnam plated bike into Thailand.

If you buy a bike in Thailand it should get you into Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. But it might have to be 150 cc or over - at least for Laos I have heard.

If you buy a bike in Malaysia it shoud get into Thailand - unsure about Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia.

If you buy a bike in Indonesia it should get into East Timor, unsure about Malaysia. Anyhow - getting it into Malaysia would include shipping (except from Borneo/Kalimantan) and thats expensive.

Camping - there are a few campgrounds in Thailand in national parks. Except from that I dont know. I really dont see the point when you can get a room for 5-6 £ most places. You will probably use more more money in petrol getting to and from those few campgrounds. Camping in 35-40 degrees isnt all that comfortable either.
.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Snakeboy - I say .. If you ( OP ) buy a bike in Malaysia then, then, then .. I will ask my Malaysian friends, who ride into Laos ( not too sure if they have visited Cambodia )

But .. Yeah! Camping !!

I'm loving camping at the moment, it's b@$tard hot, i have no work, the O&G industry is in a state of turmoil - no corporate training happening and I'm skint, but I have lots of time and a little money for gas.

Remind me again, Mat, when are you coming ? It will be rainy season soon, a bit cooler, maybe a little more comfortable.

Camping .. It's an interesting subject here, I'm trying to design a blog site, that will help you but I'm trying to compile from personal experience and not doing too well.

Malaysia
Malaysia is great for camping Malaysians seem to have embraced the concept, also hotels in Malaysia are pretty grotty and overpriced .. there are signposted camp sites on the main roads, maybe you pay a fee, i don't know. I'm also discovering logging tracks / plantation rides / national parks .. I have tried a couple of routes, I just rode until it was dark and threw up my $15 tent on a piece of grass and got cooking. Its been great fun.

If your interested we should talk to plan some routes and i can introduce you to some Malaysians. I have met some cool guys, who pointed me to some good waterfalls / areas of beauty with organised campsites.

National parks in Malaysia just seem to be protected areas, technically your supposed to have permits but seems like you can just ride them, if you got busted, I'm sure they would be more interested in you than interested in prosecuting you for trespass.

Its all a good experience, mate. I didnt know there would be huge areas on the Peninsular where aboriginal Malays live their relatively unchanged life - hunting with blow pipes and living off the land. There lands are disected by logging tracks which run for 100's of KM .. There is plenty of off-road fun there. The tribal people all ride small displacement bikes, they do better than I do on my 650 with ABS and metal panniers.

The bro's also seem to rock up at any beach and put up their tent too without any problem.

Bahasa ( malay / indo ) is the easiest language in the world to learn, it won't be long before you can say "hey, where you been ?","can I sleep here?" "Do you speak English ?" .. I am really excited about Malaysia at the moment, sure some things are expensive and it can boring at times - but, the roads are safe, no visa fee and the petrol is peanuts .. its all good.

Thailand
Camping is strange, the concept is alien to them.

I just got back from viewing a 'sea of fog'. We rode up a mountain, set up camp and in the morning looked out on a sea of fog below ( ? ) The mountain was on private land, its not on the western tourists route - but some guy still popped up and charged me 100B for the tent.

I have seen some people set up on certain beaches, not in tourist destinations. There are scores of deserted picture postcard beaches in Thaland that don't get visited. I would imagine these not being a problem to camp on.

This would be a bit of a hardship, waking up to this .. right ?



But you are going to attract attention, either from the police who will prolly tell you its illegal ( (all) beaches are owned by the king as far as I have been told ), to locals who will be really confused .. they will say, why not go get a hotel for 300B. Some would also argue its not safe, and i think there maybe some truth. Also, if you have upset anyone, you won't be articulate to argue with them.

We have organised campsites here, but on national park land or the high "mountains" - here you will be expected to pay entry about 500B and some 200B to pitch a tent .. so its not really cost effective.

You need to know the secret places to where you can set up camp really, which is why I'm trying to set up a site.

Laos

Not really, its pretty alien to them. I live in the South of Thailand, so Im not too clued up on the North, I have visited Laos but the southern parts.

The rideasia.net guys seem to be rocking the trails this riding season and are coming back with some amazing posts .. they ride the jungle trails, and pitch up hammocks at night or use bivvy bags.

Hotels in Laos are supposed to be cheap, but I don't find them that cheap - still $10+ a night, some places $30-$40. It all adds up.

----------------------------------------------------

The great advantage with camping in SE Asia .. Food. You find roadside restaurants/stalls you can get food-in-a-bag, mom n pop shops will sell you half a kilo of rice, you can buy fish or meat from the markets to BBQ, you can catch fish yourself if your good enough, $1 worth of charcoal and you have dinner.
Just find somewhere suitable, throw your tent up, get the kettle on, cook up some food, if theres a group of you, have a chat, if your in tribal areas, people will come and try and communicate with you - invite you to their house .. Its all good fun. And not like you can BBQ some local sausage in a hotel room .. it all makes the experience way cheaper.

Im also trying to compile a list of trail food, stuff that will keep for multiple days in the heat .. How and where to buy stove fuel .. etc.

When you stay in a hotel, theres not much interaction other than the hotel desk staff and the person in the restaurant up the road. Camping is great. I don't always want to check into a hotel, shower, put on some clean clothes and walk about town and let people point at me, it becomes really boring after a while.

Hope this post isn't too garbled .. Im tired, after 4 days riding and I got back, the wife thinks its great when I'm not here and wants me out of the house next week so suggested i ride Malaysia after the weekend for a week. Life is good.

With regard to bikes ..

The EX-5 is the Honda dream, predecessor to the Honda Wave .. Basically a Honda Cub, or whatever, same engine i think. The EX-5 is popular in Malaysia, here I sold mine for 160 quid, in Thailand they prefer the modern looking Wave.

You can get Yamaha and Suzuki scooters here, they are cheaper, just as easy to get repaired - still cheaper, but parts might be marginally more expensive and the bikes are harder to sell on.

I don't want to start any arguments here, as its can turn into a hot topic rather quickly .. Basically, as far as i know, officially you can't take a Thai bike under 150cc into Laos or Cambodia.

Malay <> Thailand .. no worries. Malay 150cc .. into Laos .. I doubt it, but snake boy has seen proof that you can ride small bikes in Laos. I have met bikers in Thailand who have ridden Laos on their small displacement bikes from Europe.

Have you thought of investing in a CFR250 or something similar - you can get a 2013 in Thailand for under 100,000B. Then you could ride everything everywhere in style.

If you were going to Indo, then i think it would be easier to ditch the scooter and buy another there, its got to be cheaper than shipping .. I could get you a Honda scooter within a day for 300 quid and get the shop to buy it back for 200+ quid a year later, depending on cosmetic condition. Not that I'm trying to sell you a bike, Im just saying it's not so difficult.

In my city there are several shops selling HP recovery / trade-in bikes from dealers - Theres no need to use the expat buy/sell forums. Im not too sure about the market in Malaysia.

I have written posts on how to register a bike in Thailand on HUBB before, if you arrive on the right visa and are prepared to do a bit of leg work and talking, its not hard to do.

dupe .. sorry

Thanks for the replies guys.

Sounds like i will have to get another bike if i want to do Indonesia, that's doable.
Getting a Thai bike sounds the best bet atm, will do some more research

Was planning the trip for the end of the year but plans change and it looks like i will be homeless from June/July onwards.

I do have the budget for hotels but it will cut my trip down if i have to use them all the time and tbh i don't want to come back to the UK to soon I would like to spend a year or more exploring. I wont be camping all the time as i want to blog/vlog the trip and will need hotels to edit video and write stuff.

Recom273 Malaysia sounds like my kind of place, have always loved camping and to wake up on a beach like that would be a dream come true
I would love to discuss some routes, i am flying pretty blind at the moment and any help i can get would be gratefully received. i could probably help your project by documenting camp sites i stay at.

Bike wise, not really to worried about what i get, i love the Honda Cubs and have done allot of long distance touring on my Cub and the EX-5 looked the logical choice for me.
Will have a look at the 150cc + bikes. i think the CRF250 would be a bit out of my price range tbh.

How easy is it to buy a bike as a visitor? i heard you have to have a Thai address? is buying a bike in Bangkok a good idea or better to get to a less touristy place?

I am very flexible on the trip, have no set plans just a dream to explore SE Asia and see the real side (not the cities, not a city person)

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply

Mat

Good to see you went on to Rideasia also

Wayne

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