Vietnam/Laos workaround?
 

Hey guys,

My lady and I are plotting a bit of a ride on a couple of Australian registered CT110's next year and have been thinking what to do about the Vietnam issue.

Our most recent idea is to ride our bikes to Cambodia and find a place to stash them for a month or 2. Buy 2 Vietnamese plated bikes in Cambodia or Vietnam, travel through Vietnam and into Laos on them, then return to Cambodia and on-sell the bikes and collect our own.

Does anyone foresee any issues with this? Would we have trouble leaving Cambodia from a Carnet standpoint without taking our bikes?

We are very keen to do Vietnam and Laos but the tour group option is a bit out of our budget. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Tig

As long as you have a safe place to store your bikes in Cambo I think your plan will work well.

Cambo is not a Carnet country (although some travellers have their Carnets stamped in and out there) and Cambo doesnt even have a temporary import system either so storage there for some longer time will be fine I guess.

In comparison - Thailand and Laos have both a 30 day limit temporary import system. Although in Thailand this can be extended up to 6 months, if you have a visa.

Hi StepThruPanAm

Your plan sound interesting but to travel Vietnam, Laos with a bike (overland crossing borders) it doesn't matter a Vietnam or Cambodia bikes are not possible. You need to get a crossing border permit

The TS writes that he want to buy vietnamese registrated bikes for travelling Vietnam and Laos. So he isnt coming into Vietnam on a foreign registrated bike and thus he dont need any border crossing permit.

When I travelled Laos and Cambodia this january/february/march I saw plenty of vietnamese plated bikes there ridden by foreigners, type backpackers. I cannit imagine those guys had spent a fortune on any expensive border crossing permits or similar paperwork.

My Honda dirt bike is registered in Cambodia. Early 2014 I went travelling in Laos and crossed the border without any problems (temporarily imported the bike in Laos). When I came back Cambodian customs even didn't need to see the papers of the bike. If you need a safe place to store your motorbikes in Cambodia you can contact me. :mchappy:

Thanks for the info guys. The new plan is to leave our bikes in Cambodia and go to Laos first. Does anyone know if Laos plated bikes can be taken into Vietnam without problems? I assume Cambodian bikes are not allowed. If anyone has experience with buying a bike in Laos and taking it into Vietnam I'd be keen to hear from you. Would probably try and sell the Laos bike in Vietnam or Cambodia when we are finished with it.

Cheers

You do know that to ride legally in Cambodia , you need a cambodian drivers License.?
I have only found enough information to say that in order to get the license you would have to be a ways into the country.
I just found this out a few days ago and we are leaving for that region next wednesday, we donot want to negat our travelers insurance, so hopefully, as we understand, we can arrange a travel agency for a fee.

info here

Driving in Cambodia: What Kind of License do I Need?Driving in Cambodia: What Kind of License do I Need? - Expats and Aliens

I put the question up the rideasia site , just to have it supported.

I hope this will help your planning.