Vietnam to Europe on 250cc
 

Hi,
I'm considering buying a Honda Magna 250cc here in Saigon and biking back to Dublin. I'm finding it hard after many hours of reading, exactly how to get through the borders. I would love to go through China, Mongolia etc but the Chinese borders seem very expensive for a guide etc.
Myanmar seems the same.
Has anybody done this trip and could you share your wisdom with me about how best to go about and do it?
Many thanks.
Ian

Hey there, I'm on a similar journey right now. Started in Hanoi some months ago, am in Bangladesh now. Few things to consider, off the top:

- 250cc is a double edged sword. Yeah, it's nicer/stronger, but good luck finding any parts or a mechanic for a 250cc bike, especially somewhere in the countryside. In many places this will be next to impossible. Also - many countries will refuse entry with a 250cc bike. Logistically - 125cc is your best bet.

- China is pretty much no go by bike. You won't get a foreign bike in. Unless you go to China, buy a Chinese registered bike and drive it from there. And yeah - of course if you want to go with a guided/scheduled to the hour tour, then you could do that, but i figure it's not what you're after.

- Myanmar is no go with a foreign bike. You gotta book an extra expensive tour, pre-scheduled to the hour, with a guide. It's your only way to get in. I tried every possible way - no go. Your options would be: ride across the river from Thailand to Myanmar, leave your bike in the bushes, then cross to Myanmar bike less and hope your bike will wait for you where you left it. This is far from a perfect solution but if i could have a second go, i may actually have just tried it. The river was so shallow, and i could literally throw rocks into Myanmar. Highly doubt anybody would discover me but then again who knows. And - you'd have to do the same amount of sneaking around on the other side later - which again is far from ideal. (West of Myanmar, the police are no longer 'charmed' by white faces as they are in SE Asia). Your other option is to ship the bike from Bangkok to Kolkotta and meet it there. Do NOT ship to Bangladesh. I made the mistake of doing that and spent the last month fighting with customs. It was a nightmare which involved the foreign minister, my embassy, the minister of finanze and a whole chain of other politicians. Paid more im bribes than my bike is worth, it was a nightmare.

- India you cannot get your bike into unless you have a Carnet De Passage. Vietnam does not honor nor issue the Carnet. Closest place that would do it for you is Kuala Lumpur. But they demanded a list of ridiculous things from me such as "proof of property ownership in malaysia" to give me a carnet - i've never even been there so it was obviously not possible, and i'll find out within 2 weeks if the docs i have will be sufficient for India...

Anyways - It's an epic, amazing journey so far for me, but the bureaucracy all along the way is a MAJOR struggle. So surely brace yourself for that! Good luck!

What is written over here that China and Myanmar is "no go" countries are not correct. Both countries are completely doable but you will need a recognised guide, ditto itinarary, accomodation etc and other paperworks such as for example in China - a chinese driving licence (temporary). These things are of course not cheap at all and will cost a good bit of money. But both countries are definetively doable.

Myanmar is probably the better if your concern are economy, as the crossing from Thailand to India is much shorter than from for example Laos through China and exit Kazakhstan or Kyrgizstan and thus less costly.

But if going to India you will need a Carnet, as you also wil need if you continue through Pakistan and Iran. In China you wont need a Carnet and neither Kaz'stan or Kyrgizstan are Carnet countries.

So thats for the bike. Then its a thing about getting visas for yourself to the different countries. Something that isnt always easy or even possible.
I do think that there are more difficulties getting all the visas you need the India route than the China route. There is of course other routes/combination of routes when you get through India or China. But the main gateway from SEAsia to Europe are China or Myanmar/India. After going one of these two countries there many different routings/alternatives.

You can also ship (airfreight) your bike to a place and start from there. For example to Bishcek in Kyrgizstan.

Another option as I see it - Why not ride thoroughly through SEAsia. Spend a month or two in each country. Its dirt cheap, gasoline, accomidation, food etc etc. And for sure a lot of good riding, sightseing spots, exotic adventures lying waiting. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, maybe Indonesia as well. Philippens maybe? Your money will last forever there in stead of expensive Europe or the also very costly China and Myanmar/India crossing options.

Well it seems like you can get foreign bikes in, but not by just popping up at the border, you need to get in touch with a tour operator there, who will handle everything regards the guide and crossings. You need to do this months in advance. Oh, and you pay big money for all this. The only (sort of) exception is the route from North Pakistan (Karakoram Highway) to western China and then to Kyrgyzstan, where the requirements are basically the same, but you don´t have to spend many weeks in China, so this may bring the costs down a bit.

It used to be no-go for (50-60?) years, but that changed just a few years ago. Now there´s even the possibility to ride from India to Thailand or v.v. But, like China, very meticulous planning months in advance, and contacting local tour operators, who handle everything, is mandatory. And, not surprisingly, this costs money, although the sums, that I´ve seen posted here at the HUBB, have been a bit lower than for crossing entire China, for example.

So in short: possible, but not easy, requires planning well in advance, and not cheap.

And if it comes down to freighting the MC across the Bay of Bengal, then I would go Bangkok <-> Kathmandu by air, there seem to be some possible glitches on Nepali side, but generally that route appears to work well compared to others. I´ve sent out of Chennai to Bangkok, and that was laborous, hate to even think, what it would be like to send a bike by freight to India (........nevermind Bangladesh !!!)

In 2014 I tried to ride from France to Thailand but failed at the Azerbaijan border because of impossibility to cross border for the bike ( I did not have a carnet ) Now I am in Thailand and own a Thai registered Kawa Versys. I would like to try to ride back to Europe. Anyone can update about his experience of likewise ?