Istanbul to Ulan-Bator with Support Vehicle
 

We’re organizing a trip, Istanbul to Ulan-Bator, Mongolia, this summer. We’re driving a big Russian 6x6 truck (a ZIL-131), and could potentially carry equipment (up to 6 tons..) and provide support to motorcyclists (a place to sleep, food, help with visas, internet access, route planning etc.). If it sounds interesting, take a look at our site (soviettruck.com) for the route and other info.

We could also help fix you up with something like a Jawa 350 at the beginning of the trip. $500 gets a good’un.

Interesting - which dates are we talking? Are you including Iran and the ... Stan countries or another route?

We're doing Turkey - Georgia - Azerbaijan - All the Stans - Russia - Mongolia. Iran would have been super, but paperwork problematic. Leave Istanbul 12th June, trip to last about 11 weeks.

Route info and dates here: Overland Adventure Travel across Eastern Europe, Central Asia Overland (The costs are for truck passengers. If there's some interest from bikers, we'll figure out how the costs will work).

I could be interested how much for total trip?

We'd hook up a trailer for carrying bikes I suppose, and fit an additional petrol fuel tank on the truck. If you'd like a seat in the truck for when you don't feel like riding, as well as all the other benefits of the regular passengers (meals, full use of truck's equipment, one night in five in a hotel, taking care of you in case of an accident etc. see soviettruck.com/costs/ ), the cost would be $3400 (the cost of a regular passenger), plus perhaps $400 for carrying the bike and additional equipment. This includes the Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan ferry crossing, but not visa/LOI costs (about $500-$600 USD). You'd be responsible for your bike's fuel.

Some places (Turkmeni deserts, Pamir highway, Mongolia) will need a rugged bike with moderate off-road capability. A 200-650cc trail/dual-sport would be good, or else we could pick you up a good used Jawa 350 for about $500, which would do the job too. No 'carnet de passage' is required for the route. You'd need to get the Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Russian visas before leaving, the rest we can pick up reliably on route. LOIs to be provided by Stantours.

I guess if you only want a seat in the truck in case of a breakdown, and aren't interested in the hotel accommodation/activities, we could definitely lower the price.

this is just the sort of the thing that makes the hubb so awesome! sounds epic. hope i find someone like this in a truck driving down the west coast of africa. :laugh:

Fascinating. Would certainly like to join in future; please arrange for annual trips :)

Omar

No takers for this trip then? Speak up or forever hold your peace (or at least till next year..)

are you doing it again in 2013?

Hopefully, if we can make the trip work this year, then yes, we'll be doing it every year. Perhaps in the winter we'll do trips Turkey-Iran-Oman-Yemen-Ethiopia-Kenya, haven't really started to think about this yet thou, busy with the current trip..

David