Hi to everyone,

We are a Spanish couple and we are located in Luang Pravang, Laos.
We bought a 125cc motorcycle in Vietnam two weeks ago aimed to get to Spain with it. Of course, after buying it and talking with a few experienced people it seems that it's not gonna be the easy trip that we thought.

Since we bought the motorbike, with our Spanish driving car license (that allow me, at least in my country, to drive up to a 125cc motorbike without problems), and a international trip insurance (that insure my person against car accidents, illness, etc, but not specifically the motorcycle that we are driving) we haven't had any problem, at least when we pass thru the Laos border.

After reading a few threads of your website, i need to ask to all you guys whats your opinion of the following questions of my next steps:

Step number 1: pass thru the Thailand border: I've read that going by land, is there only possible to get a 15 days visa, but is there some other problem to go in the country on the border with the motorbike?

Step number 2: pass thru Myanmar: I've been reading that getting the Myanmar visa, at least in Bangkok, is not hard on nowadays, but i've heard disturbing news that you need to prearrange a guide to pass thru the country, an that this is not cheap. Is this true? Is there some other requirement on the border like an international driving license or something else?

Step number 3: pass thru India, Pakistan and Iran:
On this countries, i didn't hear nothing about a guide, but what i've been reading on your website, is that is a mandatory requirement to get the Carnet de Passage and after reading a few threads of yours, a river of questions are coming to my mind:
- Is also an obligation to me, having my motorcycle with a Vietnamese plate, to get the Carnet to pass thru the Indian, Pakistan and Iran country?
- Will I be able to get the Caret being Spanish and having the motorcycle a Vietnamese plate?
- Will I be able to do all this paperwork from Bangkok?
- In theory there is not any problem to get the visa for any of those countries, I'm i right? Is possible to get on arrival or is mandatory to get from an Embassy like Myanmar?


Is there some more aspects that I'm forgetting about getting to Spain with the motorbike?


All the answers and help will be so much appreciated.
Thank you so much guys for this fantastic webside.

Very respectfully,
Jen and Guillem.

Keep track of my topic about riding from Mongolia to Europe. Good question I have nog found the answer to is: what happens when you hit EU border with the bike? Are you allowed to import it? And how?

Aside from that, for the Stan's you need visa. Bangkok (I'm there now doing via stuff as well) has a lot of embassies, so you can organize a lot there.
And yeah, I have no first hand experience but the carnet is mandatory for all I know.

If you learn, post it here so I can benefit for your knowledge; )

Blommetje

Fortune and Glory, kid. Fortune and Glory.

For Iran you do not need carnet, contact - Overland To Iran

Wow you picked one of the hardest possible trips depending on paperwork.

We did not manage to even enter Kambodia with a Vietnam registered bikes even we offered 100 Dollars bribe. The guy who sold us the bike did not mange to enter Thailand with it so he sold it. We then sold it too.
Friends of my spend hundereds of dollars to fly their bikes from Thailand to Nepal because if you enter Myanmar they keep your passport and oyu have to leave the country on the same boarder were you came in so no chance to cross it without a expensive guide.

True for India and Iran you need a Carned but this requies a deposit which you will only get back if you return the bike to the country were its registered -> Vietnam.

The visa for Iran and Pakistan are hard to get on the road.

Crossing China with a guide will be very expensive too.

You might be able to enter the EU with this bike but you will get a temporary import permit. No chance to legaly register the bike there. Insted you might be forced to pay import tax or get the bike destroyed.

The Carned problem could be solved with Photoshop as i did in Africa but for the other problems i dont have a solution so i would sell the bike and travel home as a backpacker using public transport or so. Everything else might become very expensive...

Good luck and keep us updated

Tobi
http://schoene-motorradreisen.de/?re...ailand_bangkok

Thanks all you guys for the information, we will study all the possibilities and we will se what we do. I thought, because we had no problems going across the Laos border with the vietnamese bike, that maybe it'd be the same with the Cambodian and Thailand's borders, but i think that we will need to figure it out ourselves.

If anyone else know something useful i'll appreciate so much and of course, don't hesitate that ill reply any further experience for all the community.

Thanks again.
Guillem.

hi Guillem !

I am in the same situation as you but in Nepal, but still initiating all the process

I have also the spanish B permit and was wondering what have you done to have an international motorbike driving permit, and if you know that it is accepted in all the countries you plan to cross...


thanks for your help and good luck on your trip!