Any bikers on tour in South East Asia from October 2011 to January 2012?
 

Hello everybody!


We are a Bavarian couple on motorbike world tour with our two 20 years old Honda Transalps.


At the moment we are in Bangkok and a few days ago the container with our bikes finally arrived from Vladivostok! :thumbup1:

In 2 days we´ll start our South East Asia tour. At first we´ll visit Cambodia. The beach, the famous Angkor Wat and the capital Phnom Penh. Then we´ll follow the Mekong River up to Laos, visiting several places there before we´ll enter the North of Thailand. :scooter:



Then we´ll go down, crossing Thailand´s south and after that, we´ll visit Malaysia and Indonesia, before we´ll ship our bikes from Timor Leste to the next big goal on our motorbike world trip: Australia.


We´ll spend the next 3 month in South East Asia, so, if some of youcoincidentally are in this area at the moment or in the next time, please contact us, if you want!


We would be happy to meet other travelers or locals! bier
Many greetings
Bea & Helle


PS: Recently we put our Mongolia travel report and a very nice video about our experiences in this amazing country online!

There's a HU meet in January in Chaing Mai, there's a thread in the meetups sections, see here.

I'll be around Thailand 30 days at a time, this time exploring the south, then I'll do a boarder run and look at the north. From the looks of things there are quite a number of people in SE Asia at the moment.

HI Bea and Helle
I'll be in and around Chiang Mai between 17 and 27 December.

See http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...hristmas-59523

Our tyre tracks might cross.:thumbup1:

cheers
Chris

Bea and Hella .. I'll be in Thailand from 29th October .... not sure ot my plans yet but will be in Chinag Mai 12-19 January 2012 .... enjoy the land of smiles .. Geoff

Hi,

I will travel with my BMW-Sidecar in SEA from November to Februar, or even longer. The Bike will hopefully arrive beginning of November in Bangkok. I do not have exakt travel plans, but I would like to visit Malaysia, Indonesia (Christmas in Bali???) the HU meeting in Chiang Mai and Laos and Cambodia. But if my Bike arrived so late, that I can not make ist to Bali and back for the HU meeting, I might go first to Kambodia and Laos and then later to the south...

I am travelling allone, and it would be nice to meet other travellers for a bier and/or a:mchappy::mchappy:.
So I hope to see some of You on the road...Just write jour plans here.

Greetings Heiko

@ Bea and Helle
Wuensch euch einen guten Start in SEA. Wuerd mich freun Euch wiederzusehen.

Hey guys!

It really seems, that there are a lot of biker in SOA at the moment! :thumbup1:


We are going to put our current routs and position into this blog regularly, so, if you are somewhere close to us, please send us an email and let us meet up somewhere on the road! bier

We would be happy to hear from you!

Our current route and position:
Until Sunday the 30th of October we are in Sihanoukville/Cambodia
After that, we´ll go up to Phnom Penh for a few days
Than visiting Angkor Wat, also for a few days
In about 2 – 3 week we´ll heading north, entering Laos

Hi Bea & Helle,
so, you're finally get it to Bangkok... while i'm stuck in the boring Italy, back from my long ride. unfortunately, i'm not planning any other trip to South East Asia in the next future, but having noticed your thread on about, i had a deep flashback concernig that area. Ah, such a nostalgic reminds..
I wish you all the best for your path. I'm also pretty quite sure you'll enjoy the countries.

Donato, the crazy one who ride the green Harley, with an unuseful c.card, you've met in Ulaan Bataar last august.

www.lungastrada.it

Hello,

Finaly my Bike arrived in Bangkok. Now I have to do a service and some small repairs, and than I will start my SE-Asia adventure.

Greetings Heiko

My current route and position:
Until Sunday the 13th of October I will be in Bangkok Bamboo Guesthouse near Kao San Road. After that, I will ride direct to Cambodia. I would like to do some backroads there, but it seams to be wet and flooded, so I am not sure if it is possible. Maybe I rent a dirtbike there to do some smal trips. I might stay 10 days in Cambodia. After that I will heading north, entering Laos.

I'm in Lopburi at the moment, and I'll be heading to Laos on the 10th of December (the last of my 30 days). I'll probably stay in the northern half of Laos until it's time for the HU meet in Chang Mai.

I assume from the time frames given here that most people are in Laos already?

Hello Rayan,

You are right, we are in Laos.
After Kambodia I meet up with Bea, Helle and a swiss Biker in Laos.
If you cross into north Lao we might meet on the road.

Greetings Heiko

My current route and position:
Right now we are in Vientiane(Capitol) waiting for the Thai-Visa
Tomorrow 7.12 we will ride north to Vang Vieng and the Plain of Jars.
After that heading north to the Golden Triangel and back to Thailand at the 12./13.December. There the next destination for me is Chiang Mai, where I want to go offroad-riding and spend Christmas and probably New Year.:D

Chiang Mai
 

Hi folks

Just read this thread. I am in Bangkok at this moment. Got my Lao visa today. Tomorrow I start heading towards Chaing Mai. Will be there probably in 2 to 3 days. I will check this thread again when I'm there. Would be great to meet some fellow travellers. A few years ago there was a bar called "Sax Bar" in Chiang Mai. It's a cool place to meet bier. I will check frequently there (if it still exists) if other bikers show up there. It's located at the main street in the heart of Chiang Mai...

I'm currently travelling around the world on my BMW 650 Dakar. My oncomming route will be Laos from north to south (approx. 6 weeks), Cambodia (approx. 2 weeks), back to Thailand (another month), then down to Malaysia, Indonesia and finally The Philippines (end of the 2nd leg).

My short-ranged plan is to celebrate new year in Vang Vieng. I experience it New Year 06/07 - it was a great party in a amazing surrounding. Want to see that again... Can only recommend it! Until then I'd like to do the Mae Hong Son loop (Chiang Mai-Pai-Mae Hong Son-Chiang Rai-Golden Triangle-Chiang Mai). Did it 2005. Great stuff!

So maybe I will meet someone of you in Chiang Mai in a few days. Would be great! Stay safe on the road and take care.

Cheers
Thierry

my website: Home

Ah excellent. I'm in Vientiene today (8th!) one day late!

I crossed over from Nong Khai early because the guesthouse told me they were fully booked for tonight, and that didn't include me. No bother, just came over a bit earlier :)

I'm going to stick to the northern part of Laos while I'm here I think. I'm in Vientiene until the 10th (maybe 11th). I haven't really planned what to do next, probably head up to the plain of jars though. I'm going to hang around until Christmas then go meet some friends in Vietnam (without the bike), then the HU meet afterwards.

I am in Chiang Mai for a few more days while i get my bike ready (new tyres, oil change) for Laos. Will be crossing from Chiang Khong aroung the 13th. I am on a Suzuki V Strom that i have brought up from Australia. I flew it to KL then rode to Chiang Mai and have been riding the fantastic mountain roads in the north for the past month.
I have heard the roosters crowing from Laos over the Mekong river while staying in Chiang Khong calling me to come over so i am about to go.

Hope to meet up on the road.

Gary

Hi Heiko
Received a box yesterday. Will bring it avec moi.

Looking forward to the trails.

cheers
Chris

I'm stuck in Pattaya until the end of the week. Because endless ladyboys trying to grab my balls is not really my thing it's actually a bit boring here. Anyone passing through this way than fancies a beer would be a welcome distraction from avoiding 6 foot tall, sex-crazed, post-operative-trans-sexual Asians.
:funmeterno:

Am arriving CNX Sat evening 17th Dec. Anybody around Chiang Mai? Leave a message here/PM me/email me via website (in sig).

Can't wait.

cheers
Chris

That was me that we met in the main street in border town in Lao, i just arrive from Chiang Khong and you about to go to CK... is a very small world we live in and both in Horizons... best luck

I'm in Phonsavan heading to Luang Prabang tomorrrow, if anyone is still around.

Also note that Highway 13 between Vientiane and Vang Vieng is in horrible condition, for those that haven't experienced it yet. I assume they are in the process of resurfacing some of it, but for now there are very few sections of smooth road, the rest is just rocks and dust, and with a lot of traffic. It took about 5 hours to cover that 150km. The gets much better about 20km north of Vang Vieng though.

Hello to all!


We didn´t check the post for a few days and so many new entries, wow! :thumbup1:



@Donato:
For sure, we remember you! What a question! :thumbup:

In our travel report about Siberia, there are some pic from you! :yes:

If you are interested, you can find it here:
www.TimetoRide.de
Unfortunately, the report is not (yet) in English, but maybe you can translate it with Google! :-)
And there is also a video with parts of our Banja-experiences in Ulan-Ude! :yes: The video you can watch out here:
www.TimetoRide.de


@Gary D:
You saw us in Huay Xai!? Hm… we are sorry, but at the moment, we don´t remember that we saw any bike there…!? :oops2::confused1:



@rbslime:
The road from Luang Prabang to Muang Xai is also as bad as the road you described! :no: But from Muang Xai to Huay Xai (Thai border) the road is very nice! :thumbup1:


Now we are back in Bangkok and in a few days we´ll start to drive south to Phuket and also visiting some of the Islands before we´ll entering Malaysia in around 2 1/2 weeks.


Many greetings and maybe see one of you guys on the road!


Bea & Helle


PS: Does anyone of you know if there is a car-ferry from Malaysia to Indonesia or which is the easiest and cheapest way to ship our bikes from Malaysia to Indonesia? Because we heard some stories about renting a fisher-boat to ship the bikes from Malaysia to Indonesia…!? :confused1:

The situation in the Straight of Malacca seemed to change almost weekly (for example, when we crossed it, they had recently opened a real nice "proper car-ferry service"..... but then they had closed it down already, too!!) So 4 years ago the best option seemed to be the onion cargo boats, run by Cakra shipping in Penang, and they go to Belawan, near Medan in Sumatra.

A big upside on this route was definitely, that it seemed to be a commonly used one (in Penang, we met other bikers going both ways using that route), so the carnets etc. are familiar stuff in Belawan, means you´re less likely to run into trouble with the Indonesian customs. DO NOT underestimate this – there were several travellers, that we met around Indonesia, who had had more than their fair share or troubles with the import, leading to complete re-planning of their entire trips. Do as thorough research about your intended point of entry as you can, might save you a lot of time, and headache.

If you get really lucky, then there could be a ferry operating right now. But I would not count on that, and shipping with Cakra was, I would say, on the ´easier´ side, if I compare to some other shippings during that same trip, which were a real pain in the proverbial behind! We took a passenger boat ourselves, and all in all it did not become so expensive. But sorry I have no recent info from there.

Here´s how it went for us:
MOTO1 - Matkalla

Christmas in Chiang Mai
 

Christmas on the Road is pretty good...

This motley crew celebrated Chrimbo in Chiang Mai last night...

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p.../thailand3.jpg

From right to left:
DaveG, USA: daveg travels

Harry, UK RTW on Diesel Bullet running on veggie oil: VegiBike, vegetable oil fueled diesel engine, Royal Enfield motorbike by Harry Lyon-Smith

Heiko, Germany RTW on R80g/s-outfit (and demon trials rider...)

Yannick, Switzerland RTW on Africa Twin

Chris, UK Tourist, on a quick 9 day trail riding holiday

Staying at Rider's Corner, Chiang Mai Rider's Corner Bar & Restaurant - Chiang Mai Bikers Hotel Thailand (HU Thailand Meet venue in Jan 2012) and a great resource for travellers: RideAsia.net • Motorcycle forum for riders from all of Asia

Merry Christmas
Chris

Ferries from Flores to West-Timor???
 

Hello!

After crossing Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia we finally reached Indonesia 2 weeks ago! :-)

At the moment we try to find out how often there is a ferry from Flores to West-Timor and some people say, that there is a ferry twice a week, other people say, there is a ferry once a week and another people say that there is only one ferry every two weeks!?!?

So if anyone of you know the current schedule of the ferries from Flores to West-Timor, that would be great because we are a little worried about our Indonesian-Visa (that the time is to short) if there is really only one ferry every two weeks!

Many greetings from West-Java and thank you all for your great help!
Bea & Helle

Hey guys, I'm riding in the opposite direction and caught the Kupang-Larantuka ferry last night. The local ferry runs twice a week and costs 172, 000 Rupiah one way. This is a vehicle ticket so it technically means you're not allowed upstairs and you don't get a meal, but nobody is going to stop you doing the former and the latter did actually look quite appealing. I bought a small meal off one of the vendors that flood the ferry before it sets off.

It's a hefty slog, took off at three yesterday and arrived at five this morning, though it felt like I had a chat with just about everybody on the boat. Once I get some solid internet I'll be updating my photos.

Pelni run twice a month, but I have the impression that they don't do vehicles..unsure of this. Ignore any advice anybody gives you about Kupang being rubbish and worth avoiding, I loved it to bits. Stay a few nights, they close off the main street in town to make a night market and the food is great (ask for the Basa Malam), get someone to take you to Crystal Cave where at a certain time of day the sun shines deep into a cave with crystal clear water where you can swim and jump off the rocks and check out the monkey cave too.

Also try and see some of the local kids 'shuffling' which is a dance that has completely taken off and they have competitions everywhere. It's like moonwalking only faster and leave the bike for a few hours to catch one of the absolutely INSANE bemo buses that are basically discos on wheels after a certain time.

Really hope you enjoyed West Timor as much as I did.

Nick
A Blue Million Miles - Nick's Adventures on an old Honda

Hey Nick

There is a Telkom building - you can't miss it, just look out for the radio tower /mast - about 100 /150 metres or so pass the Fortuna Hotel (not a bad place to stay btw) heading east out of town. That’s the fastest internet connection we could find in Larantuka.

Enjoy your trip

KEITH

.

Hello Nick!

Thank you very much for the information, especially about Kupang, also! Because we have to stay there a couple of days to apply for our Timor-Leste Visa!

At the moment we think about shipping from Ende/Flores to Kupang/West-Timor because we heard that the ferry is quicker than from Larantuka!

Where are you at the moment?
Because maybe our routs will cross somewhere on the Indonesian Islands!
Currently we are in Kuta/Bali and tomorrow morning we got to Lombok. Stay there for maybe one or two nights and then we go to Sumbawa, also for one or two night and than we are in Flores already!

Many greetings
Bea & Helle