I have this vague idea of taking a year long overland trip to India and back.Starting point will be Athens Greece and the vehicle a japanese automatic 989cc thoroughly serviced and with brand new tires.The itinerary starts early October.After 3 days to get out of Greece is Turkey where I drive the north coastal road to Trabzon in 10 days then down to Erzurum and Van and by the end of Oct reach the Iranian border.A month in Iran through Esfahan,Shiraz will bring me to Pakistan late November.Drive through Pak in 15 days and late Dec I reach Mumbai via Jaipur,Udaipur.Next 2 monts drive down to Goa ,Kerala and then back North.Mid March I cross into Nepal for a month.Mid April cross(?) the Himalayas to Tibet and drive through Lhasa to Kashgar Turfan in Uygur China and late May cross into Kazakhstan. Drive directly from Almaty to Tashkend Uzbekistan and spend June on the Silk Road through Samarkand and Bukhara.July Drive to Ashkabad Turkmenistan and by the 15th reach Turkmenbashi for the ferry to Baku Azerbaijan.A month to drive around Azer,Armenia and Georgia will bring me to Krasnodar Russia and then to Crimea Ukraine late August.From Odessa to Chisinau Moldova drive around the Gagauz and then a month for the way back through Romania and Bulgaria.Crazy ugh? If it's doable I'm gonna do it.All by myself.I'm totaly prepared for the unexpectable and even if a flat tire make me wanna run back home I'm gonna give it a try.I have a whole year to prepare,research all the details and make any changes necessary.I know there's lots of paperwork to be done but since it CAN be done I'll do it.Wish me luck! Suggest anything that can be useful.If I'm left stranded in Uygur,there's always a flight back home.The same if I'm stripped of everything in Almaty.If I'm dead well then...who's gonna live forever.?
Hi,
Good luck.
Have a look into my plan Medicine Buddha (Nagarjuna) Expedition in 2008
May we can join
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<hr>Mid April cross(?) the Himalayas to Tibet and drive through Lhasa to Kashgar Turfan in Uygur China <hr></blockquote>
What do you say?
WR
:)Santhosh
from Kerala
To drive your own car into China is ectremely expensive and difficult.
Turkmenistan won't issue a transit visa for exiting by the Caspian to Azerbaijan
I've heard Azerbaijan has stopped issuing visas altogether
To enter Iran and South Asia you need a Carnet de Passages en Douane. Look this up on the internet. It's very expensive.
If you have the funds and the patience to do all this it would be an awesome trip, but most people generally alter their itineraries to avoid these problems.
Would love to hear if you manage to drive your own car into and out of Tibet especially from Nepal and into Xinjiang - anyone done this? I've never heard of it being allowed.
The trip is scheduled for Oct 2008 .#1 thanks for your invitation!
If I'm not wrong Carnet de Passages is issued here for Eur 105 which is not forbidding.
I haven't visited embassies and consulates as yet.The idea is still vague , preparation is still in paper and some kind of sponsorship (not financial) will be seeked before I start acting . Extremely expensive means what ? Difficult I understand.
Tibet Xinjiang is a delicate case altogether.
From a couple of calls I've done Iran seem prety straightforward but time consuming, Azerbaijan issues visas , the first stans will be O.k. Turkmenistan is an issue (no representation here?).
Last time I looked into it, taking a vehicle into China cost about $1000 for the paperwork and an additional $100 per day which covered the cost of a "guide" who keeps an eye on you and also makes sure you do not change from your pre-agreed itinerary. Whole process takes about 3 months to organise so perhaps best to get in touch with local CITC (China Int'l Travel Centre) for more information.
If this is all to much hastle then you can either look at going back through Nepal-India-Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan.
Visas, especially for the ex Soviet states are time consuming and requiring planning, both for LOIs (Letter of Invitation) and also timing since they start + expire on specified dates instead of starting the day you enter the country.
Think there is a lot of info for long-term bike (& car) trips at; http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/
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