How to plan a long, international tour?

[Guy Jinbaiquerre]

(MODS: If this should go in the "General Advice" sticky thread, please feel free to move it... sorry for any inconvenience)

Hey all,

I have been touring around Japan for a few years now, but nothing very long. My longest trip was about 2,000km over 4 days, and all on asphalt.

As a long-term goal, I'd like to do a much longer tour across several countries. I wouldn't be leaving any time soon; it's something I could work up to over time, plan for, and set off on maybe a year or so from now.

I'm thinking about 25,000 kilometers, about 3 months, around Asian and eastern Europe. The goal at this point is to start in Tokyo, head west until I can cross the bridge over the Bosporous in Istanbul from west to east, and then east back to Tokyo. I call it "Wrong Way Round".

Here is the general idea:



The blue line represents the route with the fewest border crossings. The red lines show alterate routes that are either more direct, or include more countries that would be nice to see.

Note that both routes avoid places where fighting is going on or may flare up again, including Georgia, the Kashmir region, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. I might also cross Myanmar and northern Thailand off the alternate route list, depending on the situation there. Finally, I am completely ignorant about whether there are any problems on the Turkish-Iranian border. If it isn't safe to go there, I will need to re-think that whole leg of the trip, since you pretty much have to go thorugh Iran if you're heading east from Turkey.

I know there are a lot of things I would need, like:

-- A dual-purpose bike (I only have a road bike now)
-- Tools and spare parts
-- Reasonable ability to repair the bike if stuff breaks
-- The right gear (clothes, camp stuff, luggage, etc.)
-- Visas and carnets
-- A route that considers road conditions, gasoline, dangerous areas, etc.
-- First aid equipment and training
-- Guidebooks
-- A Navi system loaded with the right maps
-- Plans for how to get medical assistance if I get hurt or sick
-- Money, or access to it
-- Probably a riding partner, so one of us can get help if the other is messed up.
-- A fucking clue

... and probably lots of other stuff. Any general planning advice for this kind of trip would be appreciated!

[kobold]

As far as I know there hasn't been any problems in Turkish - Iran border. Lots of people use that border daily. You can get recent news from countries and many info about countries at www.horizonsunlimited.com. (kinda RTW motorcycle forum)

Cheers

[Guy Jinbaiquerre]

Originally Posted by kobold

As far as I know there hasn't been any problems in Turkish - Iran border. Lots of people use that border daily. You can get recent news from countries and many info about countries at www.horizonsunlimited.com. (kinda RTW motorcycle forum)

Cheers

Thanks for that link, I will definitely be reading up on stuff over there. At the same time, I'm kind of used to ADVrider, and I'm looking forward to someday posting about this trip in the RR forum here.

[bert333]

1- Unless you have 1000's and 1000's of dollars, huge amounts of time, a guide, Chinese plates (no bike over 125cc) etc etc, crossing China alone on a motorcycle is virtually impossible.
2- You cannot overland between Thailand and India - you cannot cross Myanmar on a bike


Horizons Unlimited is still the best source of info

[Guy Jinbaiquerre]

Originally Posted by bert333

1- Unless you have 1000's and 1000's of dollars, huge amounts of time, a guide, Chinese plates (no bike over 125cc) etc etc, crossing China alone on a motorcycle is virtually impossible.
2- You cannot overland between Thailand and India - you cannot cross Myanmar on a bike

Well, I have no idea about Myanmar (I can just skip it anyway), but I do have some experience in China:



That was a lot more than 125cc, I can tell you that. There is also a Harley dealership in Beijing. And then there's this guy, right here on ADVrider. Plus I know a place there that offers guided tours from Beijing to Tibet; I'm sure they can smooth out any bureaucratic hassles.

[Cooltours]

Try contacting my friend Akira. He has done it same way round from same town starting, documented in "Akira goes West". He has long time not been online here but maybe you're going to try pm'ing him.