The proposed route

My start point is Ammanford, Wales.  I meet Jim and his family for the first time.  We will travel together all the way to Australia.

Jim like myself has toured much of Western Europe so we are not doing any sight seeing along the way.  We are having a stop-over near Berlin where we have been invited to stay and meet Jens.  Unfortunately Jens has work commitments and will not start his journey for another couple of weeks.

Neither Jim or myself have done any travel through the old eastern block countries.  So we will take our time through those countries.

Map Link - Proposed route from Wales to Turkey
I was in Istanbul as a teenager.  I loved the atmosphere of the city where east meets west.  Hope to spend a couple of days there.  Our plans are very fluid for Turkey and it depends on how we are traveling in terms of time.  We have allowed ourselves two months to get from Wales to Kyrgyzstan - plenty of time all going well.  No doubt we could stay in Turkey for months and not see everything.  A trip south east may be on the cards.

Map Link - Istanbul to Baku, Azerbaijan

We cross into Georgia at the new border crossing situated at Sarpa.  The armed conflict between Georgia and Russia is over and I hope it stays that way.  We cross into Azerbaijan and head straight to the port city of Baku.  There we seek out a ferry to cross the Caspian Sea.  We needed a Letter of Invitation for the Azerbaijan visa application.  We booked a room in Baku and the hotelier supplied us with the letter.

Map Link - Turkmenbashi to Kyrgyzstan 
Looking forward to seeing these countries which were part of the old Silk Road.  In Kyrgyzstan we meet up with Artur, Jens, Jon, Vaughan and Kimberly for the China leg of the journey.

Map Link - China
Chinese authorities require that we use and pay for a guide when traveling through China.  That is why the eight of us have come together.  We are sharing the cost.  Our guide Lun Wang has responded to hundreds of emails from us.    The itinerary is not written in stone but has been submitted for inspection and authorization.

Map Link - Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Long journey to South East Asia.  Vietnam has started to relax the border crossing restrictions.  We managed to find a couple of government approved guides who can obtain the all the permits required for our bikes.  Foreign vehicles were not allowed to cross the border just a short time ago.

In Malaysia we seek out the shipping agent who can get us across to Sumatra, Indonesia.

Shipping the bike to UK from Australia.

I am using Tradelanes Global Solutions based in Tullermarine, Victoria, to arrange getting my bike to UK.  The contact person is Stewart Garmey.

The process is relatively painless.

Freight Cost.
Not charged per kilogram.  Charged per cubic metre which is 2.78
Export documents - $82.50
Acquit Carnet with Customs - $137.50
Ocean Freight to Tilbury UK - 292.00

The crate.  Went to my local motorcycle shop and asked for a crate.  They were happy to give me a steel crate used for importing quad bikes into Australia.  It was larger than I needed.  Freight costs are calculated by the cubic metre.  I got to the crate with an angle grinder and welder.

Customs.  I organised the Carnet De Passage through RACV.  That enables me to re-import the bike when I return without paying import duty.  Cost of Carnet $980 but it is required by Customs.

Had to get the crated bike to Port Melbourne where the bond store is located.  Stewart allowed me to do that myself and I saved $150.  Hooked the trailer up and left home early.