Korean Job Discussion Forums

[maddog]

Is this feasible? I done some biking across Cambodia and Vietnam. Obviously that was on a much smaller scale, and the weahter was reasonably consistent.

Would biking across Eurasia be a rewarding challenge, or a brutal endeavour that would take years of planning?

I love traveling, and I love adventures, so this idea just crept into my head. If it's folly, I'll think of something else. But if it's do-able, I definitely want to give it a try.

Does anyone have any links? I'm sure countless people have done it, or least something similar.

Oh, the plan would be to get a ferry to China, then drive to Scotland!!!

MD

[raulfd4]

you might want to post something in the "Official Motorcycle/Scooter Thread" in the Off-Topic forum. There are a lot of people with good advice there.

I know I read about how the actor Ewan MacGregor and a friend did just that thing (except the other way around)...England to NYC I think. You'll find something. "The Long Way Around" or something.

[sojukettle]

check this out, it's on a bicycle but still a cool story / trip log:-

www.koreatocapetown.co.uk

sk

[soviet_man]

I think the modern day hippy trail type idea is a good one.

But Russia and Kazakhstan will f*** you up with geography, bureacracy and meterology one way or another. Roads there will often be impassable or non-existent. It is a cruel and harsh place.

If I had a motorbike, I would go say Greece > Turkey > Iran > Pakistan > India instead. Five very nice, easy and largely hassle-free countries.

[Jove]

A couple of websites to check out would be advrider.com and horizonsunlimited.com.

Both of these sites have loads of motorcycling info. One thing I've read is that getting a bike into China is nearly impossible, but you might be able to have a Chinese citizen buy a bike in their name and then you can ride it through China. You might have better luck starting in Russia or Southeast Asia, where you would have to transport your bike to India.

[maddog]

Cheers for the replies so far.

I wanna buy the bike here. That way I have time to get to know the bike and sort out any glitches it may have.

That's bad news about China. I'll look into that and see if there's any way around it. I don't wanna buy a bike in SE Asia, nor do I want to transport a bike there by ship.

MD

[pjmancktelow]

go to this forum, its pretty much the bible for this thing, try and get a hold of the "Adventure Motorcycling Handbook" by Chris Scott. Its talked about as 'the AMH'. the forum below is far better. im in Korea getting money for a RTW in a few years time

www.horizonsunlimited.com

[TECO]

I love it!

Ewen Mcgregor is now doing another ride with his friend down to South Africa, I think.

what size bike, model would you be looking at - KTM, BMW?

those bikes look expensive that they were riding in the "long way around."

[deizio]

Long Way Round was Western Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Russia (Altay), Mongolia, Russia (Siberia), Alaska, Canada, US. Buy it or download it, its awesome. They spent months planning, spent loads of money, had free GS1150 BMW bikes (hardcore, seriously) and had a full support crew with a doctor, translator etc. They had impromptu police escorts in some places. They had huge hassles at some borders, various visa and documentation problems... point is, it isn't a trip that a kid with a dream could really hope to pull off without something going horribly wrong, people that do these trips tend to be well funded, experienced riders with very serious bikes. A more plausible way to do motorbike trips in some of those countries is to fly in, buy a bike there, maybe drop into a couple of neighbouring countries depending on where you are, then go back to the bike shop you started at, sell the bike and fly out. China is pretty much out (legally), Mongolia apparently has about 80km of paved roads in the whole country, Russia is hell for visas, a lot of places have serious bandit problems...

The African journey in Long Way Down was much easier in terms of visas and paperwork, and the roads were actually pretty good. Another bet is to go from South America to North America, or vice-versa. Puntas Arenas to Anchorage is a fairly well-worn route. If your heart is set on Asia, the tip about Greece - India is pretty feasible, and horizonsunlimited is a great site.

[seoulteacher]