Cycling Central Asia-Peking to Paris

[captn willard]

Fellow touring addicts: I'm thinking about another tour in 2006, roughly the old Silk Road, Europe to China thru Central Asia. Nothing planned as of yet and not commited to going E to W or W to E.

I'm interested in finding partners along part or the whole trip. I am a strong experienced touring cyclist but do intended to go about it at a moderate pace to take in all the culture and nature. Low budget and camping whenever possible.

Email me if interested. [email protected]

I'm also interested in tips and suggestions from others who have made similar trips.

Cheers

 

[Arnold van Zon]

We ( my wife and I ) are considering the same in 2007. One of the problems we see ( the biking is the least one ) is obtaining visa's for Kasakhstan and Russia without booking hotels , ect. How do you get around that one? Also some area's along the route in China are closed for foreingers.

Arnold van Zon, New Zealand

 

[Moneer81]

you guys are nuts !

actually no I really admire this adventurous plan....I don't know how biking through Asia would be like though...

 

[captn willard]

As if anyone was interested, the trip is off for 2006. I got creamed and my foot got crushed. Two surgeries later and I am just on rehabing. All the money and time for a 06 trip is gone.

I still appreciate any input as I will make the trip perhaps in '07.





I'm also interested in tips and suggestions from others who have made similar trips.

Cheers[/QUOTE]

 

[Moneer81]

As if anyone was interested, the trip is off for 2006. I got creamed and my foot got crushed. Two surgeries later and I am just on rehabing. All the money and time for a 06 trip is gone.

I still appreciate any input as I will make the trip perhaps in '07.





I'm also interested in tips and suggestions from others who have made similar trips.

Cheers

[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear that...
how did that happen?

hope you'll get better soon.

 

[captn willard]

Arnold, I see you are on Olly's list for the B to P in 2007. He assured me that a newsletter will be going out soon and there will be a user group created so that the riders can exchange information and get to know each other. Several of us are interested in partnering at least part of the way.

Cheers.

CaptN W

 

[Arnold van Zon]

Capt W

Thanks for your info. Look forward sharing idea's with the other participants in the near future.

Arnold

 

[EoinC]

...I'm also interested in tips and suggestions from others who have made similar trips.

Cheers

[/QUOTE]Cap'n. I spent a year working in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan (Early 1990's). I didn't have a bike over there, but it would make for some great riding. Contrary to the impression fostered in the rest of the World, the place is full of some pretty amazing and hospitable people.
I've cycled around in Laos, Thailand, Indonesia and (currently) Malaysia. As I'm sure you know, an open attitude and an open itinerary will get you into all sorts of places and have you meeting all sorts of people. Good luck with your ride and I hope that your foot gets back to 100%.
Regards,
Eoin

 

[waterford-camel]

We ( my wife and I ) are considering the same in 2007. One of the problems we see ( the biking is the least one ) is obtaining visa's for Kasakhstan and Russia without booking hotels , ect. How do you get around that one? Also some area's along the route in China are closed for foreingers.

Arnold van Zon, New Zealand

On a US passport-

A 30 day Kazakhstan visa is pretty straight forward. The consulate just needs the entry date, no letter of invite is required. 30 days does not leave much time for siteseeing, nor rest days if you ride the entire countries length. If you enter from Russia further along in Kazakh, then the tourist Visa should be plenty.

The Russian one is tricky. I'll be going with the Russian Cycle Tourist club for support for a 3month multiple entry business Visa.

Some of the other CIS states are even more difficult to get addequate Visa's for.

OP: sorry to hear about the injury. Safe/fast healing to you!

 

[Arnold van Zon]

Thank you for that info.

I came accross a website with gives some more info. re . Russian visa's. This is: http://members.aol.com/imershein/Page4.html

Arnold

 

[waterford-camel]

Arnold,

I also hope to write a tour journal on "crazyguyonabike.com". When/if I do, I'll note Visa/logistics.

Russian Visa doesn't apear to be available greater than 90 days before crossing the border (some exceptions). I hope to be an "exception" (cross fingers), and be able to get mine from home-rather than spending extra time waiting along the way.

Registering the Russian Visa seems less required these days (exceptions of course being stoppovers in Moscow, St Petersburg etc.).

The one consistant thing I've read from cycle tourers was border control/customs "forgetting" about filing/stamping a declaritsa. Without it, one may be "fined" (cough-cough) when departing. I'll be bringing a copy pre-translated with me, as there may only be russian ones available at the border. There is a Russian/English version available on the web for download (pdf). The link to it from Everbrites page doesn't currently work.

On Kazakhstan- I simply e-mailed the consulate for info. Perhaps inquire with your nearest consulate directly, as your departure date nears?

They were very quick to respond, and didn't note any problems (I indicated I would be cycling acrossed). I did not inquire about a longer Visa, as the 30 day will be fine for me, although "cutting it close".

 

[daavq]

I have just started cycle touring, however in 2000 I travelled from Ulan Bator to Beijing then across China, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey to Istanbul along the Silk Road. I can make a few suggestions.

1. If you are planning on going through Iran, get your visa application in early. It took 6 weeks to get mine and I ended up hanging around Beijing while it was getting processed. The people there are WAY friendlier than our media would have you believe, but their government is not to friendly.
   
2. HYDRATE! I met a Dutch couple in Turfan who cycled across the Taklamakan desert. She ended up with heat stroke and they had to put her in a bath tub of cold water to get her temperature to come down.
   
3. Visit Karimabad in the Hunza valley, stay at the Eagles Nest B&B. It's cheap and you wake up every morning looking at Rakaposhi (7500m peak)
   
4. Stop in Kashgar for the Sunday Market. It has to be seen to be believed.
   
5. Have fun! If you get frustrated or angry take a deep breath. If you loose your cool you loose face and all negotiations cease

You can see some photos from the trip at http://www.davehamel.com. Feel free to contact me if you need more information.

 

[Arnold van Zon]

Dave


Great pictures and thanks for your input.
Our route is not fixed yet , it depends which areas are open to foreigners. Waiting for an answer from the Chineese tourist bureaux. Perhaps we never get one....

Arnold

 

[waterford-camel]

Dave
...Waiting for an answer from the Chineese tourist bureaux. Perhaps we never get one...

Independant travel by bike is "frowned upon" (probaby because we don't need to spend as much money as other types of tourists). I would not mention your wish, or intention to do so in any official corespondence with China.

Unless:

You are using a guided service.

Perhaps have some form or type of national support for your expedition. (ie your consolate/embassy supports you, and is in contact with the Chinese government on your behalf.)

 

[poweredbysweat]

Fellow touring addicts: I'm thinking about another tour in 2006, roughly the old Silk Road, Europe to China thru Central Asia. Nothing planned as of yet and not commited to going E to W or W to E.

I'm interested in finding partners along part or the whole trip. I am a strong experienced touring cyclist but do intended to go about it at a moderate pace to take in all the culture and nature. Low budget and camping whenever possible.

Email me if interested. [email protected]

I'm also interested in tips and suggestions from others who have made similar trips.

Cheers

I'd love to do this if I didn't have to work. Sorry to hear about the accident. What is the average speed on a trip like this? How many miles per day?

 

[felbur]

Independant travel by bike is "frowned upon" (probaby because we don't need to spend as much money as other types of tourists). I would not mention your wish, or intention to do so in any official corespondence with China.

Unless:

You are using a guided service.

Perhaps have some form or type of national support for your expedition. (ie your consolate/embassy supports you, and is in contact with the Chinese government on your behalf.)

Very good advice. If you don't get embassy support, forget arranging things directly with the authorities in China. Not only is cycling a less lucrative form of tourism (and generally considered a means of transport for the poor, a token of low status), cyclists with lots of hi-tech equipment (say helmets, cyclometers, etc) are susceptible to all forms of questionable anti-China activities.

The Chinese police (gong'an) seldom know which areas are closed, and which open anyway. I once lived in the central city of Xi'an and was intent on doing it all by the books so inquired with the local police chief on the distribution of nearby closed zones - he didn't know how to answer.

Some areas are really closed and you will just see - more often nowadays than previously - signs in English. Then the issue is clear.

Otherwise just cycle wherever you please; if you run into a checkpoint and they bug on you, remember: 1) even "closed zones" are open to transit, and it's always feasible to paint cycling through as a form of transit (if you know Chinese, that is!); 2) be polite and smile a lot (if you don't know Chinese that's about as far as you can go; after 30 minutes or so an official police interpreter should arrive and be sure to compliment her/him on their excellent English, once you soften them up they will be on your side with the tough local sherriff); 3) have all your money deep inside your panniers (or in some other secret place), and be always ready to perform with your friends a scene of "thoroughly" emptying all your wallets, purses, money-bags of "all" your local currency, making sure in advance that what you have there does not really amount to much, but enough for the police team to get a good meal and a drink and some cigarettes.

Well, all the best: heal fast, get ready, and go - go, before these last few remnants of (almost) unspoilt and pristine nature get a taste of Chinese nihilistic "liberation"...

 

[Oliver1231]

I read the posts by Felbur and Waterford-Camel, and I thought I should post a reply. I went cycle touring in China last year, on a fully supported tour with a China-based company called Bike Asia. They are westerners working in Asia, running cycling holidays. My experience was that China was really tourism-friendly, even bike tourism. We didn't see or feel any issues with the authorities and we cycled some remote and not-so-remote areas in South West China. Maybe it was because the tour was so professionally planned and organised that we didn't experience anything like that, but I just found the local people to be really friendly and welcoming. Had an amazing two weeks and I'm hoping to go back to China next year to join Bike Asia's new China cycling tour in Guangxi and Guizhou Province in 2007. Highly recommend these guys btw, they really know the country and they really know cycling!

 

[Velotour]

We ( my wife and I ) are considering the same in 2007. One of the problems we see ( the biking is the least one ) is obtaining visa's for Kasakhstan and Russia without booking hotels , ect. How do you get around that one? Also some area's along the route in China are closed for foreingers.

Arnold van Zon, New Zealand

I did a fair amount of cycling in the CIS but way back in 1994. I kept a very thorough and well written journal on it of over 108,000 words. In those days if you went across Ukraine from L'viv to Kiev you could get visas at the Russian embassy in Kiev, but I did not do that. I know only that they were available. Kazakhstan also had visas available. Ukraine had a transit visa at the border. It was good for a few days and needed to be replaced by a tourist visa at any city that was a capital in the affairs of a province. Georgia was admitting Americans without any visa at all, or so said the sign on the wall of the American embassy in Kiev.

There are rules and regulations about reservations and addresses of places you will be staying all along your line of travel. I am not too sure that they really press those rules all that much for everyone. However, be aware that there you are in another world, and while they might let you travel across their territory without all the proper information in your itinerary, when it comes to leaving their country you might find yourself facing heavy fines some or all of which might be pocketed by the border officials. I am not saying this will happen but those places are another world. There you are not back home on the block.