Banging Our Heads Against The Chinese Wall

As I write this I am sitting in a rooftop ger in Ulan Bator. We were trying to keep the blog somewhat chronological, but between having bad or no internet connections we have not been so successful.   (And that is ok, no one wants their trip to be dictated by a blog!)

My original plan was to ignore my physical reality and just write up a bunch of auto-posts so people can have some idea, albeit a delayed version thereof, our exploits. But I am abandoning the idea. I will still back track a little in the future, but for now we have a little real time news. 

(This is mostly in order to stop people from scratching their heads and going, huh, whaaa, they did what, she is where???  but I thought...)

Our original plan was to ride our motorcycles (Betty and Wilma, two BMW F 650 GSs) across Russia, to Vladivostok, and from there we would either ship to South America, or we would go to Korea and then ship to South America. From there we would ride up to Newfoundland where we would drink a beer with family and friends, and I could squish my nieces and nephews.

Plans change. (The how's and why's of sacrificing to the motorcycle gods,  I am saving for my Chasing Summer article.  But as that may not be out for  a month or more, a short summary of what is presently running through our heads I will provide here!)

As the quotes to ship our bikes began to roll in our hearts sunk deeper and deeper into despair. From Vladivostok we would need to rent an entire container.  To the tune of thousands per motorcycle.  Even if we could fill the container with other bikes, the price was still thousands per motorcycle. We were ok with the low 2000 range when it was 700 to get to Korea, then another 1200 to get to Chile, because we planned to ride for 3 weeks in Korea before shipping.

But

And there is always a big but,  German (along with Croatian) vehicles are not allowed in Korea.  Temporary import or not. Yes Patrick rode his bike there 6 years.  Pure luck. If you are lucky then you get through.  If not then your bike goes on bonded trucks, your out another couple hundred (at least) and for that money you do not even get to ride!

So what are we to do?

IF China allowed bikes in we could ride in China. But at 300 dollars a day for a guide (but that can be split between as many group members as you wish. But even if we had 10 other bikers with us it would be too much!) not only is the price insane, it also takes away from all the freedom of riding your bike in the first place.

We then looked at buying a bike in China. We thought that perhaps the problem was just foreign vehicles,  as foreigners do ride bikes there, why not us?

Well, it would appear everyone rides in various degrees of legality, few with any real legal status, and most rely on the kindness (or the indifference) of the local police. We are still looking into it, but the fact that others say you can do it, does not mean we will do it.  Neither of us have any real interest in seeing the insides of a Chinese prison, even as a “scare tactic” that would not last longer than a few days. (I'll own it, I shit my pants just thinking about it.)

So what are we to do?

Chasing summer is still on the table.  Instead of South America we are looking into New Zealand, as we can buy a bike there for what we would have paid to ship ours.

That means selling Betty and Wilma.

We are also meeting my parents in Thailand in November. That got us thinking.  And looking into online forums. Perhaps instead of South America we could ride South East Asia.  Six – seven months in paradise on earth, surely there could be worse fates for us?

This would mean selling Betty and Wilma, and instead of buying 650 ccs, we would go for 125 ccs, maybe even go for a Scooter, we did a scooter in Cuba and it was awesome!

There would be no thinking if it was not for China! Then we would simply ride our bikes through China, into Laos, cruise Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, and ship out from there!

But the Chinese Wall shuts out the whole of Asia to our bikes.

The plan is still to ride home however, only now we stay on the other side  of the world while we wait for Spring to hit the United States, where we plan on buying new bikes and riding onwards to Newfoundland. We are not willing to become backpackers, just an exchange of wheels!

Where we still plan to drink beer however, and squish nieces and nephews, as well as chew on Ms Q's baby! As Shaq, the best dog ever, would have told you, it is not so easy to escape my love! If we can not go through the wall, we will just go around it!

Posted via email from Unleash Your Adventure

Banging Our Heads Against The Chinese Wall

As I write this I am sitting in a rooftop ger in Ulan Bator. We were trying to keep the blog somewhat chronological, but between having bad or no internet connections we have not been so successful.   (And that is ok, no one wants their trip to be dictated by a blog!)

My original plan was to ignore my physical reality and just write up a bunch of auto-posts so people can have some idea, albeit a delayed version thereof, our exploits. But I am abandoning the idea. I will still back track a little in the future, but for now we have a little real time news. 

(This is mostly in order to stop people from scratching their heads and going, huh, whaaa, they did what, she is where???  but I thought...)

Our original plan was to ride our motorcycles (Betty and Wilma, two BMW F 650 GSs) across Russia, to Vladivostok, and from there we would either ship to South America, or we would go to Korea and then ship to South America. From there we would ride up to Newfoundland where we would drink a beer with family and friends, and I could squish my nieces and nephews.

Plans change. (The how's and why's of sacrificing to the motorcycle gods,  I am saving for my Chasing Summer article.  But as that may not be out for  a month or more, a short summary of what is presently running through our heads I will provide here!)

As the quotes to ship our bikes began to roll in our hearts sunk deeper and deeper into despair. From Vladivostok we would need to rent an entire container.  To the tune of thousands per motorcycle.  Even if we could fill the container with other bikes, the price was still thousands per motorcycle. We were ok with the low 2000 range when it was 700 to get to Korea, then another 1200 to get to Chile, because we planned to ride for 3 weeks in Korea before shipping.

But

And there is always a big but,  German (along with Croatian) vehicles are not allowed in Korea.  Temporary import or not. Yes Patrick rode his bike there 6 years.  Pure luck. If you are lucky then you get through.  If not then your bike goes on bonded trucks, your out another couple hundred (at least) and for that money you do not even get to ride!

So what are we to do?

IF China allowed bikes in we could ride in China. But at 300 dollars a day for a guide (but that can be split between as many group members as you wish. But even if we had 10 other bikers with us it would be too much!) not only is the price insane, it also takes away from all the freedom of riding your bike in the first place.

We then looked at buying a bike in China. We thought that perhaps the problem was just foreign vehicles,  as foreigners do ride bikes there, why not us?

Well, it would appear everyone rides in various degrees of legality, few with any real legal status, and most rely on the kindness (or the indifference) of the local police. We are still looking into it, but the fact that others say you can do it, does not mean we will do it.  Neither of us have any real interest in seeing the insides of a Chinese prison, even as a “scare tactic” that would not last longer than a few days. (I'll own it, I shit my pants just thinking about it.)

So what are we to do?

Chasing summer is still on the table.  Instead of South America we are looking into New Zealand, as we can buy a bike there for what we would have paid to ship ours.

That means selling Betty and Wilma.

We are also meeting my parents in Thailand in November. That got us thinking.  And looking into online forums. Perhaps instead of South America we could ride South East Asia.  Six – seven months in paradise on earth, surely there could be worse fates for us?

This would mean selling Betty and Wilma, and instead of buying 650 ccs, we would go for 125 ccs, maybe even go for a Scooter, we did a scooter in Cuba and it was awesome!

There would be no thinking if it was not for China! Then we would simply ride our bikes through China, into Laos, cruise Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, and ship out from there!

But the Chinese Wall shuts out the whole of Asia to our bikes.

The plan is still to ride home however, only now we stay on the other side  of the world while we wait for Spring to hit the United States, where we plan on buying new bikes and riding onwards to Newfoundland. We are not willing to become backpackers, just an exchange of wheels!

Where we still plan to drink beer however, and squish nieces and nephews, as well as chew on Ms Q's baby! As Shaq, the best dog ever, would have told you, it is not so easy to escape my love! If we can not go through the wall, we will just go around it!

Posted via email from Unleash Your Adventure

Anyone Looking To Ship A Motorcycle From Russia To Chile In October?

Trip planning is in full swing and we have run up against our first full snag: shipping the bikes from Vladivostok to Valparaiso.  When Patrick shipped his bike from Korea to Chile he paid just under 500 US for the bike.  We were hoping around 800 per bike either by air or by ship from Russia.  The quote came back, we can not ship per bike, we need to rent an entire container.  For close on to $5000 (we were quoted 4, 500 but that does not include harbor fees in Chile,  so we are thinking in the end it will be more like 5,000).  The thing is a container fits up to 8 bikes.  We are 3 bikes.  That means 5 more could fit and that would bring the costs down dramatically (although cheap it will not be).  So if you know anyone with plans to try and get a bike out of Russia in October in the direction of South America, pass on our address!

Patrick In Mongolia:

But that also means it is crunch time.  We have 4 months (more or less to the day) before we head off on our world trip.  (The date is flexible, Patrick wants to leave the 25th or 26th of May.  This is when the house in  Tuscany becomes available and the rest of his family head to Italy for 2 weeks of vacation.  I am torn between this is much better than working, and that 4 extra days of work brings in enough money to finance half a month on the road). But then life is short, and this was really hammered home last week when I lost my Aunt Liz to cancer. There is one good thing that comes out of the grief of a loss, it really brings home just what, and who, is important. 4 days of work is very little in the grand scheme of things, and Patrick's family have become mine.  In the end what will I gain from those 4 days working versus the memories of the 4 extra days in Italy with family?