London to Kazakhstan: Central Asia

This itinerary is for 51 days, covering around 8,000 miles (13,000 kms). It starts in London, UK and finishes in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Week 1: Europe
Depart Ace Cafe London. France, the Alps, Bavaria – Germany.  Bled, Slovenia.  Croatia & the Adriatic Coast and a night in Dubrovnik. Montenegro, Albania and Lake Ohrid.  Greece – Mount Olympus and Meteora.

Week 2: Turkey
Enter Turkey.  East meets West in Istanbul. (Istanbul is also an official start Point for this Expedition). Two full days to explore the Blue Mosque, Tokapi Palance and Hagi Sophia.  Ottoman preserved village Safranbolu. Caves, rock formations and underground dwellings in Cappadoccia. 

Week 3: Turkey & Iran
See the stone heads of Mount Nemrut.   Erzurum and Mount Ararat.  Enter Iran.  UNESCO listed city of Tabriz and the historic bazaar.

Week 4:  Iran & Turkmenistan
Iran’s capital city, Tehran, with Golestan Palance & Azadi Tower. The Caspian Sea and Gorgan.  Marble white capital city of Ashgabat. 

Week 5:  Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan
North through the Karakum Desert. A night viewing of the Darvaza Gas Crater – “The Door to Hell”! Enter Uzbekistan.  Desert terrain to the Ancient Silk Road Cities.  The ancient walled city of Khiva & UNESCO listed Itchen Kala. Bhukara and then Samarkand, with the UNESCO listed Registan.  Minarets, mosques and madrasahs abound.

Week 6: Tajikistan
The capital city, Dushanbe. Dirt roads of The Pamir Highway and Wakhan Valley, on the Afghanistan border.  Khorog, the regional capital. 3rd century Yamchun Fortress.  Experience home stays with the local villagers.

Week 7: Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan
Enter Kyrgyzstan.  Overnight yurt camp at Sary Tash.  Osh.  The Tien Shan Mountains. Enter Kazakhstan.  Almaty and a celebration final evening dinner.

There is a wide variety of hotel and home-stay accommodation and we have one camp night in the desert.  In Europe and Turkey, we primarily use 4* hotels and have some characterful hotels, such as an old caravanserai and a cave hotel!  Iran’s hotels are 3* – 4* but standards are generally lower than the equivalent in Europe, with the exception of the 5* hotel we use in Tehran.

For most of Central Asia, we also use 3* and 4* hotels, where most rooms have en suite bathrooms and hot water.  However, as we push east, standards are not the equivalent of Europe and North America. Also in remote locations in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, we use home-stays and yurt accommodation.  This type of accommodation will have primitive, shared or outdoor bathrooms facilities.  Additionally such accommodation will not have single rooms.  If you book for a single supplement, we have taken into account that you will have five nights of this type of accommodation in your pricing.

In remote locations, you will not get mobile phone coverage or wifi access.  In some countries, there is not full access to the internet.

All of the above reflects the nature of the adventure that you are undertaking – some parts of this trip are very remote where tourism does not exist and you will need to cope with the same facilities as the locals.

You have the benefit of booking your motorcycle expedition with a UK tour operator who has in place Financial Payment Protection Insurance with Towergate Stevens & Chapman, so that your money paid to us in advance is protected in accordance with The Package Travel Regulations 1992.

Before you go

• The assurance of booking with a fully bonded UK operator, ensuring your money paid in advance is protected.
• Two day pre-departure team expedition briefing and GlobeBusters Guidance Handbook with all pre-trip information.
• Assistance with the procurement of visas for each country and provision of Letters of Invitation, if required.

En Route

• All accommodation on shared basis (or a single room, if booked)
• All breakfasts
• One group dinner per week, with water or soft drink (no alcohol).
• Local overnight hotel parking charges.
• Euro Tunnel Train for you and your bike, Folkestone to Calais, and other ferry crossings en route
• Daily hard copy route notes with GPS co-ordinates, loan SD Card with GPS mapping for the region.
• Expedition Tour Polo-Shirt and Ace Cafe Goodies

Motorcycle Freight

• Group freight of your motorcycle (including crating, where required, and Customs Clearance) from Lhasa by road to Tianjin Port.
• Group sea freight from Tianjin to our UK freight agent, or to other destinations, if additional charges are paid.
• In transit insurance for your motorcycle, during freight, subject to an excess of £500.

Support Crew

• Motorcycle Expedition Leader on bike to accompany the group.
• Motorcycle Support Rider, where the group is more than 12 riders
• Support Vehicle, equipped with satellite phone, spare fuel, water, tools, selected spare parts and emergency first aid kit.
• Support Driver, with motorcycle mechanical experience and first aid qualifications
• Local fixers/translators that travel with the group in Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Please note that international passenger flights are not included in your price.  Once this expedition is a guaranteed departure you will need to book your return flight from Almaty, Kazakhstan.

*For non-UK riders, please contact us for your own bespoke freight arrangements.

What type of bike do I need?
We recommend that you use a medium to large capacity dual purpose / adventure style bike.  We support any make and model.  Our Support Crew ride the Triumph Tiger 800XCA or Tiger 1200XCA.  We also have lots of experience with the BMW GS range.  What is important is that you have a reliable and robust bike that you are comfortable riding and has been fully serviced prior to the start and has new tyres.

What riding experience do I need?
This trip is not suitable for novice riders.  It is our toughest expedition and is only suitable for those with advanced road riding skills, experienced in riding up to 400 road miles in one day and be confident at tackling up to 250 miles on challenging, unpaved roads. Three weeks of riding is at high altitudes over 4,000 metres, where it is often cold. Ideally you should also have other travel experience in developing countries, either on or off the bike.

How does motorcycle freight work?
We start the expedition from the Ace Café, London.  If you are a non-UK resident, we can facilitate the freight of your motorcycle to the UK from your own country.  We customs clear your motorcycle and you simply need to collect it from our freight agent’s depot and ride to London.   This is an additional cost to you.  At the end of the trip, all bikes are freighted back to the UK from Almaty.  From the UK, your motorcycle can then be freighted back to your own country – again at your own cost.

What about servicing & tyres?
There are no authorised motorcycle dealers for Triumph, BMW, KTM once we leave Istanbul and before Almaty.  All motorcycles must arrive at the start fully serviced and with new tyres.  A minor service is then done at around 6000 miles (Samarkand / Dushanbe).  We also carry in our support vehicle a change of tyres – knobbly tyres (Conti TKC 80) for the dirt roads ahead – for riders for the half way point (tyres at your cost)

Is it difficult to get fuel?
We have never had any issue with finding fuel.  In certain regions, once en route, we will warn you in advance of any possible fuel shortages or if there is a route with a key fuel stop, where everyone must fill up with fuel to get to the next destination.  It is not necessary to fit any after-market large fuel tank or carry fuel bottles, although some riders chose to do so.  Our support vehicle also carries spare fuel for emergencies.

What is the average group size?
Our groups are normally between 12-15 riders (some have passengers).  Our groups are often very international and whilst the majority of riders come from the UK, we also get riders from USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and so on.  Groups are predominantly solo male riders, but every tour normally has one or two couples riding two up.

Is this ride suitable for a passenger?
We have had other riders successfully complete this ride with a pillion passenger.  Your passenger needs to also be an experienced tourer.  It is a challenging, but achievable, ride but you must note that there are places where as a couple you will not get privacy and bathroom facilities can be very primitive.

Is there a support vehicle?
All our expeditions have a dedicated GlobeBusters Support Vehicle, driven by a GlobeBusters Support Driver.  It is capable of carrying two motorcycle and two passengers.  Our support vehicles carry a satellite phone, mobile phone, medical bag and spinal board, spare fuel, water, tools, some spare parts, some spare tyres.  Our support vehicle provides temporary assistance to you if you have a mechanical problem or an accident and are injured.  On this ride, we also have a second local support vehicle in China.   These are not luggage vehicles – you must carry your own luggage on your motorcycle.  For more information, please see our Support Vehicle section.

Do I have to ride in a group?
No!  We do not make you ride in convoy.  We offer you the freedom to decide how you would like to ride.  We give you a road book, GPS co-ordinates and hotel information.  You can use this to self-navigate.  If you prefer to ride with our Expedition Leader, then you can do this.  However, there are some politically sensitive places where we must ride together.  In Iran and Turkmenistan, whilst we don’t have to ride in convoy, we need to make sure that we are travelling closely together.  We will also ask you to ride in a group when we are crossing a border or if there is a security issue.

What documents do I need?
You will need your original documents as follows:  Passport, Motorcycle Registration Document or Title, Driving Licence, International Driving Permit.  Scan copies of your documents must be supplied to us no later than 31 January 2019.  These are submitted to the Iranian Authorities and once logged cannot be changed.  A Carnet de Passage is required for your motorcycle for travel through Iran.  In addition you must have travel/medical insurance and 3rd party motorcycle insurance (where available).

Do I need visas for travel?
As visa requirements are dependent on your nationality and a complex with constantly changing requirements, we appoint a visa agency to assist with the process www.thevisamachine.com  They will have a dedicated GlobeBusters Portal on their website for you to order your visas, which they can get for all nationalities via the Embassies in London.  The only exception to this is the Chinese visa for non-UK nationals, which MUST be obtained in your own country of residence.  We will supply Letters of Invitation and hotel confirmations to you.  At our pre-departure meeting, we cover this in detail to ensure you have all the right documents and visas in place.

What about my health when I am abroad?
Before you travel, we strongly recommend that you visit your GP or a specialised travel clinic to get advice on the recommended vaccinations and other health protection measures needed for the countries on this trip. As background, the websites listed below may prove useful.

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/
http://www.masta-travel-health.com/

It is a condition of your travel with us that you have in place travel / medical insurance to cover you for medical treatment and repatriation if you suffer any illness or injury when on the expedition, including any injury sustained from riding or being a passenger on a motorcycle.

Please note that many countries on this route do not have the same level of medical infrastructure nor consistent medical standards that you may be used to. In particular, emergency services often may be a long distance away, with no co-ordinated response, or sometimes no medical response available within reasonable times.  You must accept this risk when you book.