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England/before you go We got our Visas for Iran, Pakistan and India before we left. We used an agent - "Magic Carpet" for our Iranian visas and they were very efficient, and we got our Pakistan and India Visas from their respective embassies in London in one morning. We're glad we got the Iranian and Pakistani visas in advance as it saved us loads of hassle and uncertainty - other people who we met on the way either had to wait around for ages, or got very short validity visas - such as 12 days for Iran (visa issued in Turkey) and 15 days for Pakistan (visa issued in Iran). We wouldn't bother getting the Indian visas at home, as they're only valid for 6 months and we had no trouble getting them in Islamabad. Note however that at the time of writing the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was not issuing multiple-entry visas - double entry was the best they would do. The length of time you get also seems to depend on your nationality; as British citizens we got 6 months, as did every Swiss person we met. The Australians on their motorbikes only got 3 months as did a German guy on a push-bike and an American lady. We bought loads of maps for the European countries before we left, but needn't have bothered - very good "Frei und Berntag" maps are available at pretty much every petrol station you'll stop at and they also go very detailed city maps. We would recommend the German made "World Mapping Project" maps for Iran, Pakistan and India - they're printed on a kind of plastic paper and are very durable. We got our Carnet via the RAC in the UK and it cost us lots of cash - carnets from other countries such as Holland and Germany appeared to be much cheaper and if we knew that before we left we'd have looked into the possibility of getting our carnet issued abroad. We don't know if it's possible, but it would be worth a try. Get some "calling cards" made up, with your website address, e-mail address etc - these are great to give out to people, leave at campsites or where-ever and help people who you meet to keep in touch. Pretty obvious this one, but make sure you know how to use all the stuff that you take with you, and make sure that it all works. Get a stick-on compass for the dashboard - it's a great help when trying to navigate around cities where all the signposts are in a different text like Cyrillic, Persian of Hindi. Personal Insurance - bear in mind that pretty much all insurance companies will not cover you if you go to places that the Foreign Office advise against travel to. This is a real pain as the FCO website lists pretty much every country that we traveled through to get from Eastern Turkey to India! We spoke to about 15 insurance companies from Endsleigh through to supposedly "adventurous" companies like DogTag and we found the staff on the phones to be pretty useless - we got much more useful information by speaking directly to the underwriters. Eventually we went through a company called Navigator, who not only seemed to know what they were talking about but the director of the company was prepared to send us a letter setting out exactly what we would be covered for when we were in the so-called dodgy areas - for example we wouldn't be covered for kidnap if we were snatched in the Balochistan desert, as that is the risk that the FCO specifically warns against. Like most people we tried to learn a bit about off-road driving before we left, and it has been useful to know just what Hector is capable off, and we feel pretty confident when we have to venture off-road. However, mud-plugging in England is far removed from average driving conditions on our route. It would have been very useful to have practiced driving over terribly potholed roads and tracks, on gravel and loose stones and on very dusty, partly surfaced roads as these are predominantly what we come across day after day (especially in India!) Tools and spares - (added this one after our slave cylinder went in Laos). It's all very well having a set of spanners, but Land Rovers being what they are some of the things that you need to get to (like the slave cylinder bleed screw) are in stupid places where a standard length spanner is too long and fouls on the starter motor. If I had the chance I'd buy a set of stumpy spanners as well. France & Germany Easy to drive here, although read up on the latest safety requirements such as whether you need headlight converters, warning triangles, spare bulbs etc. We bought converters at Dover but didn't bother to put them on. Austria Remember to but a vignette for the motorways when you cross the border - you get them from the special office just over the border. We'd read that we needed to have a reflective jacket in the car, so got a cheapy one from the market before we left. Hungary Again, remember the vignette when you cross the border. Watch the speed traps! Hungary marks the start of old fashioned traffic police hiding behind bushes with speed guns, rather than relying on cameras. They are very efficient and we were probably lucky that the one who pulled us over couldn't be bothered to book us. Romania Some of the roads, especially in the mountains, are pretty poor so take it into account when trying to work out how far you can get in one day. You do need to buy a vignette for Romania, whatever the people at the border say. These are available from some of the larger petrol stations (like "Petrom") and getting one keeps the police happy. If you need somewhere to stay, some of the larger "Petrom" garages have motels attached which are good value and serve good food. Euros are very popular in Romania - more so than dollars. ATMs which accept Visa or Maestro do exist - usually in large supermarkets. If you plan to stay in Sinai book ahead - it's very, very popular. You do not need to pay a "special toll" to drive to the border with Bulgaria, despite what some con-men on that road would have you believe. Remember to keep some cash to pay the various leaving fees, environmental tax, bridge tax etc when you arrive at the border. Bulgaria You can buy 3rd party insurance at the border, and have to do so if your green card/insurance certificate doesn't specifically mention Bulgaria. It's pretty expensive and ours was only valid for the registered owner of the vehicle for 5 days! If you're going to Varna/Golden Sands in the summer, get a good map of the place and book ahead - it's not the best place in the world to drive around trying to find somewhere to stay. The border crossing to Turkey just before Edirne was chaos when we were there - if we were doing the route again we'd try and cross somewhere quieter. Turkey Once through Bulgarian customs park up, and walk to the insurance counter to buy your third party insurance (which is pretty cheap), then walk down the little row of shops to the black coloured visa office where you must get your Turkish visa - you can either pay in sterling or euros - ours were 15 Euros for 3 months, multiple entry. Once you have the various bits of paper, drive to the first checkpoint and sail through...unlike us. You also have to decide who's passport your vehicle will be logged into. Keep all the bits of paper that you get given as you have to produce them again when you leave. If you need somewhere to stay after crossing the border the "Fifi Locanta Mocamp" is a pretty close campsite (with a pool!) and is right on the D100, the non-toll road that goes all the way to Istanbul. Driving around/through Istanbul is ok as long as you leave after the rush hour. Again, a good city map would be very helpful when trying to find your way onto either of the two bridges. A lot of overlanders stayed at the Atakoy MoCamp in Istanbul, and said that it had salt-water. We stayed a little further out at Yesilkoy and it was lovely. Some of the roads in Turkey are good, others rubbish. The Sivas-Erzurum road especially was very poor as it was being re-built. The payment booths on the toll roads in Turkey have different lanes reflecting the various payment options - make sure you know the Turkish for "cash", and don't drive up to the pre-paid ticket booth. There are lots of police and army checkpoints in the East, but these are no problem and they seem more worried about people coming in from Iran. The traffic police are also pretty keen to stop you if you break any of the rules such as overtaking on a single white line. When you approach the border at Dogubayazit you'll see a long line of lorries waiting to cross - ignore this and drive right to the front of the queue, go through the gates and make sure that you stop at the first building after the roundabout before the hill - this is the customs office! One of the customs guys rode with us telling us where to go which was handy as it's not that obvious. He was also able to push our bits of paper to the front of the queues. Iran Women need to be wearing Hejab dress when you cross the border - a loose fitting coat/long shirt and a headscarf will do. If you can, buy maps of Iran which show place names in Persian and English before you leave home. The "Lonely Planet Iran" guidebook very helpfully shows which hotels/hostels have parking which is very handy as there is no scope for camping in/around the cities. However, if you have a tallish vehicle (like a Land Rover with a roof rack/roof tent) phone them up and make sure that the parking isn't underground. When crossing the border into Iran, we were told that we had to drive Hector to the Police Headquarters in Tehran where we had to re-register him and obtain Iranian number plates - we think that something to this effect was written into the carnet as well. This did not just happen to us but to everyone else (of all nationalities) with more than a 5 day transit visa - and no-one had heard or been informed of such a requirement before. We decided (along with everybody else) to take a chance and not bother, and it was never an issue at any of the roadblocks or checkpoints. The only time the issue was raised again was at the border with Pakistan, but by that point they couldn't have cared less whether we had Iranian plates or not. Some people we met did get new plates (not from Tehran, it turned out) which involved half a day running from the police station to various banks, filling numerous forms and depositing 250,000 Rials for the plates - which they weren't allowed to keep when they left Iran! Insurance in Iran. Our policy has been to buy 3rd party insurance at the border of each country if the officers there say that we have to. No one mentioned insurance at the Iranian border, so we didn't buy any. There are lots of checkpoints on the roads in Iran, and you will get stopped or pulled over. However, we never had any trouble and in fact had some very pleasant chats with the various policemen and soldiers. Again, knowing how to say "Good morning officer" in Persian helps break the ice. At no time did we have to produce any document other than our passports. Not much English is spoken in Iran, so it pays to learn a little bit of Persian. It is also immensely helpful to learn the symbols for the numbers so that you can protest if you get overcharged. You will get overcharged - it's an official policy in Iran and you'll come across it everywhere from fun-fairs to ice-cream shops. There's nothing you can do about it and it is annoying, but put it into perspective and it will be a little more palatable. Fit the loudest horn that you can find and don't be afraid to use it. A pair of high power spotlights also help to even the odds if you find yourself having to drive at night, but this is best avoided. The main roads in Iran are superb and the price of fuel is so cheap it's a pleasure to fill up. However, don't run your tanks dry before leaving Turkey as the fuel supply situation (for diesel) in the North West was not too good when we were there. Driving around Iranian towns/cities is a shock to start with, but take it easy and let the other drivers know what you want to do and things aren't so bad. It's also a good idea to arrive into cities at 14:00 - prayer time and the middle of the day when a lot of shops etc are closed and there's much less traffic on the streets. Remember to take hard cash into Iran - no credit cards or ATMs. Pakistan Everyone will have their own preference for the crossing the Balochistan desert, but this method worked well for us. Cross the Iran/Pakistan border at Mirjaveh/Taftan late in the afternoon and spend the night at the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) motel just outside the border compound. Get up early the next day and you can get to Quetta in one day, which for us was preferable to spending a night in Dalbandin. There are petrol stands on the road, which is good news for those on motorbikes, but we had enough fuel to get us through the desert and back again. Take extreme care to watch out for "speed breakers" in the middle of the desert - especially when you are approaching and leaving towns and villages, and when approaching railway crossings. Some of the bumps are unsignposted and are really extreme and could do serious damage if you hit them at speed. Quetta is actually quite a nice place to spend a few days. Whilst you are here we would recommend paying a visit to the PTDC office next to the "Muslim Hotel" to find out which roads East are good/passable/open. Again, try to get some detailed city maps before you leave - these will make life much easier when trying get around places like Multan. The new motorway from Lahore to Islamabad is a joy to drive on, but motorbikes are not allowed on it and anyone trying will be escorted off. Islamabad itself is a great place to get things done. Stay at the campsite to meet up with all the other Overlanders. There is also an excellent Land Rover garage (Sigma Motors Service Centre) here in Sector I 10-3 If going to Peshawar, remember that it is a conservative town and women may feel more comfortable wearing a headscarf. Drive up the Karakorum Highway to the border with China - it's a fantastic experience. Don't mess with the busses or lorries as they hurtle towards you, just get out of their way. This can be quite tricky when you're on a blind bend on the KKH, with mountain on your left and a 2,000 foot drop to your right... We had absolutely no bother from the army or the police during our stay, but a lot of other Overlanders were made to have police escorts from Quetta to Multan, which apparently was a right pain. Insurance in Pakistan. Again, no one mentioned it at the border so we didn't bother. India The border crossing from Pakistan to India is well organised and easy- it's just a matter of waiting around whilst the beurocracy grinds along. We did buy insurance for India - third party inclusive of Nepal for £15. The place that we stayed in Amritsar, "Mrs Bhandari's Guesthouse", arranged for the agent to come and see us and everything was completed in about 20 minutes. The roads in the North West and Rajasthan were great - we were very impressed. However, from just before Bharatphur they get very bad, and the National Highway 28 from Lucknow to Gorakphur is a disgrace. From Nepal to Varanasi is OK, and the road South from Varanasi to Jabalpur is good in some parts, and rubbish in others (especially when you cross the state line and enter Madhya Pradesh). We didn't find the driving any worse than in Pakistan, although friends of ours on Motorbikes have found the going much harder here. We have however found railway crossings to be immensely frustrating as everyone tries to push closest to the barrier, taking up both sides of the road so that when the barrier eventually lifts it's chaos as everyone tries to get back onto the left hand side of the road. When the barrier is down you're also at the mercy of every inquisitive person, flower seller, beggar and mad staring lunatic on your side of the track and invariably you'll soon be surrounded, which gets quite tiring after half an hour sat in one place. Indian Traffic Police - don't get me started. With 2 honourable exceptions (Officers Ugli and Patel near Ajanta) our experiences with the traffic cops were frustrating. When you are reduced to sneaking into states behind lorries (like we did to get into Goa) to avoid the inevitable attempt to extort money out of you, you know that something is wrong, and when some fool asks you for perfume after you've turned down his demand for money then you're very tempted to not stop for anyone...although this may just escalate things and give them a genuine reason to fine you. On a serious note the lack of a "Pollution Certificate" is cited in 9 out 10 efforts to get cash out of overlanders. You can get one of these for any testing station for about 350 rupees, so it may be worthwhile...but we didn't bother. Shipping from India to Malaysia We decided to ship to Port Klang, Malaysia and whilst the Landy is in transit fly to Singapore, spend a long weekend there then catch the train up to Kuala Lumpur to meet the boat. We chose this route because we've read that getting a car into and through Singapore can be a bit of an administrative nightmare. A very good tip is to make sure that your vehicle will actually fit into a standard 20 foot shipping container...the relative dimensions are: length - 5898mm Door Width - 2340mm Door Height - 2280mm Although it's probably possible to arrange the shipping yourself, we used an agent to make life easy. For details of who we used and how much it cost us, look on the "India 2" page of the diary. Malaysia To get the Landy back we used the services of "Jets", a shipping agents based in Port Kelang. They were not the cheapest option, but they were very efficient and we had absolutely no trouble at all. Insurance in Malaysia....nope... Malaysia is a very easy place to get around - possibly one of the easiest on our trip. However, if you use the toll express way remember to have enough Malaysian cash with you to pay the tolls (especially if you are coming in from Thailand!). There is a thriving 4x4 scene in Malaysia and all makes and models are represented so you can get parts and services easily. We used the Land Rover dealers on Penang and they were good - just make sure that you tell them precisely what it is you want done as their definition of a service and ours differed somewhat. There are lots of places to camp in Malaysia - especially in the National Parks.
Thailand Crossing into Thailand from Malaysia is a very organised affair and you can't really go wrong (see the Thailand pages for more details). For some reason they insisted that our Carnet wasn't good enough and issued us with one of their own, yet when we came back in from Laos our Carnet was fine... Insurance in Thailand - yes, we got insurance from one of the little stands just after the border crossing. You get a sticker to put in your window to prove that you are insured, so it's pretty obvious to the thousands of traffic cops if you don't have any! Roads in Thailand are excellent and you can make excellent progress
Cambodia We crossed the Thai/Cambodia border at Koh Kong and it was simplicity itself, apart from the obligatory reams of paperwork. Insurance in Cambodia - no. The dirt track out of Koh Kong is great fun, and when we drove it there were only a few stretches of corrugations. We had heard however that in the wet season the track becomes a bit boggy and four wheel drive is a bit of a must have. The river crossings on this route are also great fun. The standard of driving in Cambodia is very poor, which comes as a bit of shock after the politeness of Malaysia and Thailand, but remember back to Pakistan and India and you soon get used to things again. One good thing is that outside of the towns there is very little traffic. Ankor Wat - great place to cycle round, just make sure that you get a decent bike with gears that work
Laos The crossing at Voeng Kham is a great place to cross - no queues at all and very little in the way of paperwork of hanging around. Insurance in Laos...none. If you have mechanical problems in Laos, a highly recommended mechanics is "Lao Can-Am International Auto Services" run by a Canadian guy called Mike. Their phone number is 856-21-452-351 and you'll need to call them as the garage isn't the easiest place to find (the turning is on the right just after the Ministry of the Interior and the big temple which are on your left. If you get to the Police Station you've gone too far.) If you have any ARB/Old Man Emu items which need replacing, the following shop stocks them (which was damned handy when one of our shock absorber bushings self destructed): Lao Technical Services, 72 Nokeokumane Road. Tel: 856-21-243-278. If you have a right hand drive vehicle (like us) then you can't drive into Vietnam. Shipping from Malaysia to Australia: 1) Ocean freight varies depending on where you are shipping from
and to. Distance is not an important factor when working out freight prices. For
example, we were quoted over $2,000 US freight from Singapore to Darwin, but
only $775 US freight from Port Kelang to Sydney. For comparison, we only paid
$50 US freight to ship from Chennai in India to Port Kelang in Malaysia!
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