Well, everything is figured out for my trip from Mumbai, India to Thailand. I have a permit for five days in Myanmar (Burma) and 30 days in Thailand. Unfortunately, Burma will require a tour guide and government representative to come along, which is the reason for the shortness of the leg. I managed to score a 30 day "go-anywhere" permit for Thailand. These permits are extremely difficult to get, so I got very lucky on that one.
The crossing into Burma is with a group of other overlanders we put together. The cost is quite reasonable, $450 for 5 days and includes guide, government reps expenses, hotel, food and attractions. The date of crossing is set for the 8 November.
Greta was in severe need of a new rear tire, being unable to locate one in Mumbai (BMW Motorrad of Mumbai could not locate one for her either), I jumped a flight to Thailand to pick one up. In anticipation of numerous comments, I will answer the obvious question up front, "Hey moron, why not order one and have it sent to India?" Well, in a single word...customs. India has some improvements to make in this area. I had a buddy send a package me in India from the USA. It took two days to get from the USA to New Delhi, three weeks to clear customs, and one week and over a dozen phone calls for FedEx of India to move the package to a sort facility so I could pick it up. So, off to Bangkok I went. I also picked up some other things I hadn't had in a while, like beef, gummy bears and easy access to food that doesn't make one poop blood. Indians literally put chili peppers in EVERYTHING. Apparently they prefer heartburn to flavor.
I head back to Mumbai in two days (with a store of gummys in hand), and will immediately jump on Greta and head back this direction. The proposed trip is going to be hot, long and arduous and all but Thailand will be done very quickly, but I guess if it were easy, it wouldn't be an adventure.
The crossing into Burma is with a group of other overlanders we put together. The cost is quite reasonable, $450 for 5 days and includes guide, government reps expenses, hotel, food and attractions. The date of crossing is set for the 8 November.
Greta was in severe need of a new rear tire, being unable to locate one in Mumbai (BMW Motorrad of Mumbai could not locate one for her either), I jumped a flight to Thailand to pick one up. In anticipation of numerous comments, I will answer the obvious question up front, "Hey moron, why not order one and have it sent to India?" Well, in a single word...customs. India has some improvements to make in this area. I had a buddy send a package me in India from the USA. It took two days to get from the USA to New Delhi, three weeks to clear customs, and one week and over a dozen phone calls for FedEx of India to move the package to a sort facility so I could pick it up. So, off to Bangkok I went. I also picked up some other things I hadn't had in a while, like beef, gummy bears and easy access to food that doesn't make one poop blood. Indians literally put chili peppers in EVERYTHING. Apparently they prefer heartburn to flavor.
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| Proposed Route |
Leg Distance: 0 mi (0 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 30,490 mi (49,178 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Thailand
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