Vietnam to India Motor Bike Ride

Ojas Oneness

Member
Joined
May 16, 2020
Location
Vietnam
Bikes
SUZUKI GZ 150-A
Hello friends, This Ojas Oneness, an Indian, currently living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I want to Make a motorbike trip from Vietnam to India. this is my first international Road trip. I don't have an idea about what kind of documents I needed. So far I know, needed an International Driving License, passport, Arrival Visa ( I hope I can take at the border) Bike Registration card, Innusrance ( I don't have an idea what kind of internal national insurance I need to take).

Please let me know if I am missing any details or information to face the Customs at the border.

your suggestions will be big support for me.

with gratitude

Ojas Oneness
 
In Thailand and Myanmar you will need guides and permits on a vietnamese plated bike. Its expensive and needs to be arranged in advance.
 
Thank you for the information! How can I get this guides contact to arrange in advance? And you said it’s expensive, may I know how much expensive it is? This trip I am doing on budget. Best regards.
 
How expensive it is you will have to ask those who provide such services. Usually the most economical way to do it is to join a group of overland travellers or form your own group and let other join in - to reduce the costs.

Not that there will be many other overland travellers now in these Covid-19 times.

Here is a facebookgroup for overland travelling in Thailand and one for Myanmar...



Detailed information can be found in the «announcements» section up to the left.
 
Will probably be a while before you'll be able to undertake the trip! Maybe next year!
 
Welcome Ojas.
Have a look in the 'Vietnam Ride Reports' section in this forum because you might find useful information there also.
 
Thank you!! Friend I wait for 1 year. Now I think borders are opening. I am planing to ride from vietnam to India! Would like to take suggestions. Thank you!
 
Thank you!! Friend I wait for 1 year. Now I think borders are opening. I am planing to ride from vietnam to India! Would like to take suggestions. Thank you!
They're gradually opening but you'll need to remain patient. My prediction is it should become possible to undertake your journey in 2022, but realistically it will be during the last quarter, which is one year from now.
 
Indeed. It's anyone's guess when it will be possible to do that ride again. A couple of Indian guys came in to Rider's Corner not long before Covid hit... they were riding west to East, all the way to Vietnam and then back via Cambodia, etc. It was a big money tour. They had an accompanying car with guides with them when they came here.
 
Indeed. It's anyone's guess when it will be possible to do that ride again. A couple of Indian guys came in to Rider's Corner not long before Covid hit... they were riding west to East, all the way to Vietnam and then back via Cambodia, etc. It was a big money tour. They had an accompanying car with guides with them when they came here.
I think the accompanying car is compulsory and guides are too.

Rules changed in 2016 and most neighboring countries have required lead vehicles for years now...Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam included. Small groups don't need a lead car for Cambodia or Thailand, but the definition of a "group" varies according to country. However, a guide is now compulsory for Thailand and I believe 5 vehicles and up requires a lead vehicle. Again, this may have changed and is subject to interpretation of officials.

There was a Chinese group of about 9 vehicles in Mae Sot in mid-December 2019, heading over to Myanmar and then India, after having toured all of SE Asia. They arrived late and overnighted at the same hotel as I was staying at, then left a little before I did in the morning. They had a compulsory lead vehicle and guide with them. After I checked out, I observed them preparing to head across the friendship bridge at around 9am, as I was leaving Mae Sot for Ubon and then Laos the next day. This was only the second Chinese group I have seen in Thailand since 2018. About a week earlier in Hua Hin, there were a couple of Chinese vehicles, presumably also with a guide as that's compulsory and strictly enforced for them since the rules changed in 2016. I didn't see a lead vehicle, but as the vehicles were parked and I only spotted two Chinese cars, it was probably not necessary.

I hope they managed to get back to China safely, since Laos and India, as well as other countries in the region started to restrict entry by Chinese nationals as early as January 2020. However, for Laos, this was at first limited to stopping visas on arrival across their shared land border and presumably they could still return home normally until as late as late March, since China did not close it's borders until the rest of the world did, which happened in the second half of March. Wuhan and Hubei locked down on January 23, but the rest of the country remained open for normal entry/exit for another 2 months (subject to entry restrictions in the destination country). Therefore, assuming they spent limited time in Myanmar before making it to India prior to the end of 2019, they would have been able to get back into Myanmar in January 2020 for their return journey, then Thailand and finally Laos, before returning to China. Depending on the speed of their travels and how much time was spent in each country, I presume they probably would have returned to China well before the end of January 2020. Not necessarily because of the speed with which Covid was starting to make travel more difficult for Chinese nationals, but because their journey had already been a long one and I don't think very many Chinese spend months and months on overland journeys.

There are indications of borders reopening during the course of 2022, starting with land borders Thailand shares with it's neighbors on January 15, 2022. Several tourism operators are expected to fully resume operations by Q4, 2022. This includes a company that runs luxury boat tours down the Irrawaddy in Myanmar. They're already selling tours for the period between October and December 2022.

I believe it will happen. That being said, it will be a gradual process and overlanders will only be able to make plans after the borders have fully reopened and things look stable. I think in 1 year from now it's looking quite good.
 
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