France Overland
I had spoken about taking our new VW T5 Frontline conversion van up through SE Asia and into China, across to the old Soviet states on a few occassions before but work and commitments prevented such a trip. This time however, with tickets to the Rugby World Cup in France later this year and a different arrangement at home the opportunity was there for doing something in that vein. However, time was not on our side to arrange such a trip but another overland route through the Middle East was an appealling option.
We had made a similar trip over 30 years ago when, with a young family, starting from the UK we travelled overland on the southern route to India where we spent a short time before heading back to England on a northern route via Afghanistan. The children were aged 5 and 1 and Joan was well into her pregnancy with our third child. On that trip our vehicle was a Bedford with a Dormobile conversion.
Due to the Iraqi situation our planned route ths time was to have the van shipped to Chennai (Madras) in India, from where we would travel around Western India for a month before crossing into Pakistan, travelling up the Karakoram Highway into the Himalayas then turning around and head south to Quetta in Baluchistan before crossing into Iran at Zahedan. Our route would then be north west entering Turkey after Tabriz. This route keeps us clear of both Iraq and Afghanistan though there would be an area in southern Pakistan that would need care and perhaps an escort to travel with us. We would then spend a couple of weeks in Turkey visiting places we hadn't been to and then head through Greece and Italy arriving in Marseille for the first All Black game on the 7th Sept
The internet is a wonderful thing, whereas 30 years ago there weren't even Lonely Planet books to advise on such a trip, now all the information is but a click away. The first thing was to see if the old Hippy Trail was still functioning, yes it is, and is it possible to take your own vehicle across, again yes.
The paperwork is not as hard as it seems though there are a few things to remember if you are planning such a trip and one of the main ones is insurance. Third Party Compulsory has to be taken out at the border for each country in Asia. Fully comprehensive would be nice but is very hard to obtain and very expensive if you do find a company that will cover you. A bit like yachts heading overseas, many are not insured because of the cost.
Then there is the Carnet de Passage. This is a document guaranteeing the relevant country that you will export your vehicle from that country and if you don't are liable to a fine of up to 4.7 times the value of the vehicle. Each country has a different rate but the guarantee has to be for the maximum amount asked by any country. In our case Iran where it was 470%.
The AAA here in Australia arrange the Carnet and the guarantee can be arranged in 3 ways: deposit the amount with the AAA who release it once the Carnet is no longer required, arrange an insurance cover but that is costly and the full penalty still has to be paid if you forfeit, or obtain a bank guarantee for the amount. We decided on the latter.
The ideal arrangement is to take an older vehicle with you, this cuts the amount of guarantee that has to be left. Or get a lower valuation on the vehicle though it has to be realistic. We had ours values at $35,000 which would have been lower than its true value but not to such a degree that raises questions with the AAA.
The Green Card which is is International Third Party Insurance that covers most of Europe had become the most problematical part of organizing the trip. If a vehicle is registered in the EU it is easy, however for ones registered outside that area problems can arise. Having a relative over there can be a help
Being a new van and on the advice of VW no spare parts were taken though enquires were made on VW agents along the way, They were scarce in India and Pakistan with a few in Iran and plentiful in Turkey. The roads we were to drive on were bad 30 years ago but, by what other travellers have said, have improved. The traffic s another matter and we are anticipating that experience with some trepidation. On our last trip colliding with a truck in Turkey in a landscape of snow and ice with temperatures of near -40C almost cost us our lives. We visited southern India 6 years ago, the traffic was diabolical then, I am sure it won't have improved.
During the last few years I have driven in countries as varied as Morocco, East Timor, Indonesia, Italy and the Czech Republic. Apart from the major cities I don't find it difficult. Common sense and a good navigator are important though. Some GPS units have the European countries as an additional disc you can buy before leaving. We had 3 months to get across to France which meant time to take a break from time to time.
The size of the container restricts the type of vehicle that can be shipped. Our VW had a pop top roof with solar panels fitted. There was a 100mm clearance at the container door with about 250mm on either side of the vehicle. The actual inside measurements of a standard container are: L5.9 mtrs, W2.35, H2.59. Door opening: W2.33, H2.28.
Australian Customs didn't inspect the van which was a Godsend as I believe they have the right to insist on an empty vehicle exported, not one full of personal items, tools etc. Flammable and explosive objects are a no no meaning we had to leave behind the meths for our cooker, gas bottle and even the fire extinguisher. There should be no problems replacing these in Chennai though
For ourselves visas were required for India, Pakistan and Iran. As we didn't have onward ticketing I felt it necessary to explain our plans and route to them. This must have done the trick as the visas for India and Pakistan were quickly forthcoming. The Iran visa though can take up to 6 weeks to obtain and as it only has a 3 month life, it has to be obtained last. However, there are agents in Tehran through whom it's possible to get an authorisation number which is sent to the relevant embassy. This speeds up the process and a visa can be then obtained in a matter of days. This authorisation is meant to only take a couple of weeks but took us well over 2 months. The only advantage in doing it this way was we could get the actual visa a week or so before we left.The agency is also a travel agent which can be handy if you want to arrange a guide in some of the cities.