“Berlin-Hanoi 2008” is a bike expedition starting in Berlin (DE) and ending in Hanoi (VN). Marco, the rider of our team, will cycle on the expedition route for approximately 40.000km. He shall be accompanied during his journey by two team partners in a campervan.

Not only is the athletic challenge the goal of this expedition, but also the creation of a European-Asian Culture Collage. This collage will consist of sayings and common wisdoms of the crossing cultures. The camper's surface shall be used to visualize such sayings and philosophies of life.

Looking for bike partner:
-starting in Aug-09 and continuing from Berlin to Hanoi
(FYI: I will cycle the West Europe round and come back to Berlin in Aug-09 (+/- 2 months) and continuing with my 2 team partners and campervan; and another bike partner?)

Looking for 3rd expedition participant:
responsible for video & documentation during the expedition;
and from now on ...helping me with the sponsor aquise

Looking for project partner:
interested in our project and willing to work with us;

More Information:
www.berlin-hanoi-2008.com

Hi Shamanengeist!

Interesting aim and route (cycled part of it myself). How do you want to go to Hanoi? South of the Himalaya or north and than over the Himalaya?
I did the last and it is a beautiful route but very though, especially in Tajikistan and Tibet.

But why call it an expedition The cyclist is supported by a campervan (Besenwagen) Where´s the challenge in that?

Ancient Tibetan saying: A Tjampa a day keeps the man with the hammer away

Cycle the world (unsupported),

Funny whiskey guy :-)
Nobody spoke about "Besenwagen"

No,no; this expedition is one of my dreams; (cycling to the other side of the world)
My best friend replied 1 year ago, he would like to accompany me by a campervan. (He does not like sports :-( but he would like to do the same as me). That was the beginning of our project.

Our plan is to use the campervan to visualise worldly wisdoms and other speechs on the surface; depend on our sponsors;
and to test it as a prototype for an alternative operating engine.
When we do not find this sponsor til Aug-09, I continue my expedition alone or with a bike partner.

It does NOT mean that i will use the campervan for any transport
(FYI, I cycle all ways by bike; i have not used any airplane, car, train, bus for ages; I prefer long distance cycling)

Route?
At the moment, I am thinking about to change the expedition route;
current route: ... rumania. moldava, ukraine, russia, georgia, turkey, georgia, kazachstan, china, vietnam;
See more details on our interactive map:
http://www.berlin-hanoi-2008.com/?page_id=2

Good to know, that u were cycling this route; I will write u some questions soon :-)

cheers,
marco

Hi Shamamnengeist,

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Concerning your route:
I met many cyclists who thought Kazaghstan was not that interesting because nothing changes very much all the way. 2000 km of sandy steppe and blazing heat. And you´ll cycle in one country all of the time and the cultural differences inside Kazachstan are not that big.

Culture-like I would recommend cycling through Iran and central Asia as you´ll meet many different ethnic groups cycling that route (Kurds, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Uzbek, Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Uygur etc)
And with a little luck you get invited at birthday parties and weddings.

You can find my route here . It's a kmz file of all the gps data I collected. I will put my detailled roadbook online soon.

Making (video) recordings is fun, but don´t forget to ask if it is OK, especially in Iran.
During my trip I also made recordings, you can find them on my homepage.

Using a eko friendly camper is great but as soon as you are outside europe it is impossible too get anything else than petrol or diesel.
Perhaps converting the engine so it can use alcohol would be nice. You can find wodka everywhere

Have fun preparing your trip
Marc

You know that the border Russia-Georgia is closed?
And your friend has in China a little but very expensive problem. He need a local driving license and a guide. I think so, the costs for him is about 3000 € for the chinese visa. Just because he`s driving a car.

Best wishes
Peter

No, i didn't know that this border is closed :-)
The problem with China is well known.

FYI, at the moment we are finding out all countries' VISA informations and other restrictions.
When we have all information then we can decide for an expedition route which can be driven with the campervan as well.

Anyway, many thanks for your info.

peace and blessings,
Marco

You have to decide about the question with or without Russia. With this country you have to ride via Kasachstan and other stan-states.
Without you have more possibilities. You can ride via Pakistan (if not too dangerous) or the stan-states to China.
From Germany to Turkey it`s pretty easy if you riding eastern Europe.
I think so there`s a ferry to Poti and Batumi in Georgia. You can find it in this forum.

Good luck
peter

hello,

About visas..

Waiting around in capital cities is expensive, not very interesting and frustrating. Better to arrange it all before you leave home and then you can concentrate on cycling when and where you want to. Start this at least three months before you leave.

The one advantage to getting visas as you go is that it does allow a bit more flexibility. All Central Asian visas have fixed entry dates so if you arrange everything from home and then decide you want to move on to the next country earlier or later it might not be possible.

You can’t a visa at any land borders in Central Asia. A few airports may give visas on arrival but check before you go. Regulations are constantly changing. Rules on extensions vary. They’re impossible to get in Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan...

Getting a tourist visa for Turkmenistan is out of the question unless you want to pay for a guide and even then a restricted number of applications are approved each year. The good news is that obtaining a transit visa is relatively easy. It does make for a rushed trip between the Iranian and Uzbek borders if you only get a 5-day pass but it’s possible with few long days and a little luck with the weather.

If you want to enter from Azerbajan, the transit visa will not give you enough time to cycle all the way across Turkmenistan, especially if the ferry is delayed, which happens frequently. In this case, you’ll have to consider taking public transport for at least part of the journey.Many tourists apply for their Turkmen transit visa in Tehran