Driving to Japan

[21st Century Man]

LRDefender said:

Just to add your bank cards won’t work there.

Yes, I'm aware of that.

Enough hard cash for the trip would be required, and that's probably very foolish.

However...

https://russiable.com/open-bank-account-russia/

[21st Century Man]

Thanks for that.

I'm currently reading Coleman's Drive. Argentina to New York in an Austin 7 in the nineteen fifties.

And yes, one would think these things would be much easier now! But politics and war, as ever.

[21st Century Man]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

This is a very interesting thread. I might have missed it, but has there been any mention of approximate total cost for the journey?

I know a route hasn't been finalised, so that has a bit of an influence, but it must cost heaps?

I've planned for 12,000 miles, that includes a generous tourism drift allowance. 6000 at European fuel costs and 6000 at Russian fuel costs.

Driving 6 hours a day at say 50mph = 300 miles a day which isn't really putting much effort in = 40 days. But I won't be driving every day, so call it 60 days, two months.

Rough draft for food, a decent hotel a couple of days a week, campsites a couple of days a week, as well as stopping on aires, truck stops or wild camping. I'll probably end up on many a random driveway or garden as a guest too.

Eurotunnel, Donghae ferry, Fukuoka ferry, Visas, Carnets, clearances & permits, vehicle & travel insurance etc.

I reckon on about £8k, but that's VERY over egged. If that's about right or it ends up less, fine. If it ends up at £10k that's fine too. If it all goes to st (eg vehicle write off) I'll just have to bail, walk away (hopefully) and just come home.

Additional costs will be incurred for the cleaner stretches where my wife may well join me, which will be the European leg and the Korean leg (if touring for a few weeks rather than going directly from Donghae to Busan).

All subject of course to making the agonising decision to transit Russia

[21st Century Man]

Yes, I'm considering it, of course. But if one joins and takes a look at the various overland forums and reads the accounts from Westerners there right now, their experiences don't really fit. There are hundreds transiting Russia on the adventurer overland route to Kazakhstan and mongolia. The biker groups are on organised tours, organised by Western companies (The French seem to be a fairly big contingent). Unless they're all Russian bots and AI, or useful idiots? Deeper inland and further East, away from the Silk Road Route though it may indeed be different. I'll be making further enquiries and certainly speaking to the Russian Embassy as part of the assessment. I note the advice of the Foreign Office, ditto also other Western Nations, however the blogs, vlogs, YouTube stuff is at odds with it. My cynicism may well be my undoing (If I go).

There's an online meeting on Thursday I'll be having a look at, a Q&A for Western overlanders and tourists. As I said before, it's a parallel universe, it's hard to get ones head around the seeming normalcy of the travellers and this type of discourse. Puzzling stuff.

[21st Century Man]

Fancy shotgun?

[21st Century Man]

It may well be a pointless thread anyway, despite starting it and the great contributions by posters. My main thought isn't the practicalities or any potential personal risk. I just keep thinking "Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. You can't go through Russia or have anything to do with Russia". But I don't like to be defeatist, give in and be beaten. Even if there's a resolution in the next year or two, I can't see relations getting back to a prewar footing any time soon thereafter anyway.

Edited by 21st Century Man on Monday 15th April 19:52

[21st Century Man]

CivicDuties said:

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thank you CD.

I appreciate your advice, I'm not ignoring it

[21st Century Man]

I read that the Russian Police are no longer able to accept cash? Probably in an attempt to (appear to) solve the problem? How that works in practice I don't know? I would imagine there are a lot of people without contactless or banking? Let alone foreigners.

[21st Century Man]

That's another thing that's going against me. I don't much like Vodka, but it would be remiss of me to refuse. I'm screwed aren't I?

[21st Century Man]

I'm thinking next year. I'm in Japan for three months this autumn, then we might go to Korea touring for a month in winter, by which time we'll be into 2025 anyway and it might be too soon to return, especially cost wise. Probably go in 2026, by which time there may be some change? Though doubtful.

The van can stay in Japan for a year on the carnet, but it might not actually be worth bringing it back the following year, 2027. I could just abandon it, which would be a shame, I don't really want to do that, or my son could have it, though it might prove difficult to register there due to age & condition. Japan is full of abandoned things though, cars, houses, businesses, schools, whole towns, villages etc. If it's going to sit and rot though when it's spent, I'd rather it did that at the bottom of my garden under the apple tree, after a trip like that.

[21st Century Man]

Bill said:

I did manage to abandon my 2CV with customs in Mumbai.

Please tell us you drove a 2CV to India, and where can we read about it? Is there a book?

[21st Century Man]

Bill said:

A pub conversation that got out of hand.

That's the spirit. Marvelous

[21st Century Man]

Any thoughts on Iran, Pakistan, India and through to Malaysia?

There's a British couple in a UK campervan I'm following on YouTube (TREAD the globe) doing it in reverse. UK to USA, then they crossed the Pacific to Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand. Though they couldn't cross Myanmar. They've got to India so far and are working their way back to Europe and home.

I think that might be too long, complex and expensive for me though, and whilst I fancy Indian and Pakistan, I also don't fancy India and Pakistan. It's also involved lots of shipping for them too, rather than overland driving point to point.

Driving to Vladivostok and getting on a ferry seems an awful lot simpler, and was even simpler a few years ago.

[21st Century Man]

Libya? Feck!

[21st Century Man]

I'm following this Italian couple taking the same sort of route in a van this year. Hopefully I'll learn from their experience.

https://youtu.be/IpjFo4TCBc0?si=mXirL2wJ1-j9YQVW