The Silk Route Motorcaravan Club.

Bulletin 105 (Part 4 of 4).

Motorcaravan exchange with New Zealand.

Our research to find an exchange partner in NZ has been successful. My van will be used in the UK for three months, and in exchange, I will have the use of a van in NZ for 2-3 months in 2004. If other members are interested, I will give them details.

Bill and Linda Peckham billinda@billinda.freeserve.co.uk.

UK to China Overland- 8 April 2002 -3 March 2003.
Facts, Figures and Extremes.

Our Route to China: UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, The Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and then China.

Our Route from China: Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Monaco, France and back to UK.

In total we went through 23 countries. 11 new ones. 19 different ones in all.

Time spent in each country:

Visas required for: Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Tibet, Kazakhstan (not used), Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey again. Total 13.

Guides required for: Border into Turkmenistan (Daniel). Torugut Pass Kyrgyz side (Alexa). Torugut Pass Chinese side and travel in China & Tibet (Patrick then Gong and Simon). Travel in Iran (Ali).

Currencies:

• Europe - Euro.
• Hungary - Forints.
• Romanian - Lei.
• Bulgarian - Lev.
• Turkey - T Lira.
• Georgia - Lari.
• Azerbaijan - Manat.
• Turkmenistan - T Manat.
• Uzbekistan - Sum.
• Kyrgyzstan - Som.
• China - Yuan.
• Nepal - N Rupees.
• India - Rupees.
• Pakistan - Rupees.
• Iran - Rials.

Seas: English Channel, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, China Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea,

Deserts: Turkmenistan x 1. China Taklamakan and Gobi. Pakistan x 2 . Iran x 1. Total 6.

Ferries: Dover to Calais, Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan), Yellow River and one other in China at Shashi near Wuhan. Greece to Italy. Calais to Dover. 6 in all.

Night stopping places: Approx 234 different places. Longest in one place: 8 nights in Lhasa in Tibet and 8 nights in Patan in Nepal. Approx: 108 nights wild. 61 nights free (ie fuel stations, police posts). 26 nights on 'proper' campsites (in Turkey only and almost all on the return journey). 117 nights paying (ie hotel car parks).

Types of parking places: Only campsites were in Turkey. Wild camping anywhere i.e. School playground. Fuel stations. Disused fuel stations. Restaurant car parks. Scenic spots. Town car parks. Harbour sides. Hotel parking compounds. Police stations. Army posts. Hospitals. Bus stations. Garages for repairs. On board ship.

Lowest point below sea level: Minus 16 metres (52 feet) near Turpan in China.

Highest point reached above sea level:
Near Mt. Everest Gyatso-La Pass 5258 metres (17, 250 feet). 25.10.2002.
Slept at 4795 metres (15,733 feet) near top of Tanlantaweng Shan Pass in Tibet. 29.9.2002.

Hottest place: Uzbekistan in Bukhara 47.5°C. 31.5.2002.

Coldest place:
Day time: E Turkey - 5.0°C. 24.12.2002.
Night time: Bitlis in E Turkey -20.1°C 25.12.2002.

Shortest distance in one day when trying: 11km on 3.10.2002 in Tibet.

Longest distance in one day when trying: 751km to Munich (on our own). 471km into Beijing (with the group)

Average daily distance: approx: 133 km/ 83 miles.

Distances:

• Total: 53,635km.
• China: 15,340km.
• Tibet: 2,432km.

Second highest lake in the world: Lake Issykol in Kyrgyzstan.

Highest airport in the world: Bangda in Tibet.

Cheapest Fuel: $0.024USA (0.016UKP) per litre in Iran.

Fuel Consumption (7 metre van conversion):

• 12.28 Litres/100Km.
• 8.14 KPL.
• 23.0 MPG.

Note: Fuel consumption in Tibet doubled!

Clive and Ann Barker (K9):
Figures prepared by Ann Barker.

For additional general information about this trip click here, for detailed practical information about preparing for a trip like this click here.

Log Book, Assessment, Account or Report?

Call them what you want, your opinions and your comments on your journeys interest us.

They often contain, sometimes without you being aware of it, a great deal of information for other people planning to go to the same destination. But in spite of the dreams they can inspire, your words (and ours as well) often leave readers frustrated.

They thought they would find precisely the answer to the thing that's worrying them most at the moment - and it is not there.

Do not change anything about your style of working, but before sending your text, check against the list below to see if you have some other details to impart, even outside the text of your article, which would be useful to your readers. Within the series of practical notes published in past bulletins, yours might be the one that plugs an important information gap.

Don't forget: it is the last person to make the voyage who brings back the most recent information.

1. Description of the Voyage.

• Country of destination, period and duration of the voyage. How many crews?
• Vans used: van conversions, coachbuilt, A-class. Advantages and disadvantages of one compared to the others.

2. General Preparation.

• Maps, guidebooks: what you found best.
• Bookshops specialising in the country visited.
• Special adaptations to the vehicle. What is it necessary to arrange or to carry? What is difficult to get there?

3. Formalities.

• Identity cards or passports, visas, driving licence.
• Insurances.
• Vaccinations or certificates.
• Regulations regarding pets.
• CB use/regulations.
• Customs rules, regulations, issues: Carnet de passage, controls, time spent, tips.

4. Reaching the Country.

• Route, ferries and ships.
• State of the roads, tolls.

5. The Countries Visited.

• Time changes, how much - plus or minus.
• Parking up, day and night.
• Climate, temperature: precautions to be taken when using gas. Clothing, sleeping.
• Roads: speed limits, condition, facilities, traffic problems, tolls.

6. Itinerary.

• Your route around the country.
• General advice on the route - distances, directions.
• If possible a simple route map to help readers get their bearings.

7. Budget and Currencies.

• Exchanging money: where, border, banks, bureaux de change, opening hours.
• Methods: cash, credit card, travellers' cheques, [ATMs].
• Cost of restaurants and camp-sites.
• General impression of cost of living.
• Tips, gifts. To whom? How much?
• Clothes, medicines.
• How to react to begging.

8. Supplies.

• Shop opening times.
• Food: what you can and cannot buy, what to avoid, for what reasons.
• Food for pets.
• Petrol, diesel - where to get it, price, distances between fuel stations.
• Gas: ditto.
• Water: where and how to get it, quality.
• Telephone: phone cards, mobile phone usage, payment by credit card, currency, easiest mode and cheapest.
• Electricity: connection problems, voltage.

10. Specific Precautions.

• Prohibitions, errors not to be made, things not to do alone (or in a group).
• Drinks and food to be wary of.
• Incidents and accidents: how to avoid them.
• The police: their attitude to foreign motorcaravanners.

11. Matters of the heart!

• Curiosities not to be missed, sometimes 'non-touristy' and not mentioned in guidebooks.
• Memories you brought back, traps to be avoided.

12. Your Adventures.

• Things that were strange or unexpected: breakdowns, accidents, situations painful or comic, everything good that continues to stick in your mind.
• Your account of your travels - but remember that, in the first instance, this only interests you. The other readers pay attention only out of curiosity, a chance to dream, or to find information.

13. Useful Addresses.

• Accurate, full addresses for the following: representative of France [and UK and Canadian.], French [and UK and Canadian.] organisations, breakdown services, places to stay or park.
• Doctors, hospitals, pharmacies that speak French [and English]. And your details too so that those who want more info on the points you raise can contact you to discuss them if necessary.

Your writings will be published in our bulletin. You don't have to address ALL the issues: only those which seem to you the most interesting deserve some words or some lines. Some of the info can be repeated for each country you cross or stay in. Our bulletin can't carry everything when copy is plentiful.

Remember: a statement that a place is splendid is all very well, but a description of a place of interest will never be as good as one in a guidebook. Unless you copy it!