Tour through SE Asia

(Lyle) from url='http://groups.google.com/'http://groups.google.com/url said:

What specifically do we need to be concerned with? Weather? Safety? Costs? Visa concerns? What is
the standard tire size for SE Asia?

Watch out for land mines, too.

--
home.sport.rr.comcuthuluOpen ↗ human rights = peace My mind is a potato field ...
12:19:21 PM 6 October 2003

Hi Lyle,

I am from the Philippines and while our country is not on your list, being in the same general area,
I can at least provide some info:

The basic tire size is 26 for MTB's and 700C's for road bikes. For specific tire sizes and brands,
at least based on our own terrain which is probably similiar to the rest, for what its worth here
are my personal recommendations:

road bike - nominal 700/23c - 700 / 25c ( Continental Grand Prix / Michelin Kevlar ) mtb ( road ) -
26 x 1.25 ( Panaracer Pasela ) mtb (off road ) - 26 x 1.95 - 26x2.1 (WTB Racing Raptor / Kenda
Kharisma )

By the way, I have to say this, I found your message while surfing for inquiries on bike tours in
the philippines. This is in preparation for the time when we launch on our website (
siklista.comsiklista.comOpen ↗ ) our bicycle tours.

Good luck with your tours and hope you bike in our country sometime.

All the best,

Alexis

[email hidden] (Lyle) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello everyone,

I have done a little bicycle touring in the states and now I have plans to tour SE Asia in
January. This trip to SE Asia will be our first to the area, but we both have experience
travelling to South and Central America. It will be me and my wife going. We will have at least
5.5 months to tour(possible more). Our plans are to fly to Bangkok (cheapest) from the USA and
then head to Southern Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and then head north into China where we
want to cross into India and Nepal. After that maybe more touring in India.

Some of my questions are:

Would the above route work? If not why, and anyother suggestions as far as place to start, where
to go, etc?

What specifically do we need to be concerned with? Weather? Safety? Costs? Visa concerns? What is
the standard tire size for SE Asia?

Any great site to get started. There seems to be tons of sites out there, including some guy named
Mr Pumpy.

Any help would be appreciated.

Lyle

I have been to both Vietnam and Tailand. You will definitely need a visa to get into Vietnam. Expect
extremely hot weather there depending on where you are going. Many of the roads where I was were
highly conjested...mostly with other bikes! I was in the Danang area..

Bill

"Lyle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello everyone,

I have done a little bicycle touring in the states and now I have plans to tour SE Asia in
January. This trip to SE Asia will be our first to the area, but we both have experience
travelling to South and Central America. It will be me and my wife going. We will have at least
5.5 months to tour(possible more). Our plans are to fly to Bangkok (cheapest) from the USA and
then head to Southern Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and then head north into China where we
want to cross into India and Nepal. After that maybe more touring in India.

Some of my questions are:

Would the above route work? If not why, and anyother suggestions as far as place to start, where
to go, etc?

What specifically do we need to be concerned with? Weather? Safety? Costs? Visa concerns? What is
the standard tire size for SE Asia?

Any great site to get started. There seems to be tons of sites out there, including some guy named
Mr Pumpy.

Any help would be appreciated.

Lyle

Quoted message said:

What specifically do we need to be concerned with?

Cycling from China to the Indian sub-continent may be impossible for political reasons. It may be
impossible to get into and through Tibet.

Quoted message said:

Any great site to get started. There seems to be tons of sites out there, including some guy named
Mr Pumpy.

For South East Asia his is the best.

Per lowdin.nuMTB.htmlOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Watch out for land mines, too.

It is only Cambodia it is a concern for tourists.

Per www.lowdin.nu

Hello again,

Seeing the responses to your query, may I humbly suggest that you give the Philippines a thought ?

We have a very active cycling community here, both on road and off road. The much publicized peace
and order problems are in the islands far south, in Mindanao. The island of luzon which includes the
national capital region, and Metro Manila, has enough biking destinations to last your whole 5
months should you so desire.

On the other hand, in a month long tour, you can get quite a good tour already of the luzon with
some possible side trips to Cebu and Puerto Galera. Boracay of course is highly recommended for
beach lovers and since it is you and your wife travelling, you ought to spend at least a week here
but with no bikes. Consider it a honeymoon spot :-)

My partner and I have done a lot of cycling together here and it has done so much for our
relationship and it has become a sacred part of our activities. It is also what prompted us to start
organizing the bike touring project I mentioned earlier. That said, we could put together a safe,
romantic and reasonably priced tour for your here. It would also be personalized because aside from
the sweeper and the sag, one or both of us will ride with you.

To answer your other concerns:

Quoted message said:

What specifically do we need to be concerned with? Weather? - for the most part now, unless there
is rain, the weather

is quite sunny. We have tried to put in riding in the early part of the day and the latter part,
leaving noon open

Quoted message said:

Safety? - Riding in the city streets is not recommended that much.

This is why the tour we have focuses on the backroads - the routes of most savvy cyclists. Beyond
this, as long as you stay on Luzon, it is very safe.

Quoted message said:

Costs? - That would depend on your choice of accomodations. We could

make a tour for you here since our minimium size is 2 to a max of 12. Or we could work out a route
for you with suggested stops which you can ride on your own. Our tours costs anywhere from $120-$160
depending on your choice of hotel. This covers practically all meals, and all things pertaining to
the ride. We could even provide you with a rental bike ( road or mtb ) at a very nominal additional
charge. By the way, we suggest using MTB with 1.25 slicks.

Quoted message said:

Visa concerns? - No visa needed for short stays.

I am an avid cyclist, and I am heavily involved with the cycling advocacy groups here. Also am a
frustrated recruit of the UCI, could not become a commissar due to time constraints. I would be very
willing to help you out in any way I can whether you join or tour or I just help you plan. After
all, it is in my business and my countries best interest to have satisfied tourists come here.

My email is [email hidden] and you can view my website at siklista.comsiklista.comOpen ↗

All the best,

Alexis

[email hidden] (Siklista) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello again,

Seeing the responses to your query, may I humbly suggest that you give the Philippines a thought ?

No. Although one day I may become interested in going to the Phillipines, right now I am more
interested in Thailand, Laos, India, and China. Plus I am NOT interested in taking a tour with a
company. All the joys of long distance cycling, the routefinding, the cooking of food, carrying your
own equipment, saving money, etc. are all squashed when taking an organized tour.

Vietnam requires a Visa, thank you. I will look into that. Do you know if you can buy one at the
border or can you pick one up on route?

As far as thru China to India. So that is Tibet? Is there any way traverse through? Would going
through Myanmar be better (possible) from China?

Thank you alse for all your help

Lyle

Quoted message said:

We have a very active cycling community here, both on road and off road. The much publicized peace
and order problems are in the islands far south, in Mindanao. The island of luzon which includes
the national capital region, and Metro Manila, has enough biking destinations to last your whole 5
months should you so desire.

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, in a month long tour, you can get quite a good tour already of the luzon with
some possible side trips to Cebu and Puerto Galera. Boracay of course is highly recommended for
beach lovers and since it is you and your wife travelling, you ought to spend at least a week here
but with no bikes. Consider it a honeymoon spot :-)

My partner and I have done a lot of cycling together here and it has done so much for our
relationship and it has become a sacred part of our activities. It is also what prompted us to
start organizing the bike touring project I mentioned earlier. That said, we could put together a
safe, romantic and reasonably priced tour for your here. It would also be personalized because
aside from the sweeper and the sag, one or both of us will ride with you.

To answer your other concerns:

Quoted message said:

What specifically do we need to be concerned with? Weather? - for the most part now, unless there
is rain, the weather

is quite sunny. We have tried to put in riding in the early part of the day and the latter part,
leaving noon open

Quoted message said:

Safety? - Riding in the city streets is not recommended that much.

This is why the tour we have focuses on the backroads - the routes of most savvy cyclists. Beyond
this, as long as you stay on Luzon, it is very safe.

Quoted message said:

Costs? - That would depend on your choice of accomodations. We could

make a tour for you here since our minimium size is 2 to a max of 12. Or we could work out a route
for you with suggested stops which you can ride on your own. Our tours costs anywhere from
$120-$160 depending on your choice of hotel. This covers practically all meals, and all things
pertaining to the ride. We could even provide you with a rental bike ( road or mtb ) at a very
nominal additional charge. By the way, we suggest using MTB with 1.25 slicks.

Quoted message said:

Visa concerns? - No visa needed for short stays.

I am an avid cyclist, and I am heavily involved with the cycling advocacy groups here. Also am
a frustrated recruit of the UCI, could not become a commissar due to time constraints. I would
be very willing to help you out in any way I can whether you join or tour or I just help you
plan. After all, it is in my business and my countries best interest to have satisfied tourists
come here.

My email is [email hidden] and you can view my website at siklista.comsiklista.comOpen ↗

All the best,

Alexis

Quoted message said:

As far as thru China to India. So that is Tibet? Is there any way traverse through? Would going
through Myanmar be better (possible) from China?

I've seen several reports of cycling through Tibet and then Nepal. The regulations and rules seem to
vary by year and personal experience. My suggestions would be to both do a web search, and also to
ask on a list such as the Oriental List for current situation. Here is a page giving description and
pointer on how to subscribe: members.axion.netChina.htmlOpen ↗

As far as I know, the borders of Myanmar have been closed for a while. Outsiders can fly into
Ragoon, but not traverse the country or cross from China. Again, these situations tend to change.

In the past (particularly prior to 9/11/01), the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan was a popular cycling
route, though I also believe there were difficulties crossing into China.

If you do get more information about crossing via China to India, please post in this group. A trip
like this across Tibet has been in my dreams for a while. I've cycled for only a week in an
organized tour in China (www.bikechina.com; excellent company) and solo for six weeks in South
India (following some of Mr Pumpy route description) and that has whetted my dreams for a
trans-Asia cycle ride.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

Quoted message said:

I am more interested in Thailand, Laos, India, and China. Plus I am NOT interested in taking a
tour with a company. All the joys of long distance cycling, the routefinding, the cooking of food,
carrying your own equipment, saving money, etc. are all squashed when taking an organized tour.

Well, in South East Asia you don´t need to cook or camp, carrying a stove and tent is just dead
weight. Food is exellent, absolutely splendid, and cheap. 10 dollars get you and aircon room in most
places. The same goes for all of India except Ladakh. Laos is a lovely country, the people are very
friendly, traffic is light, and there are some really intersting places to see.

Quoted message said:

Vietnam requires a Visa, thank you. I will look into that. Do you know if you can buy one at the
border or can you pick one up on route?

Best arranged in Bangkok, Vienchang or Phnom Penh.

Quoted message said:

As far as thru China to India. So that is Tibet?

Travelling in Tibet, is always unpredictable, even more so by bike.

Quoted message said:

Is there any way traverse through?

Well, if you get through or not will depend on the chinese. Think the best site with info is
Corax´s, have a look at www3.utsidan.seindex.htmOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Would going through Myanmar be better (possible)

Not possible. Large parts of Burma are closed for tourists (rebellions), the same goes for most of
India east of Bangla Desh. The route throug Burma has been closed for at least 40 yrs.

Chers Per lowdin.nuMTB.htmlOpen ↗