Busy With Busywork

By Steve Bouey in

September 15, 2007 – 8:58 pm

A few of the skills you have to posses in order to achieve something like driving your own car around the world include good research abilities and more importantly patience. Quite a bit of research goes on behind the scenes here at TWBR as we are constantly trying to gather as much information as possible about our current situation, but more importantly, what lies down the road. Now that we have nearly tackled the seemingly insurmountable pile of bureaucratic paperwork and procedures here in China, (it is nearly as much work to get out as it is to get in!) we have been spending some time trying to make the road through Central Asia as smooth as possible, at least in terms of paperwork.

One of the main tasks in ensuring that things go smoothly is ensuring that we have the proper permissions and visas to pass through the "stans" without any problems. Conveniently, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have good diplomatic representation in Beijing. However, before we start to tackle the process of locating and visiting these diplomatic missions, something Lonely Planet won’t help you with in the case of more obscure countries, you first have to know what you need in order to obtain a visa.

The easy to find consular section of the Turkmenistan Embassy

Many of the CIS countries require you to have a letter of invitation either from an "inviting organization" or from an individual you intend to visit while you are there. In most cases this is a formality and the letter can be obtained from a number of different internet based companies, but sometimes, things can get a little tricky. For example, we found a company called Visa to Russia that issues invitation letters for Russia. The plan was to then take the invitation letter to the Russian Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to get our visas issued before we headed north into Siberia. The process was easy enough… we determined that a double entry business visa would be sufficient, so we paid our $90 and in a few weeks, the company sent us an electronic copy of the letter. The problem is, the company informed us that the Russian Embassy might not take an electronic copy, but may instead require us to present the original invitation letter. The company does not contact consulates directly, and when we tried, the e-mails listed on the Russian Embassy website do not work and no one seems to answer the phone. Ultimately we will have to physically go the embassy, see if they will accept the electronic invitation letter and if not, have the company send the original to us in UB via UPS for an additional $75.

Getting visas for the other Central Asia countries also takes a little bit of investigative work. We determined that it is a lot easier and cheaper to obtain transit visas for Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan than it is to obtain a standard tourist visa. The time they allow you to spend in the country on a transit visa is not that long (5-7 days) but since we were planning on cruising through those places quickly anyway, it seemed like the logical option. In order to get a transit visa, however, you need to show proof of onward travel. We thought that presenting the Carnets would be sufficient, but the embassies only seem to accept proof in the form of a visa from the country you will be transiting to. At the Azerbaijan Embassy in Beijing, they informed us that a visa from Georgia would be required to get an Azerbaijan transit visa.

Got to love Soviet era interior design

Armed with that information, we went to the Georgia Embassy the next day only to find out that we, as United States citizens, don’t need visas. We should have determined this before, but sometimes you learn the hard way and end up wasting several hours of your time. We tried to see if the Georgians could give us some sort of written statement that we could take back to the Azerbaijan Embassy but they would only give us a phone number to call if we ran into problems. The phone number proved to be valuable because the next day we returned to the Azerbaijan Embassy and were able to get the process started for our transit visas after they called the Georgia Embassy to confirm we did not need visas there. But again, more work was needed as the Azerbaijan Embassy did not accept cash… they required us to go to the main branch of the Bank of China and deposit the money for the visas directly into their account. This was another long and tedious process that warrants another blog entry in and of itself.  

Needless to say, we got our Azerbaijan transit visas in Beijing and this will make our lives a lot easier. We do not need visas for quite some time after we depart Azerbaijan and armed with the Azerbaijan visa, we are now in much better position to get visas for Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan when we arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Ultimately, we spent the better part of three mornings driving around the diplomatic compounds of the CIS countries in Beijing… busy with busywork.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Borders, Visas and Paperwork, Countries | Comments (0)

Did You Know? – Road Hazards

By Steve Bouey in

September 12, 2007 – 4:57 am

It has been quite a while since we put one of these up and I know I said we were going to try an do it once per week, but hey, right now it is just Steve and I and we are driving, filming, taking photos, researching stories, gettin gall of the necessary paperwork done, trying to maintain a website, meeting new people and basically taking on a workload 10 people would complain about. O.K., I know, I’ll take that violin and run it over with the Thundra… we are still having a pretty sweet time.

Back on target… we have seen quite a few vehicles broken down on the side of the road in Asia. Back home, most people might use their hazard lights, put out a cone or pop the trunk to display an orange reflective sign indicating that their vehicle is disabled and that other motorists should use caution.  Here in Asia, motorists use tree branches to signal that their vehicle could be a potential road hazard. That’s right, drivers walk off the road and either find a limb lying on the ground or hack a few off a tree with a machete and place them on the road in front of their car or truck. Until we knew what it meant, it was kind of strange seeing all of these branches in the road next to cars and trucks. The important thing to remember is that the branch has to have leaves on it, although I still question their reflective properties at night… if not, well I don’t know what that means yet.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Trip Thoughts | Comments (1)

Almost as Famous as Our Trucks

By Steve Bouey in

September 11, 2007 – 5:05 am

Since we have been on the road, we have had countless people approach us and give us support and words of encouragement for what we are doing. I think part of it is definitely the fact that we have some pretty flash trucks. (Yes I am incorporating some of the slang from the various countries we have traveled though) As Shoppman wrote before,it is like driving a spaceship around and there is no question that the Sequoia and especially the Tundra turn more heads than a one man traveling band. Whether it is an Aussie speeding down a dusty outback highway in his Hilux to get a better look at the Tundra or a Chinese driver speeding up in downtown Beijing to flash us a exuberant thumbs up, the cars definitely attract a lot of attention and so far, all of it has been extremely positive. Actually, the only negative comments have been from a few Americans we overheard chit-chatting in the background about how obnoxious we are to be driving big American, V8 SUV’s. Ultimately, even if we were to stop the expedition tomorrow, I truly feel that the Thundra represents the most famous and most photographed Toyota Tundra in the world. With that distinction, maybe we can get a few more bucks from Toyota 🙂

Obviously since Shoppman and I are both extremely modest guys, we have no problems with the Toyotas taking the spotlight. However, people here in China seem to be taking an equal interest in the two tall, unshaven, semi-dirty American boys behind the wheel of these fascinating machines. Whether we park the cars at Tiger Leaping Gorge or the Shaolin Temple, people first start looking at the trucks and when they find out we are the ones driving them the cameras come flying out. People actually form a line to get their photo taken with the two crazy Americans driving around the world. It would be interesting to know how many times Steve and I pop up in a Chinese photo album because the shutters have been firing away since we entered the country.  Whether it is a business man from Shanghai, a couple of university students from Xi An, or a newly wed couple from Xixiang the Chinese can’t seem to get enough of us. O.K., I will let my ego cool off a bit, but it is nice being popular and the subject of so much positive attention in a strange and foreign land.

The map on the hood is an easy way to explain what we are doing in any language

 

Pimpin’ ain’t easy

TWBR and the boys from the tire shop

No I don’t want any herbs but I’ll give you an autograph

Look at ya… just look at ya

A moment frozen in time

Say "Peking Duck…"

 

Newlyweds…. sure come on down

By Steve Bouey | Posted in China, For some laughs, The Toyotas | Comments (0)

China is Starting to Take its Toll

By Steve Bouey in

September 10, 2007 – 4:56 am

Getting into China was quite an undertaking for TWBR and we were excited to get finally get in. However, given the shear size of China and the amount of time we had been granted to get through it, we knew we were in for some long days on the road. As expected, driving in China has been an interesting experience and after about two weeks here, Steve and I are really feeling fatigued.

On top of having to cover a lot of miles, the road conditions in China further inject a healthy dose of frustration into the daily drive and basically ensure that you are not going to get anywhere fast. China is in the process of a massive highway building campaign and plans to have a majority of the major provincial capitals linked by expressways in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This is good news for Chinese motorists, and when you do find yourself on completed sections of the expressway, you are treated to some of the best roads anywhere in the world. However, because China is spending so much money and energy on these new expressways, they are letting all of the other "non-essential" roads fall apart. As a result, the current main roads linking cities and provinces are downright deplorable. In fact, I can say with complete confidence that pound for pound, China has the worst roads we have driven on during this expedition thus far and if it isn’t the lack of road maintenance that will leave your vehicle needing some maintenance of its own, mother nature seems to have a real knack for wreaking havoc on Chinese roads.

On the road again…

Sounds like a bad place to park

They were not kidding

When you do find yourself on the roads, and in many cases calling them roads is a generous moniker, China manages to jam the knife in your back a little bit deeper by charging tolls. Driving on pretty much every "improved" road in China comes at a cost and in some cases, toll booths may be as close together as one kilometer… that’s right, we recently drove a grand total of three minutes between toll gates on one stretch of road in Henan province. Given how bad some of the roads were, they should have been paying us for the wear and tear on the Toyotas… already two flat tires… but alas, we have already spent about 2,000 Yuan ($300) on road tolls and have another 1,500 miles or so to go.

At this point it seemed like we had been through 229 toll booths

Quite the growing collection of toll receipts

For write-off purposes if they can understand it

I am usually not into supporting cultural stereotypes, but to make matters worse, Chinese drivers are the worst. Driving in other countries in SE Asia proved to challenging at times, but China has completely honed in my defensive driving skills as it is downright dangerous here. Drivers in China are generally unaware of anyone or anything else on the road besides themselves and typically pull out onto a major road from a side street or alleyway without even a glance to see if doing so might include them in the 400 or so people who die on Chinese roads each day. Traffic laws are rarely followed even in front of traffic cops who are more likely to issue you a parking ticket rather than one for speeding or reckless driving. In China, drivers feel it is necessary to have their bright lights on when approaching oncoming traffic on a two-lane road at night even in a well lit urban area and the striping on the road seems to only be there for aesthetic purposes as no one really maintains their lane and purposefully seem to put their own life and the lives of a minivan full of young Chinese female gymnasts in peril.

Don’t even ask

I said don’t ask

Better him than me I guess

There do come to pass from time to time points when you think you have achieved a degree of solace by reaching a completed expressway, however, the victory is short-lived as truck drivers ignore laws prohibiting them from occupying the fast lane and collude with trucks in the slow lane to equally drive about 25 kmh side by side in a 120kmh zone. Back home we call this move a "Chinese Roadblock…" I guess you just call it a roadblock here. We also recently acquired a nice new $1,000 dent on the Thundra thanks to a guy on a moped who thought it would be appropriate to make a left hand turn directly into the passenger door of the truck. 

You should see the other guy’s ride

Even when you make it to the expressway, they decide to close it sometimes

These guys ensure the expressway is anything but

As you can see, there are just a few variables preventing us from making it across China in a safe and efficient manner. Since crossing the border from Laos, we have covered a little over 2,400 miles (3,800 kilometers) and it has taken us about 65 hours of actual drive time behind the wheel to do so. That works out to an average speed of 37 mph (59 kmh) and we are only about 2/3 of the way through. Since most of the driving here in China is white knuckle driving, I am looking forward to the vast open stretches of nothing we can look forward to in Mongolia.  Even if the roads are bad, which will probably be the case, there will definitely be a lot less people on them. Don’t get me wrong, the people here are amazing, but since we spend a lot of time behind the wheel, you tend to get a somewhat jaded view of that aspect of China.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in China, Road Conditions, The Toyotas | Comments (0)

Goodbye Old Friend

By Steve Bouey in

September 6, 2007 – 8:42 am

In Jinghong, China, about 200 miles north of the border with Laos, we said goodbye to an old friend. This friend has been a part of the expedition for the last several months and a familiar sight for the last four countries we have traveled through. Unfortunately, the expedition has to move on and our friend is pretty set in his ways. This friend is the mighty Mekong River, the 10th longest river in the world.

The Mekong is over 4,600 kilometers long and originates in the high mountains of the Tibetan plateau and empties a massive volume of water into the South China Sea. Over the course of four thousand kilometers, the Mekong passes through six different countries and actually makes up the majority of the Laotian border with Thailand.

The Mekong holds a significant position in the culture and lives of people living throughout SE Asia. Fishing and maritime commerce abound on the Mekong and the valley it has created over time provides fertile ground for agriculture… so much so that nearly 90 percent of the population of Laos live in the Mekong river valley or on banks of the river itself.

We first met our friend when we crossed him at the colorful and chaotic portage point of Neak Leung in central Cambodia. The size of the Mekong at this point was pretty amazing and dwarfed that of any other rivers I had ever seen. We were again reunited in southern Vietnam, where we toured the delta area the Mekong has created, providing a way of life for millions of people. Upon returning to Cambodia, we were treated to one of the rare treasures of the Mekong… sightings of the extremely endangered Mekong River Dolphin. This was an amazing day because scientists estimate that these animals will be extinct within the next 5 years. The Mekong was a familiar sight throughout our journey north in Laos and the vibrant cities of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, both active ancient trading centers, would probably cease to exist if it were not for the river.

I knew that the Mekong originated in Tibet and since our route would not take us there, I thought we were saying goodbye when we left Laos. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see the Mekong again in southern China. The Mekong is just as celebrated in China as it was anywhere else we had been. Although I wasn’t too keen on the tastefulness of the bridge the Chinese had built spanning the Mekong in Jinghong, Yunnan province, I did enjoy the beer that is brewed there and named after our old friend… although they refer to the Mekong in China as the Lancang.

Spanning the Mekong one last time

It is weird phenomenon when the things you see or experience while traveling and away from home for a long time begin to fill the void created by leaving other sights and experiences behind. For me, the Mekong was just that, a familiar sight that I had gotten used to seeing. Unfortunately, I am still traveling and I must say goodbye to yet another familiar sight. I always regarded the Mekong River as being one of the things I had to remember for my 8th grade geography exam, but as a result of this trip, it now holds a lot more significance for me.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Countries, Trip Thoughts | Comments (0)

The Lack of Influence is Amazing

By Steve Bouey in

September 5, 2007 – 10:04 pm

We often get asked why we are driving around the world. Questions like what charity is it for or what cause are we trying to raise awareness about come up fairly frequently. For the most part, we are driving around the world for our own awareness and adventure. What is wrong with that? Alright, we do realize that we are in a unique position to witness a lot of amazing things and meet a lot of amazing people, so as to not be totally self absorbed, we are sharing our experiences through writing, photography and video. I guess if we had to pick a "cause celeb," it would be to inspire others to get out and travel because of the value it holds.

Recently, we were talking with some people we met and were discussing how we were trying to inspire more Americans in particular to get out and travel considering how few actually do leave the country and given the substantial amount of influence the United States has on the rest of the world. One of the individuals disagreed and argued that our collective friends across the pond had more international influence. Were they right? Was I playing the stereotypical part of the dumb traveling American who lacks enlightenment about worldly issues? Did the European know more about my own country and it’s influence on the world than I did?

While waiting at the border to get into China I started to contemplate this whole influence thing. What exactly constitutes international influence? Is it military might, is it economic principles, is it the amount of foreign aid distributed abroad by a country? Maybe they were right and the U.S. does not have as much influence as I thought. Upon reflecting on our travels in SE Asia and now China, I now realize the folly of my assumption and will concede the extent of our lack of influence.

I concede the lack of influence in the case of the young Chinese border guard listening to a Brittany Spears song on his mobile phone. I concede the lack of influence while eating at a KFC in Malaysia. I concede the lack of influence while watching a kid in Indonesia shoot hoops in his Jordan jersey. I concede the lack of influence while watching continuously looped episodes of Freinds at every bar and restaurant in Vang Vieng, Laos. I concede the lack of influence while shopping for food at a Super Walmart in Kunming, China. I concede to our lack of influence while eating Chinese food in Jinghong while listening to the chef’s son tell me how much he likes hamburgers.

No Influence Here

Is Kentucky Part of the EU?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound arrogant or Amerocentric (if that is even a word), that is not my point.  As you can see, from a pop culture standpoint alone, you simply can’t argue the fact that the United States does not have a significant influence on other countries and cultures. Obviously, this influence also bridges over into economic and political influence and I am not going to argue that our influence is all positive. The bottom line is that the influence is there and because it is there, we as Americans owe is to ourselves and to those over whom we influence to get out and travel more.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Countries, For some laughs, Trip Thoughts, World News | Comments (1)

Knocking off the k’s

By Steven Shoppman in

September 3, 2007 – 7:53 pm

Over the last few days the ground beneath the trucks has been flying by.  After finally getting all of our paperwork straight and all of the “inspections” done, we made our way to Kunming, a day later we raced off to Dali, Li Shaing followed by Tiger Leaping Gorge and now we are hours away from Chengdu. (Excuse me if some of these spellings are wrong)

What does all this mean?

It means that we have travelled over 1,300 miles in the last week or so.  The thing is though…we have been measuring it in the old metric system, so we have actually been “knockin off the k’s” as we have been putting it lately.  We have gone from the tropics in some of the hottest weather to date all the way up to some mountain passes over 9,000 ft with temperatures like fall in Colorado.

Most of the most recent days have consisted of driving 10-14 hour days.  These days seem long I am sure, especially considering that with that amount of driving we should have gone double the distance.  As you have heard us say before, roads just are not the same here.  China is particularly bad and yesterday our average speed over a 10 hour day of driving was only 30 mph, and that includes over an hour on a 4 lane expressway to help out the average.  With the windy roads, giant pot holes, insane Chinese drivers, pollution so think you cannot see 30 ft in front of you and countless passes and canyons, it will be a welcome change to get into the Gobi desert. There we should have some wide open roads that don’t leave you feeling like you just ran a marathon after just a simple day of driving.

Oh…sorry for the lack of photos, we have just been moving so much lately and Internet is a little more difficult in China.  Soon though, I promise.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in China, Expedition Updates, The Toyotas | Comments (0)

New photos

By Steven Shoppman in

August 31, 2007 – 3:29 am

We are now in Kunming.  We have Chinese license plates, driving permits, and all the papers we need to get through China.  This is a wonderful city full of cafes around a beautiful lake.  Apparently this is a sister city to my home in Denver, CO.  I can see why, it is cool just like Denver.  As per the usual here I am short on time, but have managed to catch up on photos from Cambodia.  Enjoy!

Phnom Penh to Ba Vet
http://www.theworldbyroad.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=7494

Kratie
http://www.theworldbyroad.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=7538

Stung Treng to Laos
http://www.theworldbyroad.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=7576

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Cambodia, New Photos | Comments (2)

Almost There… We Think

By Steve Bouey in

August 29, 2007 – 9:34 pm

As Steve mentioned the other day, we are physically in China now. Once we crossed the border (which took a lot longer than it should have as a result of some paperwork errors – which were not our fault) we drove to Mengla where we were supposed to get our vehicles inspected. Because of the delays we experienced at the border, we arrived in Mengla after the inspection staff had gone home for the evening. Our guide discussed the options with the company that is helping us out and we decided to push on to Jinghong. Jinghong was only about 100 miles from Mengla, but it took us over 5 hours due to some pretty bad road conditions.

Upon arriving in Jinghong at about 11pm, our guide Jason took us to eat some local Dai food at a street stall. The food was quite good and since it was still my birthday for a few more minutes, we indulged in a few beers. When we stopped to get fuel in Mengla, Jason had also secretly bought some fireworks to help celebrate the day. After eating, we went back to the hotel Jason had arranged and I lit off one of the bottle rockets. Unfortunately, the bottle rocket did a 180 in mid air and headed over our heads and straight for the hotel manager who was carrying a small child in his arms. With catlike reflexes, he ducked to avoid the oncoming missile which later exploded outside a room filled with locals playing Mahjong. Fortunately no one was hurt, but it kind of put a damper on the festivities.

Yesterday we awoke with the hopes of getting our drivers licenses, number plates and completing the vehicle inspections. Things were looking good when we went to the local "DMV" to get our photos taken, but when we still had not received the licenses by "knock-off" time, we knew we might be waiting a little while longer. "Knock-off" time is similar to a lunch break or the end of work and in Jinghong, lunch break lasts for about 3.5 hours. At 4, we were informed that there were some other "problems" with the paperwork and that the documents we sent over 2 months ago had still not been translated into Chinese as required. As a result, we were forced to spend another night in Jinghong. As I write this blog, we are still waiting, although our guide has just informed us that we need to go to the inspection facility so I will have to sign off. This is good news I hope and soon we will officially be on the road in China. Having been here for a few days in our current situation I can’t help but sympathize with Tom Hank’s character in the movie Terminal. Hopefully we won’t be stuck in purgatory as long.  

By Steve Bouey | Posted in China, Expedition Updates, The Toyotas | Comments (0)

We are in!!

By Steven Shoppman in

August 28, 2007 – 9:14 pm

This will have to be short because we are not done with all the paperwork and processing, but after spending 30 hours and sleeping in the trucks at the border we have managed to at least get into the country.  We are now in a small town just South of Kunming.  Here we will spend the better part of today getting driving lessons, drivers license, plates and inspections.  Our next stop is Kunming, where we will post some more substantial updates.

It has been a long and trying proccess, but the expedition carries on!!

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in China, Expedition Updates | Comments (3)