My Travelling Experiences

My Turkey Driving route I drove about 3000 km (Entered from Greece and Exit to Georgia)  Turkey Land Entry from (Kipoi- Ipsala Border): It was a miracle that I got Entry in Turkey because I didn't have the visa for Turkey when I planned to start driving from Madrid towards Iran via Turkey. I tried to get the visa in Madrid from Turkish embassy but it seems that they are not willing to do any service for me because (I think) I am an Asian man and not a European. I read on Google that if you have a live (Valid) visa of US or Europe, you can get the visa on arrival or you don't need the visa for Turkey. In my case I did not have US visa at that time and my Europe visa was single entry so as soon as I get out from the Europe, practically there is no live visa for me for Europe also. So I tried all other options to get out of Europe with my Motorcycle. I checked the map for a way out and visited many countries' Consulates in Madrid like Egypt, Tunisia for visa to get out from Eu...

Above is my driving map through Greece  When I stepped down on the Greece border from the ship, there was no checking at all even nobody was there ( I understood how so many immigrants go to the Europe in by boats because there is no checking at all). I didn't go inside Greece because there was no time (so sad for me) and drove straight towards Turkey. But one remarkable thing was that I drove on Egnatia Odos or Egnatia Motorway which is also referred to as Via Egnatia, code: A2). It is the Greek part of European route. It is a motorway in Greece that extends from the western port of Igoumenitsa to the eastern Greek–Turkish border at Kipoi.(Wikipedia) So many tunnels that surprised me and I didn't like them much because you tot blind when you enter in the tunnel from the daylight and with a small bike maintaining 80-90 kmpl Speed, its like leaving yourself in God's hand because you suddenly become blind. I think I got Tunnelphobia 😭. I'll tell how it's ...

Next morning I went to investigate the city Ljubljana  . It's a beautiful city like my dreams or seen in the movies. I roamed around full day Like "Alice in dreamland' 😍. I saw one interesting art on road side. What I understood  that it shows that how the Christians are great and how they become. The Art was interesting  which is the same " We are great"  propaganda I saw in many many places around the globe.  I stayed for two days and met couple of young people. One guy was driving on carvan with in the Europe and his plan to reach all the European countries. The lucky guys, they don't need the visa. That's why the person just out of the college they go for a trip because they do not require visa for one or two third countries of the world. I think that this is the best time to explore the world when you are young . We the Asian people, we have to struggle. I stayed in Slovenia capital for three days. I finally decided to go to Turkey via Greece and I ...

In my last post, I had described how miraculously I got the bike in Spain and thanks to the motorcycle dealer who helped me and I got the insurance also. I started from Madrid at 3 p.m. I was driving like a free bird and wanted to get out of Spain asap because I waited for 15 days for this. But driving was so difficult on this highway traffic, moving at 120 km per hour and I could only get up to 100 kilometer per hour with my small motor-bike. So changing lanes and avoiding the diversions was very difficult but somehow I managed and straight away drove for two hours. At my bike100 kmph speed, small wind or passing cars, specially trucks, gave me a gust of disbalance. Still I kept driving because I wanted to at least out get of Spain that day since so many days had already passed. It was very risky, the risks i usually don't take. At the Spain border, I was stopped by the police and the police person had some wireless something. They wanted to inquire about my bike. I show them the ...

I landed in Madrid and inquired for purchasing a motorcycle there with Dealers. I did not inquire with local people because I know local people don't know about how to buy a motorcycle for a foreigner. I know that from my experience in Brazil. I straight away went to traffic department and talked to them. They gave me a list of the requirement which said that first I need to register for a national number (NES) and then I have to get license for exporting the bike from customs. I went to the customs and found out that it is almost impossible because I am not the national. The customs officer asked me some rule that if somebody from the local can host me, give me address, blah blah.  many things (Although I had my company headquartered in Madrid from where I could ask for help) but I somehow sensed that they are not going to help. The last thing he said was that "you have to take out the bike within a month". I started the procedure. It took me around 7 days for the NES nu...

Before going to Spain, I had not searched much. I had read on horizon limited and so on. I found that nobody has full information. So I am writing it here. 1. Do not expect locals to know all about this. In fact if you ask me how a foreigner can purchase a motorcycle in India, I really don’t know, because I have never faced such a situation. So this will be the case for everywhere. 2. Bike dealer may know something about it, but that was not the case in Brazil nor in Spain. They didn’t know. 3. My experience tells me go to the source, i.e. the government department who handle the registration. I asked the hostel guy to give me what this office is called in Spanish and its address. 4. I went there office A. It’s in Calle de Arturo Soria, 125, 28043 Madrid, Spain. 5. They gave me the requirement list. (Image of the paper also posted below) a.  Foreigner registration in Spain. So was the case in Brazil also. b. Letter from the custom department to allow ...

There might be slight difference for Schengen visa requirement between whenever you read this post and my experience, but I am sharing the form and contact agency number to get Schengen visa in Oman. Below is the link to download the form, review of the same and collect the documents.  schengen_visa_application_form_english Usual documents are employer permission letter and bank statements, hotel booking, flight tickets and health insurance.  Here is the complete checklist below to see TOURIST-VISA-CHECKLIST Please Note that these were 2017 requirements. Please check with them again from the email id and phone number given in the above picture. Post COVID world may not have remained the same everywhere. You have to first make an appointment with the agency and they will give you the appointment letter. Go there and they will collect your documents along with the passport and fingerprints will also be taken.  All were Indian guys there, no Spanish per...

Peru: Most incredible country in South America. I am thankful to my company senior who very strongly suggested to visit Peru.  Originally I had procured VISAs only for Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I was planning go to other countries and had it not been for my manager's suggestion I might have missed visiting Peru. I was lucky to get the Peru VISA quite easily Santiago, Chile. I also tried Columbia visa but that didn't go well. My fellow Chinese traveler was not so lucky for Peru visa while he didn't need a Columbian visa being a Chinese.  Anyway I entered Peru through the town of Dessaguadero. I stayed in that small village for one day and witnessed a local festival. Women with hard hat and men in black suit drinking beer on the road and dancing together. This tradition, I guess, was given to their ancestors by Europians or might have forced them. I reached another small but very touristic city and took a guided tour and it was beyond my imagination, again the advantage of...

Bolivia was the only country which gave Visa on arrival for Indians, even to those entering through the land border. Price was about 100 USD (I thought I over-paid, but that was just a thought. One of my local friends confirmed that visa fees and I had paid in line with that). The road ahead was nothing more than a dirt trail. I drove all day along without finding any suitable place to stop and eat. I ended up remaining hungry the whole day: there were few houses enroute but nothing that prompted me to stop. Thus were the first 100 kms in Bolivia. Later I reached the city of "Yuni" which I had heard in Santiago from one of the travelers in hostel. Small city, quite famous for tourism and "no smoking" hotels just like in Argentina. Maybe it was because of being hungry the previous day or the only meal I had last night, an omelet, I fell ill, very very ill. But time heals everything :). Next day I went to the famous Salt Lake, what a view. Retrospectively, it would ha...

Driving in Chile  30 days , 3500 km  Driving in Chile Driving through RUTA 40 was exceptional experience and "San Carlos de Bariloche" or in short "Bariloche" is the border from where I crossed into Chile . The town and the vicinity was very beautiful and it should be one of the most beautiful 'Honeymoon' destination. Riding on RUTO 40 one must carry cash, since none of the ATMs enroute accepts any card other than that from Argentina bank. I was lucky having some loose dollars, which was not planned, as cash with me for these 3 days on RUTA 40. This way I could manage my food and accomodation bills. An interesting fact: there are no formal stops at border crossing from Argentina to Chile. One need to stop by himself and get the passport stamped, no one will prompt you. I was driving through the border post which had no barrier. Better sense prevailed and based on map reading I realised the broder crossing must be here and I should get the exit from Argentin...