Overland Travel in Asia
Overland travel in Asia is roughly divided up in two commonly driven routes:
- The northern route to Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan), Russia, Mongolia, and possibly the Far East.
- The southern route to Turkey, Iran, the subcontinent (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh) and Southeast Asia (e.g. Singapore and Malaysia).
Drive from the taiga in Siberia and Mongolia’s empty steppe down to Central Asia. In Central Asia, old traditions and rich culture go hand in hand with mind-blowing landscapes that invite you to rough camp and go for a hike.
Don’t miss out on Iran’s famed sense of hospitality when you drive from the Aegean Coast in Turkey to Bangladesh’s flooded plains.
The Far East is a lesser visited overland-travel destination, which is a pity. Overlanding in South Korea and Japan is easy and fascinating, and we have written extensively about driving and hiking in both countries.
On this page you’ll also find info on backpacking trips in China and the Philippines.
Ji’an – In the Jilin Province Ji’an town is a border town in the Jilin Province in the Northeastern Corner of China, right along the border with North Korea. The … Read more
In our Uzbekistan Budget Report we detail our road-trip expenditures on documentation, fuel, the Land Cruiser, camping, and more.
Overland travel information for Kazakhstan: roads, navigation, gas stations, camping, and more in our Kazakhstan Travel Guide.
An overview of GPS Waypoints for overland camping in Kazakhstan, and additional camping/accommodation info on Kazakhstan.
In our Kazakhstan Travel Budget Report we detail our road-trip expenditures on documentation, fuel, the Land Cruiser, camping, and more.
How can you not drive with functioning brakes for 8 years? It was time to get to the core of the issue and fixe those brakes.
Travel information for your overland journey to Kazakhstan: roads, online navigation, gas stations, camping, and much more in our Kazakhstan Travel Guide.
An overview of GPS Waypoints for overland camping in Tajikistan, including favorites from overlanding, and additional camping info on Tajikistan.
The Baekdu-Daegan is a mountain ridge across the country and includes national park. This is the ultimate region for hiking in South Korea.
The capital of Kyrgyzstan is an ultimate destination to relax and rest from your journey. Here are places to see in Bishkek (or do nothing!).
Both enjoying careers at home while loving (long-distance) journeys, Marijke and Joost share how they combine work and travel.
Of the 400 articles on our Landcruising Adventure website, which are best read? What have been your most popular blog posts on our website?
Our Tajikistan travel budget report, detailing travel expenditures during our road trip including documents, fuel, camping, car workshops.
The freedom to drive into the wilderness and free camp amidst the Tuzbair limestone cliffs in Kazakhstan – that’s why we travel overland.
Overlanding in Uzbekistan brings specific challenges: finding diesel, understanding SIM Card logics, and registering on the app.
Travel information for your overland journey to Tajikistan: budget, roads, gas stations, camping, and more in our Tajikistan Travel Guide.
There are lots of things to do in Hokkaido all year, but winter in Hokkaido is special: snow festivals, snow hikes, and wildlife viewing.
Aralsk in Kazakhstan: once a flourishing fishing town, reduced to a non-descript place when the Aral Sea shrunk. Rain made us stay for a day.
The Silk Road history in Uzbekistan’s southern city of Termez isn’t well known but rich in ancient cities, mosques, monasteries, mausoleums.
Our Kyrgyzstan travel budget report, detailing travel expenditures during our road trip including documents, fuel, camping, car workshops.
38 Years and new to camping when setting out on a 6-month overland journey from Europe to Central Asia. How to deal with fears of camping?
To buy new AGM or Gel batteries we drove to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where we also found a place to weld a new battery box on the chassis.
Our Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide details everything for an overland journey to Kyrgyzstan: roads, fuel, maps, navigation, sim cards, Wifi, & more.
At age 13, the book First Overland inspires Chris to overland to Asia. Here are Chris & Charlie, driving from the UK to Australia.
Among the world’s legendary overland route is the Pamir Highway, our intro into Tajikistan’s remote landscapes such as the Wakhan Corridor.
Non-fiction, Japanese literature, travel memoirs, guidebooks and other books on Japan will help you get started to prepare for your journey.
With 90% of mountains, Kyrgyzstan offers ample opportunities for wild camping. Here, overlanders share their favorite wild camping sites.
When a joke becomes reality and you raise your thumb to hitchhike to China, and in Kyrgyzstan you buy an old Lada Zhiguli to drive back home.
After weeks of hard work to get the Land Cruiser in shape we are more than ready to explore Kyrgyzstan, and after a 12-day trip we want more!
In Changchun, visit the former home or Puyi, China’s last emperor, Bãnruò Temple, or enjoy the big city’s daily scene.
You like to do an overland trip, you want to visit the Japan Rugby World Cup, and you turn sixty. Why not combine all? Meet Mark & Sue.
An overview with books about Central Asia (Mongolia, Stan Countries) and the Silk Road: Non Fiction, Fiction, Travel Memoirs, Guidebooks.
Two months in a city, it’s unusual for us. We have things to do in Bishkek! The Land Cruiser needs an overhaul and we’ll meet overlanders.
After 5 months without our Land Cruiser, it was good to see our home on wheels back in Kyrgyzstan. Yet to travel with her takes more time…
What travel books to choose when traveling to China for only a month? Here’s our selection of non-fiction and travel memoirs about China.
Tucked away in China’s northeastern corner lies the big and historical city of Harbin. Prepare your journey with this city travel guide.
Hiking in Turkey is growing in popularity. The 850-km-long Carian Trail thru-hike is little known but so worth it. Let us tell you why.
Travel information for your overland journey to Mongolia: budget, roads, gas stations, camping, and more in our Mongolia Travel Guide.
Northeast China is easy to reach by public transportation. This China travel guide shares how to get there and other practical tips.
Laughing at funny translations? Why not – have a giggle and take it with a grain of salt. Here are some memorable signboards in China.
What do you do when in Bishkek and not having time for sightseeing? It’s a hub for getting projects done and preparing for a new phase.
Mongolia is vast and empty and you can camp anywhere. So here overlanders share the most awesome spots for wild camping in Mongolia.
Travel from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing using public transport. Here’s info on traveling by plane, train, or bus, and includes border information.
Thick snow, icy roads, plummeting temperatures – overlanding in winter. How do you do it? Here are tips on how to prepare your overland vehicle for winter.
Getting a China visa is tricky so here’s hence our lowdown on the China visa application process at the Chinese Embassy in Ulaanbaatar.
“Broken-down sections first attract tourists off the beaten track, then the inevitable hawkers, then the renovators and safety consultants who often strip away much of the historical charm along with … Read more
Mongolia’s most important celebration, the Nadaam Festival is a summer event held throughout the summer and in every corner of Mongolia.
The easiest way to get your overland car from South Korea or Japan to northern Asia is a ferry crossing to Russia. Here’s how to do it.
A two-week road trip in the Gobi Desert: vast and empty but with fascinating landscapes and hidden ‘treats’, a monastery and rock carvings.
Prepare your overland journey to Northern Asia: schedules, roadmaps, and guidebooks for Central Asia (Stan countries), Russia, and Mongolia.
During a weekend-long festival monks chant for enlightenment in the Amarbayasgalant Monastery, one of Mongolia’s top three monasteries.
In our South Korea Overland Travel Guide, you’ll read all about documentation, gas stations, money matters, road conditions, and more.
After two thru-hikes, the Baekdu-Daegan in South Korea and the Jordan Trail, we have learned what hiking gear we need. Here’s our list.
Romance Factory in South Korea saved our day, our trip, and potentially lots of other vehicles – they fixed the car’s failing brakes.
Paid accommodation, staying with locals and where to go overland camping in South Korea, including GPS Waypoints.
Money matters, documentation, sightseeing, fuel and gas stations, car maintenance and more in our Japan Travel Budget Report.
What a journey it has been! 9 months, 11 islands, 12,000 kilometers from Kyushu in the south to Hokkaido in the north. We kept you updated through our ‘Where are … Read more
Japan kicked us out two months earlier than we had hoped for and anticipated. We use our remaining time in Japan enjoying its beach life.
I was giving up. I didn’t want to do this anymore. My clothes were soaked with sweat, my legs and arms covered in scratches from overgrowth taller than I was. … Read more
The driving, people, camping, paperwork, and infrastructure are among the reasons why overlanding in Japan is fun, easy, and affordable.
Travel information for your overland journey to Japan: budget, roads, gas stations, camping, and more in our Overland Travel Guide for Japan.
Paid accommodation, staying with locals and where to go (wild) camping in Japan, including GPS waypoints.
Chased from Japan’s inland by a 4-day typhoon, we return to the coast and camp at Okhinohama Beach, one of Japan’s most beautiful beaches.
Summer on Shikoku? It has thus far been a good choice. Empty beaches and a wilderness camp in the forest along crystalline rivers.
Finally it was happening, the Land cruiser 40 Meeting East, a major Land Cruiser aficionado event in Japan that is held annually in June. We had been thrown into Japan’s … Read more
The Land Cruiser returned the factory where it was built in 1984: Toyota Auto Body, in Toyota City. Next, the Toyota Automobile Museum.
What better announcement of spring is there than sakura – the cherry blossom season?
Peter Ivy is an American glassblower in Japan, running his own studio in Toyama. We were his guests and saw him work his art.
The cherry blossom in South Korea is the announcement of spring. People go out, join the crowds, have fun, and take selfies!
Snow festivals are a good reason to visit Hokkaido, Japan in winter. However, we were charmed by so much wildlife – here is a photo essay.
A great reason to visit Japan in winter: the snow festivals. Among the best known is he Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido.
As we weave our way through urbanized Honshu, we stop in Hiroshima, make new friends and kill the clutch in the middle of the highway.
Time to get out of the car and do some walking. Hiking on Yakushima Island, in south Japan and a UNESCO Biopshere Reserve.
The Land Cruiser returned to its country of birth, Japan, where on Kyushu Island we are spoiled by Friendee Auto Workshop.
The magic of the trail found in its landscape, culture, fog and sun, the spiritual and history are all reasons to thru-hike the Baekdu-Daegan.
November 29, 2016. We make new friends, admire hellish-looking ponds, and have our first car accident in 13 years on the road.
When writing our last newsletter (Yes, I want to receive it too!) I was reminiscing about our 6-month stay in South Korea and started thanking people whom had helped us in … Read more
In Kyushu we joined the 19th Land Cruiser’s Festa near Mount Aso. Among so many BJ40s and BJ45s, our Land Cruiser was right at home.
700+kms of hiking the Baekdu-daegan in South Korea, may be the most challenging yet inspiring way to travel here.
Underground, above the ground, on foot, or varying from using 1 to 4 wheels or more. See the fascinating, nifty, and fun ways of traveling in South Korea.
How a quick visa run to Tsushima Island, Japan, turns into a 24-hour, challenging trip due to bad weather, until you meet that angel.
One week of sightseeing Seoul: the Olympic Park, the Bongeunsa Temple, Royal Tombs, Korea’s National Museum and the Korean War Memorial.
4 days of hiking in Jirisan National Park were followed by an additional 7 further north. It ws the start of the Baegdu Daegan Trail.
July 11, 2016: A 3-day hike in Seoraksan National Park had us blown away. The views, the trails, the sites along the way, the meetings with Koreans all contributed to a new passion: hiking.
Visiting the Demilitarized Zone, in shorti DMZ, in the east of South Korea: the Eilji Observatory and the 4th tunnel, both near Yanggu.
Starting our Landcruising Adventure on a new continent, South Korea has the honor of being our first step in the Far East.
When traveling from one country to the next, let alone to another continent, it’s hard not to compare. And while doing that, we tend to focus on what we like about the … Read more
Ins and outs of shipping the Land Cruiser in a container to Busan Port in South Korea.
Where are we – South Korea 3: Landcruising through the southern part of South Korea: cherry blossom, temples, food, hiking, camping, people.
After 60 days sailing around the world, our home on wheels is back on terra firma. Better: we retrieved it from the port today!
March 25, 2016: We’re in South Korea! We are super excited to start a new phase of our journey. It couldn’t have started in a better way: by being invited by South Koreans.
Beach, snorkeling, sunsets, outrigged boats, lazing, reading a book and more while exploring the Philippines by boat.
Mountain runs, hanging coffins, rice terraces, and old colonial towns.
Why we prefer overlanding over backpacking – a reflection on backpacking in the Philippines.
Enjoy an impression of Pakistan through road signs, bill boards and other texts found along the way.
South Peru brings a couple of scary moments: how serious is that tumor, and will the rock tumbling down that vertical wall hit our Land Cruiser?
The story behind the creation of a photo book featuring Bangladesh, a country of rickshaws, rice & jute, historical wealth, and beautiful people.
Windshield Views from Asia give a peek of landscapes, off-roads, animals, details, and a lot of other things during our overland journey to Vietnam.
Our ins and outs of organizing the container shipment for our Land Cruiser from Malaysia to Argentina. It’s not as hard as it looks.
