Sri Lanka, Mongolia & Win a Tour for 2: here’s what’s happening.
Important updates about what’s happening in Sri Lanka, the upcoming tour “Steppe into the Gobi” and the REVnTRAVEL Contest (Win a tour of Sri Lanka for 2). Sri Lanka’s current status. As you have probably heard in the news, Sri Lanka is going through an economic crisis. Covid-19 and before that the “Eastern Attacks” halted tourism for a couple of years. This resulted in a very low foreign currency inflow and combined with government mismanagement, the country has depleted its foreign currency reserves. Sri Lanka is basically unable to afford to import essential goods such as fuel, food or medicines. Inflation is rising as it is everywhere in the world and the population has been peacefully protesting for over a month now. The international media is depicting the situation in a very different way to what has been happening. There have been episodes of violence, yes, but it wasn’t provoked by the protesters, it was a retaliation by the previous ruling party and their henchmen, who tried to bring chaos to the protests, eventually the PM resigned. Al Jazeera has published an article to shed the light about the international media coverage: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/6/2/sri-lankas-picturesque-protests Now the situation has calmed down. A new PM has been appointed and with the help of other countries, there is work in progress to improve Sri Lanka’s economy. It’s a long process and certainly unpredictable. While a few countries have issued travel advice and recommendations for avoiding non-essential travel to Sri Lanka, there are still visitors traveling around the country and the tourist authorities have more than once declared that every measure necessary to ensure a good experience to visitors has been taken. We have a tour scheduled from the 23rd of July to the 4th of August and in agreement with the riders that have booked, the tour is still on. There are more places available so if you are up for an adventure, get in touch! (Ben@extremebiketours.com) Mongolia – Steppe into the Gobi From 20th to 30th August we are exploring the Gobi Desert and vast steppe of Mongolia. Due to a last-minute cancellation, we have 5 slots available and if you are keen to join with two mates or more, there is a 10% discount for each of you. Here are a few highlights: ✅ Dates: 20th – 30th August✅ Days/Nights: 11/10✅ Accommodation: Traditional Gher camps & Wild camping✅ Motorcycle: Royal Enfield 500cc Bullet✅ Rider Price: US $4,850✅ Pillion Price: US $3,250 Mongolia is a vast wilderness almost untouched and scattered with Nomadic people and an abundance of animals. Out here nomads are a living tradition. “Steppe into the Gobi ” is a Motorcycle Tour almost exclusively off the beaten track, once out of Ulaan Bataar there are very few roads and no traffic as 40% of the population live in the capital. The terrain is vast and varied from the rolling steppe to the mighty Gobi desert. You can almost touch the vast emptiness of this wild and beautiful country. We move through this wilderness with our support crew in the true spirit of adventure. Accommodation is a mixture of wild camping and traditional gher camps. We follow nomadic tracks contending with whatever obstacles nature puts in our way. This is an epic adventure and not for the faint-hearted. It will give you an unforgettable experience that will remain in your mind for years to come. Are you up for the challenge? Get in touch for more info (ben@extremebiketours.com) RnT Story Contest – Win a motorcycle tour of Sri Lanka for 2 If you haven’t heard, last February I (Simone) launched an online magazine dedicated to motorcycles and travel. The magazine also organizes an yearly contest and this year the grand prize is sponsored by Extreme Bike Tours and it’s a tour of Sri Lanka for 2 worth US $9,900. To participate you need to send stories of your motorcycle adventures. For more details check out this page: https://contest.revntravel.com But hurry up. The latest date to submit your entry will be the 15th of July 2022. The winner will be announced at the beginning of August and the prize has a validity of 5 years. Don’t miss out!
Traveling status: Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, Canada, South Africa & more.
A few days ago we asked our clients and followers: “What is the situation in your particular region/country? Have you been able to travel at all in the past 12 months?” We have received a lot of replies and we know how time is valuable, so thank you all for dedicating a bit of yours for us! It was nice to read that despite these hard times, for most of you things are going well. Many of you have been riding in your own country, other have started personal projects to keep busy and others again have moved to a different city or changed country. So, let’s get to the point. You wrote to us from various places with a lot of information and today we are going to go through the most significant responses. Australia & New Zealand Australia has launched its vaccination campaign but the government will not allow international traveling until it’s complete. For many this will not happen until the end of the year. Many are enjoying riding within the country although interstate traveling can be tricky as rules change suddenly and without any advance notice. Nevertheless, Australia is a beautiful country with plenty to see, so if you are also living there, look at the bright side and take the chance to explore more your country. Speaking of Australians, Peter, one of our long time clients and friend, has been asking us regarding a tour in the ‘Stans to explore the ancient Silk Roads. We were already on this before the Covid outbreak and we will continue working to make it for 2022/2023. Traveling out of New Zealand is possible – as Clair and David mentioned – but the re-entry quarantine and high costs don’t make the idea of traveling abroad appealing (who could disagree?). UK & Ireland The UK is one of the world countries that have pushed for the vaccine and according to official sources, as of last week, 50% of the over 70 aged population has been covered. A very important milestone in the fight against Covid. Ken, David and a few others from the UK replied saying that they are confident that things will start to get better soon. Perhaps in the third quarter of the year. In fact, unless last minute changes from the 29th of March, it will be possible again to ride in groups with max 5 friends. For others the situation is a bit different. Vincenzo for example is based in the UK and is able to travel for business to the Middle East but not without going under quarantines and PCR tests (we feel for you Vince…). Steve has decided to put on hold traveling for a bit and instead started to work in renovation project after investing in a cottage. All the best! Anyway, the UK government is following a precise road map. For more info check here. Ireland is in a completely different situation and under a very strict lockdown as Murth and Graham pointed out. Both of them don’t think that anything will happen before the end of the year. We certainly hope that this won’t be the case and keep our fingers crossed for you. Canada & United States A lot of replies from the American continent as well and the situation it’s pretty much the same as everywhere else. It’s difficult to get out of the country and get back, yet again, such big countries offer a lot of riding opportunities. Frank is suggesting visiting Florida. Restrictions are almost zero over there and this time of the year is perfect to ride. Elliot pointed out that Mexico is open. Might be the perfect occasion for an adventure or simply relax on a Mexican beach while enjoying a chilled tequila sunrise. George & Penelope have instead suggested to avoid New Orleans area due to the high level of restrictions currently in force. Darcy have been riding in the Ontario province (Canada) and haven’t tried to do interstate traveling since it appears to be restricted. Annette and her partner did a great coast-to-coast bike trip in Canada last year, covering 17.000km in 51 days. That really sounds like a great trip! South Africa We are glad to hear that in South Africa things are not going that bad (compared to other places). Alan and a few others mentioned that the country is open also to international travelers and it’s possible to rent a BMW or a Harley (Royal Enfields are difficult to find). Very important for Ladies living in South Africa: don’t miss Bikers Emporium! Linlee and Beau Solms (mother and daughter) started this platform in mid January 2021 with the purpose of bringing interesting reads to the 1000’s of ladies in S.A. who ride motorbikes, who pillion and who are interested in biking. Head over to Facebook and give a big thumb up to their fan page. Conclusions The situation seem to be very similar pretty much everywhere but it does look like things are starting to improve. Again, the most important thing coming out of this, is that most of those who replied are well and still able to enjoy riding, while waiting for this global chaos to calm down. Any questions? Scroll down to leave a comment or get in touch.
2021: We were waiting to see if it was going to get more weird
Wow! 2020, what a year! The world has really gone nuts, but luckily we made it to 2021 and as you may have noticed from the title, at EBT we like to be positive… Jokes aside, we ARE positive. While the world fights the major battle against Corona – the virus and not the beer – we are keeping alive the dream of traveling and riding once again. With the introduction of the vaccine we are confident that it’s just a matter of time before things will finally start to settle down and we are ready to pack our bags and turn our Enfields’ keys. In fact, we have recently been on a couple of trips out here in Sri Lanka. We explored the highland where the weather is generally colder than in the South where we are based, and enjoyed every bit of it but we are looking forward to flying again too. There is still a lot of confusion of what’s going on in every side of the world, especially since the scenario changes rapidly but we managed to put together another quick update for each of the upcoming tours. Sri Lanka sets in place new pilot program First the good news… or half-good news. As of today, Sri Lanka reopened the borders for tourists by implementing special measures as part of a Tourism pilot project. However this first step towards the return to normality does not not offer the best conditions for our motorcycle tours just yet, since there are several limitations concerning the choice of accommodation, routes and places of interest. The next scheduled tour (Hidden Sri Lanka) was supposed to be in February and it will be rescheduled (Date TBD). Beside this, all the newly added motorcycle tours in Sri Lanka are organized upon request and since we are based here, you can contact us any time to start organising your trip while waiting for a full relaunch of tourism in the island. Myanmar´s government suspended all the flights and issuance of visas All international flights to Myanmar airports are still suspended until at least 31st January 2021. The government of Myanmar also announced a temporary suspension of issuance of visas on arrival and e-visa to all visitors from all countries. The previously scheduled tour “The Road to Mandalay” has been postponed as well. Date TBD, possibly in the 2nd half of the Year around September/October. Travels to Bhutan not yet possible Bhutan is still applying very strict travel restrictions and since our tour was scheduled for April we are sadly forced to postpone the tour. The closest next window is the 2nd half of the year, around October and we will aim to travel by then. As of now we still have 4 places and you if you are interested, you may place your name on the list, if you wish to be updated when we confirm this tour. Simply write to simone@extremebiketours.com. India, Mongolia, Tibet. All tours in India, Mongolia and Tibet are scheduled from July onward. Currently traveling to these countries is not yet possible. There is still time and therefore we keep the existing schedule until further notice. That’s it for today. Be safe and hold fast!
Riding through monsoons… and getting out alive
How to survive the infamous monsoon No need to panic. A monsoon is not as scary as the title make it sound. However, whether you are going to ride in Sri Lanka or at early planning stage, you definitely want to know about the weather on the island and especially about the monsoons. In fact, this is a very small piece of information yet useful even if you are not riding at all, but simply on a conventional tour of Sri Lanka. What are monsoons? A monsoon is a seasonal change of the wind direction which can bring either heavy-rain or warm and humid air. We are not going to go through a boring lesson about monsoons but they do influence the weather and are one of the keys to making a tour in Sri Lanka more enjoyable. A short explanation is required… If you are interested in learning more about monsoons, check this National Geographic’s encyclopedia page. Maybe you want to meet a friend or see a certain landmark, in some cases you might want or “be forced” to visit a specific place regardless of the weather conditions, so it’s good to be prepared. This will also help you to prepare your clothes appropriately before getting on the flight. Sri Lanka Quick Facts In general during the day the temperature can get down to 17 °C in the central highlands and up to 33 °C in at lower altitudes. Depending on the season, specific areas may be less enjoyable for a ride. That’s because there are monsoons affecting diverse areas and during different times of the year. The Yala monsoon hits the west and south-west coast, from around May and ends in September, bringing heavy rainfalls. Inconveniences such as landslides may be present during this period of the year, especially towards the highlands, so the best would be to ride on the east and north areas of the country. The Hidden Sri Lanka tour starts in Galle, on the south-coast. Although it is possible to do this tour during the rain season, we usually schedule it on February and July which are the best months of the year for that itinerary. The Maha monsoon visits the east coast from around December to February although it brings less rainfall than the Yala monsoon and the main rainy days are during the first couple of months. In between the two main monsoons, there are also two inter-monsoons seasons (March – April / October – November). During these seasons rain is more likely to fall in the afternoon and evening time Bottom line, it’s possible to ride in Sri Lanka all year round, just need to plan ahead to choose the right itinerary and avoid getting caught by the rain. Keen to learn more about our Sri Lanka Motorcycle Tours? Let’s have a chat over Whatsapp!
Insurance Matters
Extreme Bike Tours ‘Terms & Conditions‘ state that it is mandatory to have an insurance to join a motorcycle tour (point “3.4 Insurance”). Here’s is the extract: “It is mandatory to have a comprehensive insurance policy cover for your tour. The following should be covered by your insurance policy travel, trip cancellation, medical expenses, personal accident and repatriation cover, general liability and damage or loss of luggage, money and public liability before registering for the tour.” You should therefore purchase a travel insurance policy as soon as you confirm your booking. We usually recommend worldnomads.com – which is the one we personally use – but you don’t necessarily need to use the same company and their policy may not apply to you. Regardless of the company you decide to use, you need to know that there are plans with different types of coverage. Here are the most important and that we strongly suggest to have: Emergency Medical Evacuation – covers evacuation to the nearest hospital in case of emergency. Travel Medical Insurance – covers costs for medical needs. Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) – covers any cost incurred in case a trip has been cancelled for any reason, whether by you or the operator. An important note: recently we wrote about deposits and refunds on an article and although we are very reasonable, the Terms & Conditions state that deposits are non-refundable and therefore being covered with the CFAR option is the best way to ensure you don’t lose your money in case of cancellation. If you are a frequent traveler it might be a good option to sign up for an Annual Travel Insurance which covers multiple trips in the same year. MAKE SURE that the insurance covers motorcycle trips. In a particular situation, you might not be able to travel due to a negative travel advisory. For example, Australia – like many other countries – has currently warned against traveling to China. Our tour in Tibet is in part of China and if by the time of the tour the travel advisory has not been lifted and you decide to cancel your trip, your insurance should cover the cancellation. So when you sign up, make sure you have this option included. World Nomads for example offers this coverage. Here’s an extract: “Am I covered if the published warning is ‘Do Not Travel’ Here’s a guide to give you an idea: 1. A warning is in place before you buy a policy (whether you have travel expenses or not):No cover 2. A warning is published after you buy a policy and before you have booked travel or incurred expenses: No cover 3. A warning is published after you buy a policy and after you have booked travel or incurred expenses (before you leave home): There is cover for cancellation or rearrangement costs for affected travel services which were purchased before the warning was issued, under the terms of your policy. 4. A warning is published after you buy a policy, and if you are already travelling in an affected area and have incurred expenses: There is cover for cancellation or rearrangement costs for affected travel services which were purchased before the warning was issued, under the terms of your policy. 5. If you choose to travel to a region despite published warnings:No cover” If you would like to read the whole article click here: “Am I covered by travel insurance if there’s a travel warning in place?“ Questions? Leave a comment below.
What happens to my deposit if….
Unpredictable events, tour cancellation, security deposits & refunds Unfortunately this year we are witnessing the spread of the Coronavirus. Quite rightly, some of our customers raised a few concerns and asked about the situation with upcoming tours. Last year in April we had a terrible event in Sri Lanka – where we are based – and this affected all the tourism in the country as well as some of our tours. Luckily, nothing else has happened and Sri Lanka has returned to its normal island life in a very short period. This time we cannot yet say what’s going to happen but we are optimistic and all the 2020/2021 scheduled tours are confirmed. These kind of events are unpredictable but if we take a look at the recent global history, there has been precedents that were contained (SARS, MERS, etc.). Nevertheless, we have to be realistic and any of the tours could be cancelled last minute or you could not feel comfortable enough to travel. The question is: What happens to the deposit? Since this is a very important topic, we’d like to take the opportunity to explain how we handle deposit refund requests. By our Terms & Conditions (“Point 3.6 Booking charges, cancellations and refunds”), generally deposits are non-refundable unless we cancel a tour. However as many of our customers can confirm, we are very reasonable and evaluate case by case. Here are the main scenarios: We cancel the tour. We will refund the deposit in full but if you are still keen to do a different tour or the same the next year with us, we will keep the funds as deposit for the tour of your choice and offer you a discount on the second tour. You decide to cancel your trip. Cancellation with 4+ months in advance If you notify us 4 or more months in advance, most likely we haven’t yet made payments to hotels, logistics, etc. and we will be happy to listen to your reason for the cancellation and decide whether to refund you or not. In general if there are all the conditions for you to do the ride and it’s just a personal decision, we won’t be able to refund you but we will propose you to use the same deposit for another tour. If the reason for cancelling the tour is something out of your control we will refund you (eg. Travel insurance will not cover your trip due to unpredictable events such as the current Coronavirus situation). Alternatively you can keep the funds with us for another tour or the same tour next year. Naturally the latter would be our preferred option: we would still love to have you on a tour with us. Cancellation with less than 4 months in advance If you decide to cancel with less than 4 months in advance, we will not be able to refund you. By then we would have most likely done all the arrangements and it will not possible to obtain refunds from hotels and other parties that make our motorcycle adventures possible. To compensate however, we will offer you a discount on a different tour and that will cover part of the original deposit. Extraordinary Scenarios Unfortunately we are not able to foresee all possible scenarios and there might be situations which are not covered by our refund policy. In such a case just contact us and we will do our best to find a solution, whether that is a full or partial refund, a discount or even a flight fare. If you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will reply as soon as we turn off our bike engines. Ps. Don’t forget to have a look at our upcoming motorcycle tours
Bhutan: A few important points to consider
As we regularly receive questions regarding the nature of our Bhutan motorcycle tour and what differs from the motorcycle adventures offered by other tour operators, we decided to put together this article to answer some of the frequently asked questions. “Why do we start in India?”, “why is this tour so expensive?” or “what kind of accommodation do we use?”. So if you are considering a ride in Bhutan and evaluating your options, hopefully you will find this useful. Starting from New Delhi, India Many other motorcycle tour operators start directly in Paro which is the only Bhutanese international airport. This would add additional cost to a customer’s international flight, and limit the flexibility of the schedule due to the number of flights available. If flying in and out of Paro it would also constrain the route and miss out on some great riding from the border. As we ride in a large group with people coming from different corners of the world, it could really become difficult for everyone to get to Paro at the same day/time and within budget. For these reasons we start our Bhutan Motorcycle Tour in Delhi. There are flights from everywhere in the world and the internal flights to Bagdogra near the border are plentiful should we need to change them for any reason. There are also many flights to Delhi from Guwahati, having ridden across Bhutan from West to East, allowing us a certain amount of flexibility. All of these internal flights are covered by us. Also for those of you who have not experienced India it does also allow a possible extension to the trip to explore Delhi or further a field… Accommodation We grade the Bhutan tour as “Intermediate”. We ride an average of 4-6 hours a day on different type of roads, sometimes these are very good while in other instances they can become a bit bumpy. After a long day riding you would definitely want to spend your evening having a beer and relaxing before dinner in a nice comfortable hotel or guesthouse getting a good night sleep and being ready for the next day’s ride. A lot can be said about the hotels but what is better than having a look? So here are a few images of the hotels/stays of our choice. *Note: hotels may change depending on availability however we always have backup solutions of the same level. Bhutan is Expensive Bhutan has been historically a country closed to foreigners until 1974, when the government decided to promote tourism in an effort to disclose the Bhutanese culture and traditions while improving the country’s economy. The government however did not simply open the doors of Bhutan and implemented a particular rule – unique in the world – by charging visitors a daily fee of US $200 in off-season and US $250 in peak-season. If you wanted to do a 10 days tour, you would end up spending US $2000 or US $2500 depending on the season. Here is a video of Drew Binsky who is currently travelling the world and explains the reasons behind this expensive tax: The fee however is not simply a “tourist tax” or a “visa fee” as standard accommodation and meals will be provided by the local tour operator of your choice, they might not be the best but you can always decide to do a paid upgrade for more quality. Independent travel is prohibited in Bhutan and anyone keen to visit the country must go through a local operator or an international partner of the Bhutanese recognized travel agency. On a side note, while the daily fee is quite high it is definitely a good initiative of the government as most of the revenue contributes to keep free education and healthcare. “Gross National Happiness” is the philosophy of this country and these services are certainly helping to achieve the national goal. Going back to why touring in Bhutan is expensive, if you think about it, putting together a motorcycle tour in Bhutan is definitely more expensive than a normal bus tour with a group of another 20-30 tourists. On top of the daily fee you need to add all the other involved costs: bike rentals & fuel, support vehicle, tour guide, mechanic, water & refreshments, internal flights and so on. Remember our tour is “all-inclusive”, everything is covered. On the other hand until last year our Bhutan Motorcycle tour rate for rider was US $6,950. After reviewing our itinerary and negotiating with our local partner we were able to reduce the price of US $1000, taking the price of this incredible adventure down to US $5,950. Real Riding & Exploring Have you checked out the itinerary? There is only one rest day on which we still ride out for a sightseeing tour really off the beaten track and one of our favorite days. For the rest of the tour we don’t stop more than one night in the same place. We keep riding and exploring this beautiful Himalayan Kingdom. This is a very important point because wherever you are flying from, you definitely want to use the available days to ride and see as much as possible and not simply ride around the same places for a few hours a day. If you have had a look at other tours you would notice that some itineraries are organized to stay more than one day in the same places. This means that on these tours you would probably be riding in the same area and eventually spend more time sightseeing rather than on the bike. Nothing wrong with that but we simply prefer to explore while riding and if that’s what you are looking for… look no further and get in touch if you have any questions! Check out the Bhutan motorcycle tour gallery!
