Sharing costs to cross China from Mongolia to Laos, June/July 2014
 

Hi everybody,

My wife and I are planning a trip from UK to Thailand and are looking for other vehicles to join us crossing Mongolia and then sharing the cost of the guide across China, leaving China at the Laos border. The only thing is that we can not go with motorbikes as bikes are not allowed on the Chinese motorways/autoban and we are in a Merc truck/motorhome and need to use the motorways some of the time.
Our outline plan is to take about 14 days crossing Mongolia then taking about 30 days to pass though China, however, we are not tied to any these times, longer or shorter is no problem.(shorter and the Guide price would come down)
I have looked into the cost of the guide and it comes out at 4950 euros for 1 vehicle with 2 passengers then if there is 2 vehicles with 4 passengers it is 3800 euros per vehicle the guide would be with us for 30 days and for that would do all boarder paper work arrange temporary driving licences for all etc,the cost of the guide go's down per vehicle with more vehicles in the party so 4 or 5 vehicles would be ideal,some friends have only just completed this trip with the guide we have been talking to and have been a great help in our planning,visa enquiries etc.
So if there is anybody wanting to join us please contact me ASAP.

Dave

Could enter China from Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan
 

Hi Everybody,

Could change and enter China via Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan but must leave China at Laos then into Cambodia or go straight into Thailand from Laos.

Dave

Also heading south thru' China
 

Hi Dave,
we're also looking at going through China about the same time next year, crossing from Mongolia and ending in Laos. We hope to visit Vietnam and places south to Singapore too.
We're still early stages of planning, but are recent owners of a converted Man G90 truck which a couple drove to Singapore 2011, so it will be on familiar ground some of the time - although we won't be!
Just spent lots of time (and money) jumping through hoops to convert it back to German registration, it's a LHD.
However, our top speed is unlikely to be as high as your Merc camper. :(

We're based in France, but I'm English and my husband German.
Happy to discuss further, feel free to PM me (though not sure how that works here!)

Paula

Hi Paula,

I have PM'ed you hope you have received it.

Dave

Hi Paula
 

Hi Paula,

Have you received my PM as I am experiencing problems with my internet connection here in South East Asia.

Dave

Hi Dave & Paula,

We had been planning a China trip, entering from the west and exiting to Mongolia.

However so far we have been unable to get anyone else to share the cost of the guide in China.

So we are now considering a change of plans, we do want to see China but would consider exiting south to Laos, the thing is we are not sure about the options for a return route overland via Myanmar > Northern India > ??

Andy

Message received, just replied
 

Sorry for delay Dave,
have been too busy socialising to be online - but situation back to normal now!

Paula

We looked at that too...
 

Hi Andy,
we looked at returning from Singapore that way, but think there is still difficulty getting private vehicles through Myanmar - so haven't solved that dilema yet. Maybe someone with up-to-date info will know more.

But we would prefer to drive back rather than ship, even if not the same year.

Paula
PS Thanks for pointing me here to Dave's thread :)

I'm in contact with someone who says they crossed from India to Thailand through Myanmar this year and is planning the reverse trip in March 2014. I've asked him for some details. I think crossing Myanmar would be very interesting - if it's possible.

What I'm not sure about is the best way back overland to Europe from India.

Andy

Back from Thailand
 

Hi Paula and Andy,

We would like you to join us crossing Mongolia and China and hopefully we can work on a solution getting back from Thailand to the UK together.

The problem you have is Burma/Miramar I have been watching the developments as closely as possible with the changing situation in Miramar using the Thai media and local blogs (we are in Thailand at this moment), the Thai media is quite friendly towards Miramar but there is no report of anybody driving there own car though Miramar as yet, I have seen blogs that have used local drivers and possibly even a Thai registered car, there has been blogs about motorcycles being ridden short distances from the Thai boarder into Miramar but no cars. The solution I think would be to go back via Singapore, to get from Thailand to Singapore the trip would be Thailand, Malaysia then in to Singapore or the alternative would be to ship back from Laem Chabang Port Thailand, I have made enquiries sometime ago about shipping a 20' container from there to the UK and the cost was £1,200 so a vehicle could not be any more especially if we were shipping 3 vehicles, I could try and find out a cost for you if you send me sizes,weight etc here.
Are plan at the moment is to leave our truck/motorhome in the Far East (hopefully at our home in Thailand but if not Cambodia or Laos) (we have some contacts in both the other countries that could keep the vehicle safe for a small price and could possibly arrange for more than 1 vehicle) for maybe one year until we decide what we want to do next ? drive back or go on to North America or just ship back to the UK.
This is just an idea so have a think and lets get the trip sorted out if everyone is in agreement.

I will now contact the Guide that we have been talking to for costs for 3 vehicles and let you know the out come asap

Kind regards

Dave

This is the blog of a tour through Myanmar last year: Abenteuer Osten | Myanmar: Wir sind wirklich drinnen! (looks like it was organised by Sea-Bridge) so it can be done. Probably takes a lot of effort though.

We really want to avoid shipping if possible.

What possible dates/timescale are we talking about? Our original plan was to arrive in China around the beginning of May 2014, as we hadn't planned to go south we haven't done any research into SE Asia, India, etc so have no idea about travel requirements, best time of year for travel, etc...

Andy

Dates etc
 

Hi Andy,

We were planning leaving the UK mid/end of March then arriving in Mongolia about mid June then traveling for about 2 weeks before entering China early July for about 30 days which puts us on the Laos/China border late July to early August,then traveling though Laos in to Cambodia (we have done Laos many times recently and also though Cambodia once last year.) then in to Thailand, we would like to go in to Vietnam as we have visited in the past,however, our Merc is a right hand drive and that is a definite no no in Vietnam.

None of these dates are fixed just a proposal/outline to start with.

Hope to talk soon

Dave

Hi Dave,

I just saw your post after I posted a similar trip. Well, our route in China is different - I travel from northwest to southeast, and you travel from north to southwest. But it seems that we may leave Europe around the same time. So I'd like to know what's your plan from Europe to Mongolia?

Europe to Mongolia
 

Hi Valakut,

Sorry for the delay in answering,
Our plans at the moment are to travel from Ukraine in to Russia up to Moscow then east to Mongolia through Russia,however, that could possibly change as we get nearer to setting off and we spend more time studying the maps.

Dave.

Yeah, we are going to take a similar route, from Krakow to Ukraine to Moscow, and then to either Saratov or Samara then into KAZ. We will probably arrive Eastern Europe around late APR to early MAY, so if the timing is right we may meet up and travel together:)

Definite Route
 

Hi Valakut,

It sounds like we are going to be about around the same time so keep in touch and when we have a definite route plan we should all make contact.

Talk soon

Dave

Team of three motorhomes
 

Hi Everybody,

Our trip is looking good we are looking like a team of three motorhomes/overlanders at the moment crossing Mongolia and China, We are OK as a team of three,however, we would consider 1 or 2 more motorhomes/overlanders to join us if you are going our way at the same time and that would cut the cost of the guide in China.

So if you are thinking of joining us please let us know asap.

Dave.

RayL
 

Hi Ray,

I see you are going in our direction about the same time would you like to talk to us, we are at this moment a convoy of 3 motorhomes and we are looking for 1 or 2 others to join us passing through China

Dave

Still looking for others to join us
 

Arriving at Russian/Mongolian border mid June 2014 to cross Mongolia and China

Our trip is looking good we are looking like a team of three motorhomes/overlanders at the moment crossing Mongolia and China, We are OK as a team of three,however,we would consider 1 or 2 more motorhomes/overlanders to join us if you are going our way at the same time and that would cut the cost of the guide in China.

Ready to go
 

Hi Everybody,

We are still looking for other vehicles to join us and we are now ready to start making a financial commitment to the guide so if there is anybody wanting to join us please let me know ASAP

Thanks
Dave

Dave

I and my wife are planning to travel to Sydney from Ireland via Istanbul-the Stans-Mongolia-Loas-Malaysia. This would start early 2014. We have a 4x4 Sprinter camper and are looking for a group to cross China around June 2014 with to bring down the costs.




Thanks Trevor

Mongolia,China, Laos,Thailand Malaysia
 

Hi Trevor,

We are going to be traveling your way I have sent you a private message about our trip.

Would be good to hear from you

Dave

On our way
 

Well we have done it the guide is now booked and the three vehicles are all but ready to go so our starting date from the UK is March 2014 meeting up on the Russian/Mongolian border mid June and entering China 1st July and exiting China 1st August 2014 into Laos
Dave

Good luck Dave - hope it goes well for all of you!

Looks like we will be in China around the same time, but we are planning to enter from Kyrgyzstan and exit to Mongolia. Maybe our paths will cross!

If anyone is interested in joining our group please get in touch!

Andy

Sounds Good to Me
 

Hi Andy lets hope we do meet in China that would be good, Les and I are just having a web site build for the trip and it should go live in about 10 days time the site is Plodd.net when it go's live let me know what you think
Dave

Crossing myanmar 2014
 

Hello! we are planning to cross Myanmar between February and March, we have a safe contact and thanks to him one group is crossing now (we are waiting for the report from our friend in the group) and another will cross early February. The cost with this guy can be around 1000 dollars including food and hotels (sleeping half night in the vehicles) and all the permissions with escort.
Prices are per vehicle for 5/6 days it can decrease depending on the number of participants. Anyone interested?

Mongolia to Laos.
 

Hi Dave, Darren and I are a couple of Australians who might be able to help; we are a little flexible but are keen to cross China sharing costs July ish. Mongolia to Laos was our preference. I would be keen to discuss. Kind Regards Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Yes we are and have booked a guide, there are 3 converted trucks/vans in our party and we will be sleeping in the vehicles most of the time, we are well into the planning and in the next week or two we will be paying a 50% deposit for the guide. if you would like to join us I would first have to consult with the others in the other 2 vehicles, our itinerary is that we are meeting on the border of Russia and Mongolia on the 14th June then crossing Mongolia and the Gobi together and arriving at the Mongolian/Chinese border on the 29th July (this is where you could meet if you didn't want to do Mongolia with us) to take the trip across China with the guide then exiting China at the border with Laos on the 1st August.
Let me know as soon as possible about the above itinerary and if it fits in with you and if so I will speak with the others,

Kind regards

Dave & Lesley

Crossing China
 

Hi Everybody,

Unfortunately Lisa can not join us (problems with doc's for vehicle) so we are now looking for another vehicle to join our three Motorhomes to cross China from Mongolia we will be at the Mongolian/Chinese 1st July 2014 and exiting in to Laos on the 1st August.
We have the Guide already booked

Dave

Helloooooooooo
 

Hi I am Ken Holmes I live and work in China,going on 7 yrs, new to the HUBB, cannot navigate my way around the HUBB but ride a 1200 ADV GS and own a CHIANGJIANG 750. I am very annoyed at people taking advantage of other like minded people who wish to travel through or in China by motorcycle. Cannot offer all the answers, peeved at people in China wanting to make money out of bike riders because it is apparently difficult to organise everything. Open to like minded riders, annoyed I cannot make the first meeting in Shanghai but open to all comms. Attended my first gathering in Dayboro, QLD, Australia last September and loved it. Have ridden many roads, know many good places, have many good friends in China who ride bikes and treat riders with respect. If I can help in any way please contact me on larryken67@gmail.com

Ukraine-Russia
 

hoping to cross to eastern Ukraine - Russia later this year, happy if we can share any feedback re current affairs there.

Ukraine
 

Hi Zenmote,

We are in Greece at the moment thinking of going in to Turkey for 4 or 5 days then Bulgaria,Romania,Moldova to arriving in Ukraine about 15th 16th May and then on the Ukraine/Russian border 17th 18th May we have not made a final decision yet but are trying to get info where we can about the situation on the ground in the Ukraine, so if anybody can help with info it would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

Still possible to join?
 

Hi Dave,

we're currently stuck in Kyrgyzstan as we got our China transit cancelled for the second time around.

Would it still be possible to join your party? If I read the thread well, you're two vehicles at the moment. Would it still work time-wise regarding the paperwork? And what price would we be looking at?

We're two, travelling in a land cruiser and camping whenever possible.

Thanks for your reply,

Cheers
Michael

Across China from Mongolia to Laos July 2014
 

Hello,
We are a group of four people, two couples, one of whom is based in Mongolia and the other in Australia (we are all Aussies). We plan to drive through China and down through Vietnam and Thailand mid next year and are also looking for others to share the guide costs through China. We have our vehicle (just one) in Mongolia. We would love to join any of you who are planning this trip next year, please reply!
Jocelyn

Mongolia to Laos
 

I know it comes quite late, but we are looking for a way to cross china around that time! Do you still have one spot available?

Andreas

Hi
We are the road and heading through Russia, Mongolia and China ending up at Laos or Vietnam. We will be in Mongolia mid to late September as our entry to china visa expires on 30th September. We are a couple in our 50s on a motorbike. We are currently trying to sort our route out via Navo Tours recommended on this site. The costs are high because of the number of people crossing at this time. our email is sally.david@hotmail.co.uk if you need extra people. 1 thing though motorbikes are not aloud on Chinese main highways.
David & Sally

Update
 

Hi Dave and Les,

I have been reviewing your post and the subsequent threads, I would be really interested in an update now that you should be through China. I am planning a similar venture in the future and would like to know the issues/problems you may have had, including any "must do" experiences.
What do you estimate was the total cost of the passage through China?

Hope it all went well,

cheers
Andy

Must Do's
 

Hi Andy,

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your request but we have spent a lot of time preparing to return to the UK (flying not driving), we are in the UK now for a short visit before we return back to Thailand and Plodd next month.

We were a party of 4 vehicles crossing China and we all had very different agendas, for example were was traveling from our home in UK to our home in Thailand in Plodd, another couple were traveling to Australia in a converted Sprinter, another were at the end of a one year trip that had taken them through the Stans in there Landcruiser and was ending there trip in Thailand before shipping the Landcruiser back to Germany and the last couple were traveling to South East Asia in a Man 8t Overlander truck before returning to Europe next year. Some wanted to look at temples some wanted to be in the cities some wanted to use highways and others the mountain passes, this caused a little bit of friction from time to time but we always manage to find a compromise on these few occasions. Unlike what we were told by other overlanders the guide did let us do our own thing to a point and one time we left the convoy for 3 day/nights to avoid the mountain passes and enjoy other sites, and on another occasion the couple in the Landcruiser left the party for 3 nights, so the guide was far more flexible than we were lead to believe was possible.

Well the must do's are endless but I will try to come up with some of the things we enjoyed on our trip.

On our travels we bumped into many other overlanders in Mongolia and China and some of them were not too happy with there guides, we met one couple that were with a Dutch/Chinese based company that were very very disappointed with their guide. Our guide was excellent and helped with any problems that any of the party encountered, she also spoke very good English and was very knowledgeable in all areas of China, which helped us to choose our route and stops through China.

We visited most of the known sights (Great Wall,Panda's, Terracotta Army, etc).

The total cost depends on many things, accommodation being one thing. If you stay in hotels or the camper or a bit of both, also roads that you use, highways or small roads, we used the highways a lot and the cost of the tolls was about £500 for the 30 days. Other costs were the entrance fees to the many sights we visited, you pay to see everything in China whether it be a museum or a lake and some sights are quite expensive, saying that, most are worth the fee charged, for example The Tiger Leaping Gorge was about £20 per person, Lake Lugi about £20, Great Wall and the Panda's around the same.

One place you don't need to visit is Shangri-La, just recently they had a terrible fire where most of Shangri-La was destroyed. Lake Lugi was nice to spend 2 or 3 nights at and if you like cities Beijing is very interesting but again you pay to visits all the sites of interest.

Eating the street food in many of the cities with the guide was good fun. The best (but very expensive) restaurant on the whole of the trip Temple Restaurant Beijing in Beijing.This restaurant had the highest standards of western food and hospitality we have ever seen anywhere in the world, If you go, tripadviser it first.

Crossing the border from Mongolia into China we were informed that we would not be allowed to take any food products into China, we had no problem the Chinese Customs Officer just came onto Plodd and opened one cupboard then left without a problem. Our Guide was talking to the officers long before we arrived at the border explaining who we were etc and I am sure that helped a great deal in our speedy exit, also exiting at the Laos border the same the customs officers seemed to know our guide very well and we past through with no problems.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions or need any help in your planning do not hesitate to ask. If you would like to ask Spring our guide for a quote, I would be more than happy to forward your details to her and then she could contact you in due course.

Kind regards and good Luck

Dave
Plodd - A Trip of a Lifetime

PS when are you planning to do your trip ?

Hi Dave, Thanks very much for the response, there is a fantastic amount of detail here and I will take it all on board.
My build is in the process, we had a first tentative weekend away in it a couple of weeks ago at the overland show, it all seemed to work. Still got to do some bits on the cab and hopefully be away on short trips next year.

The grand plan is to get away for a couple of years four years from now. That is what I am building towards and hope to go, roughly, the route you have taken and just keep going.

I have now found your website so will have a proper look at that in the near future. Maybe in touch in the future fi that's ok ?

many thanks again,

Andy & Mandy

Hi Andy & Mandy,

Just to tell you when I finished building Plodd we went to Lancaster for a weekend then the next weekend we set off on our trip so we never slept in Plodd or went anywhere in she until that date.

Dave

actual costs ?
 

hi Dave and Les
thanks for putting this info up.
we are intending to drive from Turkey to Thailand next year.
at the moment we have two vehicles with similar plan and timescale.
i would like to know your specific costs for your time in China please ?
costs for entry ?
daily guide / agency cost?
fuel total cost for how many kms ?
accomodation costs and did you sleep in vehicle much ?
food costs ?

please can you send me your guides contact details too ?

many thanks
phil.

Info
 

Hi Phil,

You are asking for a lot of information, so I will get together with Les and try to sort out an approximate costing for all you are asking but it will take me a bit of time.

I must say that looking back on our wonderful trip that with our new found knowledge the temptation of trying to reduce the proportion of the cost of the guide in China by adding more vehicles can be false economy, we were a convoy of 4 vehicles and although we did get on the majority of the time (and are still emailing one another from time to time) it does restrict you to what the majority want to do and you are likely to only do this trip once in a life time so think carefully about the amount of vehicles you are prepared to have in your convoy, you all will be with complete strangers for 30 days and 30 nights so all parties before joining must think very carefully about what they want from the trip,what they want to see on the trip, ie driving on narrow mountain passes or motorways, and more importantly voice there ideas long before joining the convoy then everyone knows where they stand, Like I said in my last blog our guide allowed some of us to split from time to time from the main convoy and that was very good for all,however, after talking to others that have or are doing similar trips there guides would not allow this to happen and in that situation no one gets a break.

The only stipulation the guide made to allowing any split was everyone had to have a Chinese telephone sim in there phone not just an internet sim,so everyone was contactable at anytime, she also provided walkie talkies for all vehicles for when we were in convoy.
Just one more point we would not do a trip through China with any other Guide that is for sure no matter how much they charged, the guide's knowledge makes the trip good or bad:

PS
Phil if you PM me with you email address I will forward it to Spring the Guide for her to contact you.

Hi Phil,

I have not heard from you, so my question is Have You set off and if so where are you now.
After Lesley and I got to our home in Thailand we decided to buy a piece of land next to our house to build what we think is the first overlander stop build by overlanders in Thailand it is 100k south east of Bangkok and 10 minutes from Pattaya, the construction is well on its way and consists of toilets,showers, laundry and two on suite rooms that we will be letting out that would be good for motorbikes etc, but the main thing is the safe parking with electricity hook up, we are also planning to have a inspection pit to allow overlanders to inspect/work on there vehicles.
Anyway I thought I would just contact you to see if you booked Spring for your trip

Kind regards

Dave & Les

China on Bikes
 

You can travel through China on bikes, but it needs to be pre-arranged.
I used the Guanzhou sports association last time, but you're right you can't use highways and always need a guide...

G'Day,

Not entirely correct ~ Beijing municipality legally allows motorbikes on expressways (tollways) and usually as long one stays on the expressways departing from Beijing they let one continue. Once exiting the expressway / tollways outside Beijing municipality they won't let bikes on again legally.

Do bear in mind please ~ most expressways / tollways in Mainland China are quite boring & dull...