UK to Thailand March 2014
 

Hi,

My wife and I are planning a trip from the UK to Thailand in 2014, we have just purchased a Merc 814D motorhome, We are looking for others to join us on the China section of the trip (or before) to keep the guide costs down, our dates are only approximate but we will be setting off mid to late March 2014 and arriving on the boarder of China around June, we have done many trips in South East Asia in the resent past and spend around 8 months a year there, we speak some Thai although we are both from the UK.

Dave & Les

Hi Dave and Les! Just to let you know I subscribed to this thread, I am interested. Planning a trip from Belgium to Oz by motorcycle, in 2014, but not sure about the route yet... I let you know as soon as I made a decision. Do you have contact with/ quotes from the Chinese guides?
greetings!
Heidi

Quotes for Guide through China
 

Hi Heidi,

I have made some enquires about guide costs as follows, Liaa at Navo tours gave me a quotation for 13 days at CNY 40,000 and CNY 400 per person for any extra days, I thought that this was rather expensive so I contacted some people
that we met last January 2013 in Vientiane Laos that had just gone though China and they payed 2500 euros for 15 days from Sina.com and they say that they where very happy with the service they received.
We are traveling back to South East Asia (Flying not by road) next month for 4 months so I am hoping to meet up with them late May or early June and ask for more information about there trip from Switzerland to Thailand, I think after Thailand they are going on to Australia.

Dave

Hi Dave!

Let's keep in touch, you'll probably know more when you get back from SEA, meanwhile I'll keep my eyes and ears open and try to decide on my route...
Have a good trip next month!

Heidi

Time in China 2014
 

Hi Heidi,

Yes lets keep in touch and lets hope we get some more people interested, I will be spending time putting the trip together when I am in Asia for the next 4 months,then on my return late September we will have a better idea on the cost etc,but if you or anyone else thinking of joining us should have any ideas on what they would like to visit in China and for how long we should stay in China please let me know and then I can get a costing for that length of time.

Dave

Our proposed route
 

Hi,

We will be starting off mid to late March 2014, anyone thinking of joining us for any part of the trip this is our proposed route

UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania ,Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldavia,
Ukraine, (Moscow) Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Laos, Thailand

Dave

Hi Guys
I'm planning to leave UK end of April 2014..

heading all the way round, but the first bits are :

My initial route plan is as follows:

Section 1: Starting from the UK to Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Section 2: Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, KKH -> China, Pakistan, India, -> Nepal.

Section 3: Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.

before going onto the rest (that isn't important to you for this trip)
Section 4: Australia , New Zealand.

Section 5: : USA.

Cheers

Mark

China bit and Cambodia etc
 

Hi Mark,

I believe that when traveling though China all the party must start and finish at the same boarder IE we are going to enter China via Mongolia and exit China via Laos so we would not be able to use the same guide,however, I must say that I have not checked this out myself but that seems to be what is said on the net.
The Hungarian bit we have family that we would be going to visit then the Greek bit we were thinking of parking up in Athens for a few weeks and doing a bit of Greek Island hopping we would also like to visit Moscow, but other than that we have no definite plans other than we would like to be on the Chinese boarder around June time.
I see you are thinking of visiting Cambodia, well we did a trip into Cambodia last year starting at the far southern end and exited into Laos at the far northern end what a great trip,we then traveled up though Laos almost to the Chinese boarder then back into Thailand, that is the same Chinese boarder that we will be coming though on this next trip, I think if you are going to travel in South East Asia you should not miss the chance to see Laos, we visit Laos twice a year every year it is so lay back.
If you decided to change your trip round a bit IE China Laos Cambodia Thailand Malaysia, Indonesia,we would change our trip a bit to travel though Cambodia then into Thailand from the far south of Cambodia, it would mean you doing Pakistan India and Nepal etc after Turkey and then meeting us in Mongolia or on the boarder of China or something like that.

Dave.

That's interesting.. My initial idea was to take that route, but it seemed very difficult to achieve..My brother is living in HoChiMin city working as a teacher so that's my ultimate destination as far as that part of the trip goes.

I am planning on being in Melbourne for Christmas .. flying my daughter out to meet me as I have a mate who emigrated there a couple of years ago. Other than that my travel plans are pretty "fluid"

Just been reading up on the KKH and I had thought it was possible to get to it from Tajikistan, but it seems I might have been mistaken.

Still these little problems are sent to give us something to think about :)

Vietnam
 

Hi Mark,

Well I will wait to hear from you after you have had time to have a look at the maps etc, I see just one problem in that we can not go into Vietnam as our truck is a right hand drive and the Vietnam authorities will most certainly not let you drive a right hand drive vehicle in Vietnam,however,you would be able to ride your bike into Vietnam from Cambodia or from Laos without any problem as both countries border Vietnam,then into Malaysia via Thailand.

Dave

OK no problem. To be honest I prefer the idea of Crossing China if that is possible... I wanted to stay "on the ground" rather than have to air freight from Nepal to Bangkok, but you're the first person i have heard say driving across China is possible - Maybe I've just been looking in the wrong places lol

I'll keep in touch

Cheers

Mark
trackdayriders@gmail.com if you want to mail me direct

Hi Mark,

It is possible to cross China but the cost is expensive, the first quotation I got was £3500 for the guide for 15 days in China,however,I then got a quotation for £2500 for the same length of time, so if we could get a party of say 5 vehicles then we could share the cost.

Dave

Hi All

I am leaving on the 27th March 2014 (my 39th birthday) for a solo RTW trip.

Heidi and I are already in touch and I had kind of ruled out China due to cost, choosing instead to go via Iran and either Pakistan or Dubai to India and on to Thailand via Bhutan, Burma, Loas and Cambodia.

China would be amazing if it was at the right cost and so please do keep us informed.

Sounds like the makings of a party!! : 0 )

Regards
Stephbier
https://www.facebook.com/OneWomanOne...neWorld?ref=hl
http://stephmoto-adventurebikeblog.com/

Hi Steph,

Yes I would be only to pleased to keep you informed, We leave for South East Asia next week for 4 months (flying) and I will work on the details when I am there and let you both know the costings etc, I am hoping to meet up with a couple that we meet last January in South East Asia that are already on a RWT that are in Laos at the moment but are traveling though Thailand in the next few weeks and possibly going to stay with us at our home out there for a few days, so if that happens then they will be able to guide me in the right direction on costs etc.

Dave

This might sound a bit 'stupid'... but it starts feeling very real! (how can one get butterflies in the stomach about a motorcycle...:)
Talking with you all makes the planning feel more serious and fun at the same time. I just can't wait to start!!