China - 2014 (1 Viewer)

UKMotorhomes

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Anyone interested?

We are finalising the arrangements for our self-drive trip to China in 2014 and are looking for others to join us in this adventure! To share the cost of the obligatory tour guide in China and for the journey there and back.

The route is now settled, we are travelling with the Chinese agency NAVO (see Link Removed) and will be entering China in the first week of July from Kyrgyzstan at the Torugart Pass and spending at least 30 days crossing the country, exiting to Mongolia at Erenhot. Exact number of days to be agreed.

We have a 4x4 camper and are looking for others with similar vehicles to join us at least for the China section. 4x4 not essential!

The cost of the guide for China depends on the number of participants (and or course the exchange rate), it should be between GBP2500 and GBP3400

Contact us if interested!

Andy
 

Pat4Neil

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Hi Andy
Wish we could come, but were heading of to the Americas, or we might even be going to New zealand first.

Have you tried Horizons unlimited and expedition portal, although mainly bikers there is a 4 x 4 section. (i think you already have tried that avenue.)

Regards
Pat
 

sue & dave

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Sounds exciting

Hope you get people to join you it sounds very exciting, unfortunately work beckons 17th Feb to 17th November.

We will wait with baited breath to read all about your trip on hear Hopefully.

Sue & Dave :thumb:

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UKMotorhomes

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Hi Andy
Wish we could come, but were heading of to the Americas, or we might even be going to New zealand first.

Have you tried Horizons unlimited and expedition portal, although mainly bikers there is a 4 x 4 section. (i think you already have tried that avenue.)

Regards
Pat
Yes, we are on most of the overland forums - plenty of people wanting to cross China into Laos but that route is not for us.

Andy
 
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UKMotorhomes

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Andy, have you tried the Silk route group - http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/ - they have specialised in this type of thing for years. You should be able to link up with others doing the trip easily here.
Yes, we've been members for a while, there are a couple of other members that we might be able to hook up with for China but nothing definite at the moment.

Andy

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UKMotorhomes

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I've just posted some more detail in another place, copied here too:

Hi all, thanks for the interest in our little adventure.

The cost quoted is per vehicle (assuming 1 driver and 1 passenger). NAVO need a minimum of 2 vehicles to run the tour, the more there are the cheaper the per vehicle cost.

NAVO need a 50% deposit when the tour is agreed and booked, which must be around 3 months in advance of the entry date into China. The balance is payable a minimum of 1 month before the entry date.

The price covers:

All the Permits needed.
Entry and exit process.
Temporary license/plate for both vehicle and driver.
Fluent English-speaking tour guide accompany the whole tour.
TOUR GUIDE Transportation, accommodation, and meal both for
preparation time and your travelling time.
Necessary insurance for both vehicles and driver.
VEHICLE DEPOSIT for CIQ process (customs guarantee).

It does not cover:

Accommodations and meals.
Entrance tickets for sights.
Vehicle cost: fuel, road toll, traffic accident compensation, repairing cost, spare part and parking etc.
Tips: If guests are satisfied with the tour guide, they suggest a group give guide tips about 150RMB-250RMB per day.
Personal expenses.


We are just trying to put a group together, individual participants will be responsible for making their booking with NAVO and organising their own route to and from China. We will be happy to make a loose arrangement to meet up along the way, particularly for Mongolia, which, depending on the chosen route, can be a little challenging.

Chinese regulations require that self-drive groups enter the county together, stay together whilst in China and stick to an agreed itinerary, and then leave the county together.

We have a 7.5 tonne Mercedes 814DA 4x4 camper truck but the whole route can be tackled in a well prepared standard European motorhome. Any with low ground clearance or long rear overhangs might have difficulty in a few places and would be restricted to a direct south to north crossing of Mongolia.

If anyone is seriously interested we would love to hear from them - direct email is preferable: andy@bm-services.co.uk

Please do look at the NAVO website ( Link Removed ), we have been corresponding with Melinda and she will be happy to answer any queries about the tour.

Andy
 

Vinomog

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G'day Andy,

We looked at the route through China to Lao for getting back to Oz but gave up because of the "guide", the cost and the bureaucracy. We're now heading for Vladivostok and then ferry to S Korea for shipping home. In Italy at the moment but envisage being in Greece at end February.

How are you getting to Krgyzstan? We're planning to go from Turkey into Georgia and then get the ferry from Azerbaijan to Turkemenistan and then Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia (at the crossing in the Altai), back into Russia south of Irkutsk and then across Siberia. If any part of your planned route coincides let me know. PM me and we can look at dates etc.

Good luck with China. I spent the best part of 20 years in Hong Kong and China and it's just got worse since 1985. The driving is horrendous and the motorway tolls make France look cheap. Mongolia is fascinating. I crossed it in a Chinese jeep many moons ago but that's another story.

Lawrence

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UKMotorhomes

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Hi Lawrence,

What's your timings for Turkey through to Uzbekistan? We want to cross into China around the first week in July.

We have considered 3 potential routes:

1) Eastern Europe > Russia > Kazakhstan > Kyrgyzstan
2) Turkey > Iran > Turkmenistan > Uzbekistan > Kyrgyzstan
3) Turkey > Georgia > Azerbaijan > Turkmenistan > Uzbekistan > Kyrgyzstan

1) is the easiest, and is the route we will probably take even though it means having to get an expensive multiple entry business visa for Russia.
2) involves getting a Carnet de Passage for Iran which adds about £1000 to the cost.
3) Means crossing the Caspian on the cargo ferry from Baku to Turkmenbashi. It doesn't run to a schedule, it goes when it's full. This creates problems when you get to Turkmenistan as your pre-arranged transit visa is for set dates, so if you end up waiting a few days for the ferry and the crossing takes longer than average, you might find that your visa has almost expired by the time you get to Turkmenistan.

Andy
 

Snowbird

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Jeeez, that appeals to me. God willing count me in. As long as you are in no hurry and dont want to travel more than 500 kms per day we are up for it. Have done Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and down to Saudi overland, the furthest east I have been was Doha and although am now getting past the prime of life am now up for most things legal.

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UKMotorhomes

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Jeeez, that appeals to me. God willing count me in. As long as you are in no hurry and dont want to travel more than 500 kms per day we are up for it. Have done Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and down to Saudi overland, the furthest east I have been was Doha and although am now getting past the prime of life am now up for most things legal.

Send me a PM with your email address and I'll forward some more details.

Same applies to anyone else seriously interested.

Andy
 

DBK

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...involves getting a Carnet de Passage for Iran which adds about £1000 to the cost.

Where are you getting your carnets from? I've just checked with the RAC and they want roughly 50% of the value of the vehicle up front with a 50% refund of that amount when you return, i.e. you pay 25% of the vehicle's value if all goes well. For a new vehicle like mine that would make the journey impossible.

http://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/driving-abroad/carnet-prices.aspx
 

Vinomog

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Iran is the only country on any of the possible routes that requires a CDP. None of the others, including China, requires one. See http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/get-ready/paperwork/carnet-de-passages-en-douanes-list-of-countries.

Iran requires an indemnity of 470%, yes 470%, of the value of the vehicle and Iranian customs will determine the value. This is why we chose, reluctantly, to miss out Iran when planning our trip.

I don't know about the UK, but in Oz (our truck is Oz registered) we could get insurance for the CDP at a cost of 2% of the indemnity value which does away with need for deposits of any kind. In our case this would have cost us about €8,000 for 2 weeks! I imagine this insurance cover is available in the UK.

I believe Andy is intending to go on route 1 in his message of 16 Dec so no need for a CDP.

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Tootles

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MY GOD, you lot are bloody brave! I wish I had the guts to do stuff like that. Hope all goes well for you.
 

DBK

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Sad really, I would love to go to Iran. I have read several accounts of people cycling there and they have been overwhelmed by the friendliness of the locals. Stinking government notwithstanding it sounds a very interesting place to go.

Years ago I got quite far planning an overland trip to Iran, primarily to visit the Zagros Mountains to try and find a reported canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon. All was fine, except for my timing. We were going to go in 1979 and a certain gentlemen living in Paris at the time had his own plans for a trip to Iran!

It will have to be the bike if I am ever to go now.
 
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Sad really, I would love to go to Iran. I have read several accounts of people cycling there and they have been overwhelmed by the friendliness of the locals. Stinking government notwithstanding it sounds a very interesting place to go.

Years ago I got quite far planning an overland trip to Iran, primarily to visit the Zagros Mountains to try and find a reported canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon. All was fine, except for my timing. We were going to go in 1979 and a certain gentlemen living in Paris at the time had his own plans for a trip to Iran!

It will have to be the bike if I am ever to go now.

Cousin of mine cycled from Cairo to Capetown in an organised group some years ago. He was 65 at the time, fit git. BUSBY:Smile:

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Peter_n_Margaret

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http://epicycles.com/
This is a blog of some friends who are on their way home from Europe to Oz at the moment. They are currently in western India.

There is a lot of good information on visas, carnets and China guides etc.
They generally travel alone.

We recently spent 4 weeks (out of our 10 weeks there) with them in Turkey.

Cheers,
Peter
 

Vinomog

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Thanks for the link Peter, had a quick look and it will be a very interesting read. Hope to get some tips from it. Talking of tips, we're planning to spend a few weeks in Turkey and would be grateful for any info. We'll probably go from Istanbul along the Black Sea coast before crossing into Georgia.

Lawrence
 

DBK

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Cousin of mine cycled from Cairo to Capetown in an organised group some years ago. He was 65 at the time, fit git. BUSBY:Smile:
Not surprising it was an organised trip, that would be very difficult to do on your own. Helen Lloyd cycled down the west of Africa on her own, apart from two short bits where it was impossible but there are some seriously disturbed places on the eastern side.
Oops, sorry to hi-jack the thread!

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Peter_n_Margaret

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Thanks for the link Peter, had a quick look and it will be a very interesting read. Hope to get some tips from it. Talking of tips, we're planning to spend a few weeks in Turkey and would be grateful for any info. We'll probably go from Istanbul along the Black Sea coast before crossing into Georgia.

Lawrence
We stayed out of the big cities...
We drove along the Black Sea coast (going west) from just east of Trabzon to Bartin. Took about 10 days for 1,000km.
Much of that route is very pretty and very slow (30kph average). Other sections have been spoiled by road works.
There is much more tourism along the coast, so free camping is more difficult, but there is some.

Cheers,
Peter
 
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UKMotorhomes

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Hi all, sorry I've not been around for a while but a message on another forum has prompted me to give a bit of an update. We've had several changes of plan but ultimately we are going!

Delays in getting our truck ready means that we will not be ready to leave the UK till July. Currently we have a loose arrangement to meet up with an America couple, who have a 4x4 camper, in Kyrgyzstan at the end of August and travel with them through China to Mongolia over about 33 days. This will need to be finalised/confirmed by mid May at the latest.

We then intend to cross Mongolia over around 20 days and either head back through Russia to Europe or possibly down through the 'stans to Iran and Turkey to spend the winter in southern Turkey or Greece.

We are still looking for others to join in any or all of the trip - 4x4 is not essential, depending on the route taken. PM me!

Andy
 

roamingman

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All ways wanted to go to China, I have been in touch with the company you are using, and they do sound good, very nearly went last year but plans changed,
will not be this year, might try for next year if any one else fancies it.
My cousin and partner cycled around the world, he was 65 she was 59, he is in his 70's and they still go out most days.

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