see the interesting china posts on the southern asia forum

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Vincent Danna

* www.va-project.com
Sept 2008 - dec 2009 : Voyage et art contemporain en Amérique du sud.

* http://vincent.danna.free.fr/
2002 - 2004 : Un tour du monde en moto.

Hi, I rode from Kashgar to Sary Tash about one month ago. The road from Kashgar is all good bitumen except for one washed out section (just a river crossing) which has probably been repaired by now. However, the other side is a different story. From memory it's about 70 or 80kms to Sary Tash and apart from a few kms of bitumen (they're working on it) the road is a dirt/gravel track with some pretty rough sections (deep rutts). Just ride slow and take some travel sickness pills and you'll be fine. I was on a KLR650 and it took about 3hrs to get to Sary Tash. I wouldn't like to try this in the wet or snow though.

hello adrian,
how did you manage to enter china ? from where , officially (with guide etc ...) or unofficially ?
cheers, happy trails

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Vincent Danna

* www.va-project.com
Sept 2008 - dec 2009 : Voyage et art contemporain en Amérique du sud.

* http://vincent.danna.free.fr/
2002 - 2004 : Un tour du monde en moto.

Hi - I entered officially with the help of Caravan Cafe and had a guide and driver.

I entered at TaCheng from Kazakhstan (not a common entry point).

I've written a blog about it at;

www.users.bigpond.net.au/AdrianScott

see Trip Reports and there are some photos too.

I did consider just turning up and trying to enter but I didn't have time to mess around if it didn't work out given my overall journey timeframe (i.e. 3 months from Magadan to Istanbul).

hello, i keep receiving emails from this company : http://www.edelweiss.elcat.kg/
maybe, they can be usefull.
good luck,

__________________
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Vincent Danna

* www.va-project.com
Sept 2008 - dec 2009 : Voyage et art contemporain en Amérique du sud.

* http://vincent.danna.free.fr/
2002 - 2004 : Un tour du monde en moto.

me too. They send email christmas cards en masse. They can help with CHina-Kyrgyzstan travel and I think they are based in Bishkek. Anyone used them?

I recently spoke to the Chinese Embassy here in London and they said that I would be unable to ride in China. Ideally I would like to try and ride from Mongolia through to Hong Kong. Has anyone got any suggestions, ideas, contacts, etc

Ken

Greg at the Caravan Cafe in Kashgar organised my trip thru China and it was all above board and worked out well for me as it was part of a bigger trip across Asia. You can contact them via www at www.caravancafe.com

I wrote about my trip, including China and photos at

www.users.bigpond.net.au/AdrianScott

any questions let me know.

Adrian

Well, we are now in South Asia, and we ended up going through Central Asia, China and into Pakistan per my original post and I can say that it was an amazing experience!

Greg from Caravan Cafe organized the China portion of the trip and was very helpful and professional the entire time. We had no trouble organizing everything between us online.

The only advice I have is this...don't go too late in the year...we had to load the bike into a truck over both the Torugart and Khunjerab passes due to heavy snow and ice on the roads. This was in mid to late October. If you are planning on taking this route, get into Pakistan prior to October 1.

Putting your bike on a truck over an international border crossing can be quite expensive as there is usually some paperwork and bureaucracy involved. And the normal cargo trucks crossing borders are usually full and have no room for a bike, so these are not really an option.

The original cost to arrange the paperwork, permissions and guide ended up costing around $1100usd, but the extra cost of trucking the bikes through the snow ended up costing an extra $500.

Not cheap, but going through Central Asia was an unbelievable experience and one I can highly recommend for anyone seeking a route that's off the beaten path.

We will have more information on our HU blog sometime in the near future...

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Dave
www.mototrekker.com

[This message has been edited by davidmc (edited 12 January 2006).]

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Dave McMillan
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mcmillan/

Hi
I am planning to ride with my friends from Nepal-Lhasa-Golmud-Gansu Province to Inner Mongolia and cross over to Mongolia till Ulan Batar.

Has anyone donethis route, any advise and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Can anyone recommend a Travel company in China who can arrange paperworks and logistics.

Cheers

Drukasia

How many times I need for way from Kyrgystan (Bischek) to Pakistan (Gilgit or Rawalpindi) across China?
Thansk you for answer!

Beba- when do You want to go?
We want start around 5 July ,ride thru Ukraine,Rusia,Kazachstan,Kirgistan,China(Irkischta m pass,Kashgar,KKH),Pakistan,iran,Turkey and back to Poland.
3 riders from Poland,on Africa Twin,BMW 1100 and DR 650.
+/- 15 000 km and 6 weeks.
I was last year there(not by bike),but this time I want to go on My motorcycle and ride KKH.
Maybe We can go together thru China,maybe will be cheaper arange parmissions and guide?
How meny riders in Your team?

Unless you want to have a mind-knumbing experience through China then I suggest you try real hard to not get or use a guide. That may sound a bit hard but guides are such a drag. Western China is a wild place and potential stomping ground! Once inside China the police don't usualy care. As an individual or member of a small group it is possible to pull up to a remote border, make chummy chummy with guards and they'll let you through. A little passing out of cigarettes never hurts either.

As always though I think the reason why it's not consistent and there are no clear rules is because there basically are no clear rules. How easy or difficult sometimes just depends on who you meet or what time you show up. Are they busy? Are they bored? Round and round spins the wheel of fortune!

If you go there lookin' like money though...they'z prolly gonna rake you over the coalz! CHA CHING! Be sure you're lookin' all fugged up by the time you get there.

CC

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Hi James

Did you ever make the crossing from kyrgystan to China?

Would be great to hear how you got on as planning trip from UK to India via China next April.

Cheers

Martin

I did it last year. Cost loads in China for guides etc.
With the recent killing of 10 police in Kashgar by Muslim terrorists/extremists/freedom fighters, (call them what you will), I can only presume it will be even harder or impossible to "sneek" in with your bike.

My blog is at bikerbytes.com/txp

Great place if you can get in though.

John

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