to Alexlebrit:
Hi, Also, I´m in my 4x4, and want to get Mongolia on Agost, 1st to watch the total eclipse.
So, it´ll be nice to match cross the China border together to share guide cost.
Please, stay in contact, I´m thinking to departure from Spain next June, may be to join in route.


[

I am up for sharing a guide and all the assorted BS paperwork as well. I am in Djibouti now (with Robboxrv) waiting for the bloody Yemese visa and then the boat.
Plan is to be in Mongolia August, and south through China to Laos.
I am on a motorbike.
Will watch this thread for any updates..
cheerio

__________________
Go slow, be well.

This came through my inbox today:

Suggested itinerary:

Day 01 Arrival Day
Drive into China through Erlian-hot Pass. Our guide will greet you at the customs and help you to deal with border police and customs declaration. Then you can drive to Jining. Overnight in Jining.

Day 02 Jining / Datong
Enjoy the Yungang Grottoes and the others.

Day 03. Datong / Beijing
Visit the Great Wall before driving into the Beijing city.

Day 04-05 City Sightseeing
During the city sightseeing, we will offer a car for you because it is very difficult to park your cars. During these two days, our guide will show you the Tian-An-Men Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Olympic Game venues and the others.

Day 06 Beijing / East Imperial Tombs of Qing Dynasty ( Jixian)
You will drive on hilly area to East Imperial Tombs of Qing Dynasty via east suburb of Beijing and Jixian where you can also visit another pass of the Great Wall. Overnight in Jixian after visiting the tombs.

Day 07 Jixian / Tianjin Port.
Today you will drive to the port and hand over your vehicles to the Customs for shipping.

Day 08 Tianjin Port / Beijing by train.
Overnight in Beijing

Day 09 Departure Day.

Quotation:

$4500US per person based on two sharing room including permits, one English speaking guide, customs declaration fee, vehicle and personal documents’ translation fee, hotel accommodation(Beijing, Tianjin Port &. Datong are 4*hotel, others are 3*hotel), vehicle checking, compulsory vehicle traffic insurance fee, travel injury insurance fee, road toll, parking fee, driving permits, vehicles’ number tags, sightseeing tickets & company service fee.

Aside from not being able to find the Erlian-hot Pass on any of my maps, and so not even knowing if this is the right entry point, it seems a bit over the top to me. Also 4* hotels are really not my thing (well OK one night in Beijing to scrub up might be nice). So now I'm in the wittling down process.

__________________

Wow - they're not shy about asking for cash are they? At that price I am out. I agree with your comments about 4* hotels. If they are working for us surely we can talk about which hotels we would like to stay at?

And I am not clear about the exit - do we have to ship the bikes (cars) by sea out of china?

Thanks for doing this leg work.
Cheers,
Rene

__________________
Go slow, be well.

I've mailed back to ask for how that price breaks down in terms of

• paperwork - visas, permits, plates etc
• accomodation
• guide

I did explain how it was perhaps just a little over-budget, and also a small query as to why the price didn't seem to get slightly cheaper for more vehicles (bikes, cars, buggies etc), and pointing out that personally as I'd have been sleeping in tents almost all the way from Scotland, I might not need a 4* hotel (apart from maybe one night as a reward in Beijing).

The shipping out bit is more specific to our trip which in theory finishes in Beijing itself, and from there the buggies will be shipped back to France, so I wouldn't worry about that. I'd asked for assistance to the port (Tianjin), but we're also looking at the possibility of bunging the buggies in a 20' container in Beijing and either having it transported to the port, or alternatively by rail on the Trans-Manchurian/Siberian line, back to Europe.

Obviously if people want to go further on, well I'm sure something can be arranged. Or perhaps it's worthwile taking the risk and "going it alone" from the capital.

__________________