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:)