Crossing China - again!

[Jelle]

My friend and I have been planning the Oz Rally for some time and of course China is the biggest hurdle.
We have been emailing a different company each and today one of them dropped a bombshell that they will need a deposit per car of up to £4,000 for a small SUV!!! This will be returned after the cars exit China.

Has anyone else heard of this? I'm deeply suspicious, everytime he emails there seems to be an additional cost, the last one being that he insists on having 2 guides, rather than just himself as initially agreed.

Our other guide hasn't mentioned it and I've just asked him indirectly about deposits for the trip.

I'd be so grateful if anyone can shed some light! I've been trawling the forum and never seen this additional cost mentioned.

[Redboots]

Originally Posted by Jelle

We have been emailing a different company each and today one of them dropped a bombshell that they will need a deposit per car of up to £4,000 for a small SUV!!! This will be returned after the cars exit China.

Has anyone else heard of this?

In 2007, we were told we needed RMB 10,000 as a deposit for 2 bikes - 5K each.
This was AFTER we entered China. We just told the guy to piss of as we did not have that money. In the end, the AGENT paid it. This seems to be the best solution as they then have a vested interest in keeping you happy and making sure the exit is all in order. Maybe they can sign it off as a bond, rather than cash.

The problem we could see, was that we would stump up the RMB 10k in Korgos which is a largish town and then try to get this back at Tashkorgan which is just an outpost town... would customs there have had the money to give us? You guess.

They need to sign-up to the Carnet system if they want to do deposits.

John

[Jelle]

Thanks John, thats very very helpful!