Sharing costs to cross China from Mongolia to Laos Sep. Oct 2015

We are a couple with an Expedition truck planning to cross china overland  from Mongolia to Laos in 30 days. We prefer to start as late as possible in September or beginning of October so we will get to laos at the dry season that starts in November We are currently in Lake Baikal, Russia planning to go to Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia park our truck for the winter and return next year to resume our traveling. We would like to share the costs of the guide in China with other travels who intend to take the same route around the same time. The difference in cost is pretty significant if we do it together. Anybody?

Cheers Elisha

Hi and welcome,

Some else is looking for people to help with crossing China , but going the other way
http://www.4x4overlandtravel.com/t1718-the-stans-china-and-russia-2015

We hope to do it, but in 2016, we are doing Morocco next April.

Thanks Roamingman.
I have seen it but as you mentioned they are doing it from south to north and we are already north of China.

Enjoy Moroco
Cheers Elisha

We could go Mongolia Laos, but we need to think about where to ship from once in Laos - We want to ship to the US

As it happens, a young lady by the name of Laura Pattara just contacted me with some rather interesting information about overlanding in China. Basically, together with her husband they have just completed what seems to be the first independent and guide-free traverse of China, and that is legally and with the full approval of a local agent.

Certainly not newbies at this overlanding lark, they previously travelled 8 years around the world in a 1965 Landy (which is when she first came across "your very useful forum" - her words not mine!!!) and are now into their 2nd year of a Germany to Australia motorbike trip. Yep, they traded in 4 wheels for 2 and she's been asking herself why? ever since.

See her blog at http://laurastraveltales.com/overlanding-china-self-drive-and-without-a-guide-its-now-possible to find out about overlanding in China.

Thanks for that Laura, I'm sure it will be of benefit to the readers.

Thanks Tom, yes have had a couple of people point me to this link - looks amazing but a little nervous as we are newbie overlanders - however that said we won't be put off and going to look into logistics etc. So watch this space!
Suzanne

Hi everyone!

Thank you Tom, both for sharing our wonderful news AND for allowing a motorbike imposter like me (surely 2x2 wheels=4x4?) to join your lovely family.
Yes, it’s true...I still pine for our Matilda at times, sigh sigh A tent is nice but it is never ‘home’ as you can imagine.

Anyway, after the influx of emails, I’ve decided to compose two more blog posts about our independent China crossing.

Part 1: what you need to know BEFORE you go is online now. Please click on the link Tom shared and look for the updated post (I am a forum newbie so can't post links!)

Part 2 will follow soon...

Dear Suzanne, I actually read your comment last night and it spurred a last-minute edit this morning. There is a whole paragraph dedicated to overlanding newbies

I know that it may seem daunting at first, to contemplate an independent China crossing when you are still at home. But TRUST ME on this: as long as you don’t ship your 4WD to the border, but rather drive it there from home, you will have amassed enough experience and confidence to be able to tackle it.

When Chris first suggested riding motorbikes to Australia, it was over breakfast one morning and I nearly choked on my coffee. Seriously! I had NEVER ridden a big bike and he wanted me to ride it 40,000km to Australia!!?? Was he nuts?! But I’d been travelling, in one way or another, for almost 8 years and I knew that however daunting it seemed at first, I just needed to concentrate on the first few steps. China scared the bejesus out of me just thinking about it 2 years ago. But there you have it. I’ve ridden 30,000kms, fallen over countless times and can now ride my girl with my eyes closed. Sort of.
So go for it! Plan, get excited, get scared and just dive right in! By the time you get to the exit border of China you’ll be thinking ‘what on earth was I afraid of?’

Cheers from me
Laura

Thanks Laura73 and Tom for this information, will get reading the blog, being interested in going and also reserching China for 4 years, hopefully going within the next 2 years,

An official welcome Laura & Chris from yours truly.

As they say ... thanks for sharing!