Drive To China?

[steve__C]

Can you drive to China from Thailand in a private car?

cheers,

S

[jackr]

Probably not as they're a bit anal with foreigners driving over there by all accounts, unless one has a Chinese license, then there's the extra hassle of going through Laos and possibly Vietnam. Best to fly and book a hire car with driver me thinks

[Niloc]

I heard that there is a bus CM to China, takes about 30 hours I believe. I have been unable to find any details and would appreciate any assistance....

Colin

[konjianghai]

Actually the road from Laos to Jinghong/Yunnan is finish. About from CR this road distance were about 250-300 kms, am sorry i forget the exact kilometers.

Dont know about the driving licences, you can still contact this info in your local Khon Soong. If you have Thai driven licence i think you can drive up to southern China.

To Niloc, you want to travel there by a bus? I dont think there is a bus service that drive over there like normal schedule busses, you can only make bus trip with tour agency. There's 2 way to cross over into Laos at Chiang Khong, either by boat or tour bus/van. Its possible to rent private bus/van to Jinghong/Yunnan but i dont know on this.

If you want to go by yourself with the bus, maybe you should call some tour agency up either in CM itself or in CR, perhaps you can tag along without taking the travel package, maybe its possible but i rather think not really.

Edited October 25, 2008 by konjianghai

[el jefe]

I heard that there is a bus CM to China, takes about 30 hours I believe. I have been unable to find any details and would appreciate any assistance....

Colin

I've never heard of a bus from CM thru to China, but I can't understand how it would take 30 hours, unless you're going further than Kunming.

You can take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, about 6-7 hours and then take the ferry across to Houi Xai. From there it's about 4-6 hours by bus on the new road to Luang Namtha. I have no idea how to get from LNT to the Chinese border at Boten by public bus by from my experience the paperwork can take forever on each side of the border. Theoretically, you could be in China in under 16 hours. Once you clear customs on the Chinese side there are plenty of buses north.

A bus full of passengers all trying to get Lao visas and then Chinese visas all at the same time could take over 30 hours itself.

[john b good]

Where are you David (GTR)

[Niloc]

Where are you David (GTR) wai.gif...

Here you fool!!

[Pikey]

I was at the Boten border north of Luang Nam Tha last week on a Thai registered motorcycle (actually the checkpoint is 1km south) and the guards in no uncertain terms were not going to let me through. A mate has done it on a Chinese registered bike but I think it's either very difficult or impossible otherwise. I'd love to be proven wrong though

BTW, It's definitely worth going to Laos - a stunningly beautiful country with wonderful people.

Cheers,

Pikey.

Edited October 25, 2008 by Pikey

[vagabond48]

I was at the Boten border north of Luang Nam Tha last week on a Thai registered motorcycle (actually the checkpoint is 1km south) and the guards in no uncertain terms were not going to let me through. A mate has done it on a Chinese registered bike but I think it's either very difficult or impossible otherwise. I'd love to be proven wrong though

BTW, It's definitely worth going to Laos - a stunningly beautiful country with wonderful people.

Cheers,

Pikey.

I just got back from Northern Laos. I agree "stunningly beautiful country with wonderful people". I took my folding touring bicycle with me, though I used buses on the longer trips where the road was either verrrrry hilly like Huay Xa to Luang Nam Tha or poor like Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang.

I wonder if they would let a US citizen with a bicycle through. Btw, were the guards you refer to, Laotian or Chinese?

While I was in Muang Sing, I took a short ride to the Chinese checkpoint for a photo app but the Laotian guards would not let me go past their checkpoint. I guess the reason is that this border crossing is limited to locals.

[davidgtr]

Don't think the Chinese will just let you in with a Thai registered vehicle if you just rock up sat the border.

Bikes are a big NO NO nowadays, unless you can set it up in advance /with approval Chinese guide / insurance / rego / driving licence. I suspect something similar with cars too, but don't know. Drive Indochina are the real S E Asia experts on this, but they are only interested in selling you a complete package.

BTW The Boten / Mohan border looks like this

On the line looking into China

It looked like this in 95

On the line looking back into Laos

Regarding buses: Don’t know about a one-bus service from Chiang Mai, but there certainly are from Houei Xai & in Luang Prabang there are actually 2 Luang Prabang - Kunming bus stations.

There's no doubt the Chinese wave is coming. I saw a 30 car caravan of Chinese vehicles in Houei Xai 3 weeks ago, bound for Chiang Rai /Chiang Mai. Many of the new hotels / restaurants in N Laos are Chinese. The Chinese have the casino / hotel complex at Boten inside Laos.

The Chinese are building the casino opposite Chiang Saen.

The Chinese have the land in Xiang Maen opposite Luang Prabang for the new city

Road signs in the top north are going up in Chinese / Thai / English.

Depending on your viewpoint & which side of the fence you want to sit, it could be good or not so good.

Check out Re-mapping northern laos city maps for lots of photos of roads & places in Northern Laos in the last 3 weeks.

Also check out our Chiang Mai - China ride in 1995, when the roads weren't quite as good.

Edited October 25, 2008 by davidgtr

[el jefe]

I was at the Boten border north of Luang Nam Tha last week on a Thai registered motorcycle (actually the checkpoint is 1km south) and the guards in no uncertain terms were not going to let me through. A mate has done it on a Chinese registered bike but I think it's either very difficult or impossible otherwise. I'd love to be proven wrong though

BTW, It's definitely worth going to Laos - a stunningly beautiful country with wonderful people.

Cheers,

Pikey.

I just got back from Northern Laos. I agree "stunningly beautiful country with wonderful people". I took my folding touring bicycle with me, though I used buses on the longer trips where the road was either verrrrry hilly like Huay Xa to Luang Nam Tha or poor like Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang.

I wonder if they would let a US citizen with a bicycle through. Btw, were the guards you refer to, Laotian or Chinese?

While I was in Muang Sing, I took a short ride to the Chinese checkpoint for a photo app but the Laotian guards would not let me go past their checkpoint. I guess the reason is that this border crossing is limited to locals.

Vagabond, I've done at least half a dozen trips thru northern Laos on a bicycle. While I've never crossed from Laos into China, a group of 6 of us did it from China into Laos without a problem (other than the incredibly slow paperwork transfer procedures. I wouldn't try it on a motorized vehicle without permission in advance.

The road from Luang Namtha to Oudom Xai gets worse every year. The first time I did it, it was barely ride-able. The last time I did it I took a songthieuw for the last 30km. If I did it again I'd plan on public transportation all the way from Na Toey.

I've also ridden the new road from Houi Xai to Luang Namtha. That's one of my favorite roads. Just a couple of small hills and almost no traffic. It would be an easy 2 day trip if there was someplace to spend the night at the half way point bus since the only acommodations are in Don Choi and Vieng Phouka, we did it in three. Because we knew it would be 3 short, relatively easy days, we spent the first morning riding 40 km north along the Mekong frm Houi Xai and back again before heading on to Don Choi. Doing it that way, we arrived in Vieng Phouka and LMT in time for lunch each day.

I can't wait to go back after seeing all of David's photos.

[Pikey]

I can't wait to go back after seeing all of David's photos.

Here's a coupled of pics from near Luang Nam Tha from a couple of weeks ago to whet your appetite

We timed it perfectly as the rice was just about to "turn" and was a kind of glow-in-the-dark green - talk about a vibrant colour!

Cheers,

Pikey.

[imaneggspurt]

We have tried and never succeded to get in with a car or bike, we end up leaving them at the border and renting on the other side, they are paranoid about vehicles entering for some reason,.