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The four UK vans and the three French vans are currently detained
by the police in Xigaze (between Lhasa and the Nepal border) because our
vehicle documents are out of date.
As we have been delayed by the road conditions in Tibet we have
known for more than three weeks that our vehicle documents (vehicle
registration, road-tax and driving licences) would expire before we were able
to leave China. We have drawn this fact to the attention of both
China Swan and China
Comfort.
During our recent enforced stay in Lhasa this problem was solved
by China Swan, or so we thought.
Below are three e-mails recently sent by us to China Swan and
China Comfort seeking clarification of the position. No reply has been received
to any of them.
E-Mail Sent on the 21st of October 2002.
This e-mail is to put in writing the current position and to
ensure that the information provided by China Swan to us via "Gong" and "Simon"
has been correctly received.
The current position (18:00 on Sunday the 20th of October 2002)
is that all four English vans and all three French vans are in Lhasa and are
ready to leave for Nepal.
Charges.
We have been told that we must pay to the local authorities in
Lhasa, via Simon:-
- 450 Yuan ($56USA) per vehicle for the retrospective
permission to use the N317.
(Please note that we have already paid 50 Yuan
($6USA) per person in Changdu and 200 Yuan ($25USA) per person in Nagqu to the
police for "permission" to use this road.)
- 590 Yuan ($74USA) per vehicle to extend all our vehicle and
driver related documents for 30 days (i.e. vehicle registration, road tax, and
drivers licence etc.)
We have been told that we must pay to our guide(s) on exit to
Nepal:-
- $50USA per guide per day from the 10th of October to the
date of exit.
We have been told that we will have to pay direct to the
Chinese authorities on the border:-
- $100USA per vehicle.
Please can you:-
- Confirm that these are all the payments we
should need to make before we leave China.
- Explain the purpose of the $100USA payment.
Guides.
We understand that Gong is leaving us tomorrow. Because we are
now traveling as a single group and because Simon speaks very good English
(better than Gong) we do not need a replacement guide for the
remainder of our trip.
Route.
Our route shows us going from Lhasa to Gyanze. We are told that
this road is no longer in use and that there is a new road from Lhasa to Nyemo
and then on to Xigaza. This is the route we intend to take.
(The local busses now go to Gyanze via Nyemo and Xigaza).
Simon has told us that we should use the Nyemo route, can you
confirm this?
E-Mail Sent on the 22nd of October 2002.
This e-mail is to put in writing the current position and to
ensure that the information provided by China Swan to us via "Simon" has been
correctly received.
The current position (12:00 on Tuesday the 22th of October 2002)
is that all four English vans and all three French vans are still in Lhasa and
remain ready to leave for Nepal.
More than three weeks ago on the 29-9-2002 we
e-mailed China Swan to say:- "...we would therefore like China Swan to arrange
a 30 (thirty) day extension to our visas (for 13 persons) and the relevant
vehicle documents (7 vehicles). We appreciate that there will be a charge for
this as detailed in the contract."
Nearly two weeks ago Simon and one of the
French vans arrived in Lhasa, but nothing was done about extending our vehicle
documents.
Nearly a week ago Gong and the remaining 6 vans
arrived in Lhasa, but nothing was done about extending our vehicle
documents.
Yesterday (Monday the 21-10-2002) Simon
informed us that he intended to start the process of extending
our vehicle documents and that this could take up to a week of elapsed time and
that we must remain in Lhasa until the process is complete!
As you are aware the road from Lhasa to Katmandu is over 5200
meters in elevation and is liable to be closed to our type of vehicle, due to
snow, any time now.
Please can you:-
- Explain why China Swan waited till yesterday to start the
process of extending our vehicle documents when it has been clear for at least
three weeks that this would be necessary.
- Do anything possible to speed up the process of extending
our documents and/or get us permission to set off for the border whilst the
documents are processed.
E-Mail Sent on the 24th of October 2002.
This e-mail is to put in writing the current position and to
ensure that the information provided by China Swan to us via "Simon" has been
correctly received.
The current position (20:45 on Thursday the 24th of October
2002) is that all four English vans and all three French vans are in Xigaze and
we are detained by the police.
Last night Simon announced that he had all the required
paperwork for us to leave Lhasa and travel to the Nepal border. On this basis
we left Lhasa at 07:30 today.
Whilst leaving Xigaze at 17:25 we were stopped, in an apparently
routine police check, and our out-of-date driving licences, vehicle
registration and road tax documents were collected by the police.
We have been told to remain in town.
Can you confirm that China Swan have already extended these
documents and that you will convince the Xigaze police of this as soon as
possible. |