Prices
These are very unique trips. You are with a grassland Mongolian girl who speaks fluent Chinese and good English. Her native language is Mongolian. Not people who speak no Mongolian.
We have listed some itinerarys, but it is much better if you tell me what you want. Hotels? Yurts? Sight seeing? Only the grasslands?
History? Snow shoeing? Cross Country Skiing? Treking? Motorcycles? Bicycles? Horse riding? Relaxing? Cooking? What cities?
You may not know what to ask. Just tell me what you do know and I will craft an itinerary for you.
What ever you want. I can then craft a price for you.
The price drops dramatically if you stay only in a yurt on the grasslands, do not have a car everyday (only transportation to the grasslands and back), have no guide (me), trek and hike only (no horses, bikes, or motorcycles), etc.
On the grasslands in a yurt is less expensive. If I do not go ( no guide) the cost drops. Food? You can 'ala carte' or I can give you a price for all.
So I know you want to know prices, but I must know how many people, how long, where do you want to stay, and so on.
On average count on the costs listed below.
Dress casually. Jeans and a T-Shirt is fine. A man I know wears green nylon travelling pants and a T-Shirt.
After August it is cool. Bring a jacket. A flashlight is always useful, especially on the grasslands.
If you knew the "Red Tape" getting to some places, you would be amazed. We will stay some places where government officials love to come and sing Karaoke. Nara sings Mongolian songs, and red tape melts away.
We will insulate you from many of the hardships of coming here, but if you want to go elsewhere in China or Inner Mongolia, just ask and be prepared for a totally independent trip. Usually you will have a very comfortable room with hot water. Only in the deep country will you possibly have a small room with cold water. On the grasslands there is no bathing except a bucket of cold water. The food maybe different, but you will still LOVE it. There is no Western food. If the hotels do not give toilet paper, ask, ask. ask. If you do not have a hot pot to make hot water, ask, ask, ask.
You will need to wash your clothes every week or so. We will try to stay two days in a place, so wash soon so clothes have time to dry. If you ask, ask, ask, someone will wash your clothes.
If you want to teach some English, fine. We will pass through a small town where friends have an English school. If you just want to visit, OK. No problem. China, Mongolia, and similar places have been isolated for a long time, so English schools abound. You will find that you will provide needed pronunciation and can meet Han and Mongolian kids.
China is changing with blinding speed. The old is going. If you came to these places five years ago, they were very different. For example, in ManZhoLi we will eat at our favorite Russian restaurant. Five years ago there was a rickety bridge leading to it. Now the bridge is solid. Five years ago there were only streets with cars. Now, there are walking streets with no cars.
Chinese hotels are much noisier than Western hotels. Be prepared. Talking is often yelling. Doors are often open.
Ear plugs are highly recommended. You cannot get ear plugs in China.
With enough notice we can usually get a 4 or 5 star hotel, but understand you will be isolated. In Hailar our hotel has Mongolians, but is only 3 star. The 4 or 5 star hotel does not. There is a surcharge of US$50.00 for a 4 star hotel and US$75.00 for a 5 star hotel. The differences include nicer rooms, more quiet, elevators, room service, INTERNET cables, and isolation from the city. If you want the guide to stay in the same hotel, you will have a double surcharge. The rooms we have chosen are nice, but not 4 or 5 star.
The same is with meals. We or the hotel, will provide breakfast. We will provide dinner, usually something Western people will like. For lunch, you pay. We may go to a "hole in the wall" Mongolian noodle restaurant, but in larger cities you can bring chicken hamburgers. In smaller towns, there is bread, jam, cream, corn, tea, Coke, as well as a plethora of Chinese and Mongolian food. You will never go hungry. Vegetarians are welcome and fine. Nara can cook vegetables if you want easily.
One thing I hate is meeting a guide in a city, then flying to another city and meeting another guide. Then taking a bus to another city and meeting a third guide. You never feel comfortable with a guide. People do this to save costs, but there is a big negative. On these trips, you meet Nara in Beijing or Hailar and she takes you herself to all these places, and back to Beijing or the Hailar airport. She definitely knows more than "local" guides, as she has been to all these places many times only to find the "good" places.
One thing you will find out about some guides is that they sometimes do not know the "good" places are, and definitely do not know what Western tourists like. The official guidebooks for guides to these places are dismal. They commonly list "tourist" places.
Beijing is different. The guidebooks are good.
Be wary of guide costs. Many guides are a "loss leader'. You can fairly easily get English speaking guides for Rmb 200 to 300 per day, but these guides may arrange cars at Rmb 1,000 per day. Horse riding at Rmb 1,000 per day. "Cheap" hotels at Rmb 500 per day. Such guides will not take a bus, stay in cheap Rmb 50 cubicle hotels without water, private toilet, or shower, not eat country food, and may not speak Mongolian. Unless the guide speaks FLUENT Mongolian, horse riding will be in a tourist compound and prices are fixed and expensive. You take it or leave it. The same with hotels. Take a Rmb 500 "cheap" hotel room or have no room. No bargaining. You may think you can bargain with guide arranged services, but don't count on it. If you do it yourself, yes. Maybe you will be luckier.
You are better off getting a knowledgeable guide who knows costs, the "good" places, and where to ride horses on the vast grasslands, not in a tourist compound.
On "average", our costs are:
US$200.00 per day for one person for short trips of a day or two,
US$150.00 per person per day for two persons for intermediate trips of three or four days, and
US$120.00 per person per day for 3 to 6 persons for longer trips of say four days and more. Six or so persons maximum. Longer trips of one to two weeks are cheaper.
Costs can be lower depending on what you want.
Customized trips are around $130.00 to $200.00 per day per person for a group of six or so persons. This includes everything. including a guide, car, food, etc.
Write to get exact details. So, you see, costs vary widely. Guide? Hotel? Mongolian tent? Toursist place? Country? Driving long distance?
The cheapest is having no guide and speaking Chinese and going only by yourself, staying only on the grasslands in a Mongolian tent, no driving, having no shower of bath (a nice shower house is two to three hours away), using only an outhouse (withn a Western toilet set into it), amd living in the country. However, horse riding, hiking, visiting local families, and seeing local life is unlimited.
One of the biggest costs is transportation. With more people, we can get a larger car. Although more expensive, the cost per person drops. This is why customized tours for six or so persons is more cost effective. Luxurious vans cannot take the grassland dirt roads.
I know this may not add up, so write for an exact quote. There are too many variables. Some may want Western food, whereas others many want a whole sheep with Mongolian milk tea.
Staying only on the grasslands in a Mongolian Tent and riding a horse is about half that cost. No sightseeing.
Short trips are more expensive.
Only one to three days is most expensive.
Contact us for an exact quote taking into account all variables including where you want to stay, how many persons, and how long.
You can count on costs somewhere between US$150.00 and US$200.00 per person per day for a tour staying in hotels with a car always available for extensive sightseeing. About half or less if you only want to stay in a Mongolian Tent on the grasslands and only want transportation to and from the grasslands and no sightseeing. Remember three nights have four days.
The regular tour prices (not grassland only) include breakfast, dinner, a Mongolian/Chinese/English speaking guide every day 24/7, a nice car with driver, road tolls , standard hotels (3 star) in simple hotels (best hotel in smaller cities), and drinking water. Not included is lunch, drinks other than water, (tea, coffee), entrance fees to places not mentioned, incidentals such as alcoholic drinks and snacks, souvaneers, any shopping, items such as umbrellas and ponchos, passport and governmental fees related to visas and entry to China, or any health related costs. A surcharge will apply for 4 or 5 star hotels, meals in restaurants other than comparable restaurants we select
Remember, your only assurance of seeing the real Inner Mongolia is to have a Mongolian speaking guide with you at all times. Ask and make sure that the guide who will be ***WITH YOU*** 24/7 speaks, writes, and reads fluent true Mongolian. Reading true Mongolian Script is important. Outer Mongolian script is based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, whereas Inner Mongolia is based on the true older Mongolian cursive script that Ghengis Khan used. Many, if not all, Outer Mongolian people cannot read the true Mongolian cursive script, amazing as it sounds. When Russia controlled Outer Mongolia, the true cursive script was abolished and replaced by a script based on the Cyrillic alphabet. True Mongolian script became history there. Not so in Inner Mongolia. Outer Mongolia has since reversed this policy, wanting to reestablish their true identity, but lacks the resources to implement this. As a consequence, many Outer Mongolians cannot read and write the true older Mongolian script. Maybe in a generation or so.
You may think that speaking only one language is OK, but it is not!!!!!
As I said, I am from Hawaii. I can absolutely tell you that unless you speak fluent pidgin or Hawaiian, you will never see the "real stuff". Never. Even the best tour will not show you the real Hawaii. There are too many packaged tours in Hawaii to the tourist stuff. Yuck. The guides in Honolulu rarely, if ever, speak Hawaiian. Just ask. Shocking isn't it. Coming to Hawaii and yet a guide showing you around who was not born there and does not speak Hawaiian. Some will say there are no guides who speak Hawaiian. True. You will never know where the "Aweoweo" sleep, where the "Iwa" birds come from, what ocean water sharks like, and why getting bitten by a shark is often stupidity itself and predictable.
As I mentioned, we are a small company. Small is to your advantage. The disadvantage is that we find it harder to "arrange" meals. Thus, in general, the prices include:
1. The prices are hard to generalize, but always include breakfast and dinner, and often include lunch. Usually, if indicated, a car and driver is available 24 hours. The trip starts and ends in Hailar, UlanHot, or whereever you want. The trip does not include airfare, train fare, or other from Beijing or any other city.
Our quote is per day or fraction thereof. So if you stay two nights and three days, our price is based on 3, not 2. If you stay longer, the price drops. If you stay shorter, the price rises. We calculate prices carefully, so if you chgnge, we must change too. So don't be upset if you only get breakfast and lunch and your plane or train leaves at noon. You will still be charged for a full day. That's the way be have calculated costs. We do not bargain. Our costs are fixed and we get no kickbacks.
2. Breakfast and dinner is almost always included. This is to your advantage. It is cheaper. This way we have flexibility that set meals do not give us. You can have only corn for lunch or a larger one if you want. You can be on your own if you want.
We will provide you, however, with fresh bottled water, sometimes fresh bread, and maybe other things, depending on availability. We like fresh peaches and thick cream or blueberries and cream in season.
3. All accommodations. The price is for a standard room in cities, and a nice
clean Mongolian tent in the country. If you want only Mongolian tents, fine. Just tell us.
If you want something other than a Standard room, we will try to help.
4. All entrance fees to sites we have agreed upon and ticket fees. So if you go to a park, or temple, or museum we will pay the entrance fees if they are listed in this document. If you want to go someplace else, we will go with you, but you must pay all entrance fees and transportation. Such fees are usually about Rmb 10 to 20. Be sure to verify everything is the final quote. Some people do not want any entrance fees included. This way they can do what they want.
5. One Mongolian and Chinese speaking guide. Although two guides will usually go, you are paying only for a Standard room or a Mongolian tent for the single guide.
6. We will meet you in Beijing if you want and take you to your hotel.
You have to get to Hailar. Beijing has good connections. Now about Rmb 700 each way. You can fly here internationally or from other places in China.
7. Within larger cities, like Beijing, transportation is included to a major destination like Tianamen Square or the Lama Temple. If you want to go elsewhere, you walk or you must pay for a taxi (not expensive). We are not Beijing guides, but can show you the basic places. We know many good Beijing guides if you want.
8. Everything is very flexible. The itineraries have days open. You can tell us what you want to do, or see, or experience, or eat, or whatever and we will do it. The tours are really only guidelines. We specialize in customized tours to little visited places. We can give you an exact quote, but if you read the WEBSITE carefully, suggested prices are indicated.
I know this may be complicated and confusing. Just contact us for an exact quote. There are so many variables. Some customized trips have all meals included, Mongolian wine (five kinds), a whole sheep, campfires, horse riding, fishing, dress making of Mongolian clothes.
Remember, the above is only a guideline. I get a headache as everything does not add up. Sorry. It almost adds up, but some conflicts occur. I apologize for any conflicts. I have tried to eliminate them, but things do happen. Sorry.
We can give you references if you want. People from China, people from the US, and elsewhere. Responsible people.
Longer trips are cheaper. Remember what I said about a "loss leader". You can easily get a guide in Hailar for Rmb 50 per day. They speak no Mongolian (although they may be Mongolian....Amazing, yes?) and will show you where to ride horses at Rmb 1,000 per hour and cars at Rmb 700 to 1000 per day. Their costs easily surpass Nara's cost which involves no hidden charges. With Nara you get a true International Guide who is not only a grassland Mongolian, but has been all over India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Thailand, not to mention China.
Maybe if you only want to go to Hailar and only see the Japanese caves, local guides might be cheaper. Nara will show you culture. If you don't want to see culture and only want to see the grasslands, fine.
If guides cannot speak, read, and write Mongolian, you will not see the culture. Make sure your guide is Mongolian and can read, write, and speak Mongolian.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
The difference is just eating mutton, or seeing how Mongolians kill sheep and the making of Mongolian blood sausage. It's whatever you want. Some people really do not want to see sheep killed.
If you really want to save money, eat mutton in Beijing. You will save a lot. But 'Hulum Buir' mutton is the best. No gamey taste as the grass is the best. The grass the sheep eats makes a HUGE difference.
Nara is much more than a guide. A girl from Chicago said she was a real friend. You can email this girl if you want. She is in law school and will give you a true opinion. We have many testimonials. One group said they did not realize that China had vastly different cultures. Even one man who lived in China two to three years and "thought he knew all" was amazed. Another well traveled couple did not want to leave the grasslands after a week. They were upset to leave. Their Mongolian tent looked out to the grasslands with grass covewred mountains in the distance. They liked to eat outside.
Remember guide fees can be split among many persons.
Note:
PayPal is now operational. We need a $200.00 deposit to begin reservations and work if it is a big group. The easiest thing is to email or telephone us, be comfortable, ask questions. If you are in another city, you may use PayPal. Charge the US$200.00 to your credit card. PayPal is a very large US company. Everything is cautiously verified. If you are a smaller group, maybe a deposit can be waved. Call or email us.
Updated: 07/31/2011