I got the following commentary off the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor sites and one day I might need to re-visit this info when I take the same route up to 元阳，昆明， 大理，丽江，香格里拉 .....
Commercial Flights:
On the sector up to Shangri-la I think I will be on trains and buses but on the return sector I think I will travel by air. There is an airport in 香格里拉 (airport name is Diqing) with daily MU flights to 昆明 all inclusive one way Yuan 1150 (A$200) - refer China Eastern www.en.ceair.com
China Eastern flies 昆明 - Bangkok on Saturdays and Sundays all inclusive A$165-A$185 one way.
Article on Lao Cai - Hekou - Yuanyang
From Lao Cai train station caught a taxi to the Chinese border, which is
about 2 kilometers to the right, down the street in front of the
station.
The cab dropped us at the building housing Vietnam's immigration and
customs. The exit was easy, and took about 5 minutes. We left that
building and walked across the bridge to the Chinese side in Hekou. All
of the other people crossing appeared to be Vietnamese or Chinese
merchants, pushing large carts carrying goods they were taking from one
side of the border to the other. On the right hand side of the bridge,
there was a huge line of cart-pushers, apparently waiting for some
type of inspection. We noticed that the few other pedestrians were
simply walking around and past that line to the Chinese immigration
building on the right at the end of the bridge, so we followed them
without problem and bypassed the line. I had read before that sometimes
a person in a Chinese army uniform will demand (without right) some
sort of toll for crossing the bridge. We saw no such person when we
crossed.
Once we entered the inside of the Chinese immigration building, several
officials jumped to attention. It did not appear they see Westerners or
tourists very often, so several of them rushed over to assist us. They
handed us an English language version of the entry form and watched as
we filled it out. Then they asked us to come into a side office, where
they inspected our passports and visas and opened our bags to look
through our stuff. They checked, rechecked, and re-rechecked our
passports and visas, even going as far as making sure the signature on
my entry form matched the signature on my passport.
The first thing they wanted to see was our books. I assumed they were
looking for the China Lonely Planet, which we heard they will confiscate
because of how it discusses Taiwan.
They looked very closely at our Vietnam Lonely Planet, but eventually
gave it back to us. We did not bring the China Lonely Planet and
instead, had made a photocopy of the relevant China Lonely Planet pages
and folded the pages into a stack of other papers we were carrying.
They briefly flipped through the papers, but either did not notice or
care that they included photocopies of the China guidebook.
After about 10 minutes, they released us and motioned for us to get in
line with the rest of the other Vietnamese crossing past the immigration
window. Once at the window, they brought over several more people to
again examine, re-examine and re-reexamine our passports and visas.
They even broke out this fancy looking device with a blue light, to
apparently test to see if our passports and visas were authentic.
However, it did not appear anyone knew how to use the thing, so they
spent about 10 minutes messing with it before getting it to work. In
the end, however, they stamped our passports and sent us along to
customs.
At customs, we again had to open our bags for inspection. And, again,
the first thing they wanted to see was all of our books. They again
looked closely at the Vietnam Lonely Planet and breezed past the
photocopies without batting and eyelash and eventually sent us on our
way.
GETTING A BUS TICKET
Upon exiting the immigration and customs building in Hekou, to get to
the bus station, turn left and then take the first right. The bus
station is up on the left a couple of hundred feet, or about a one
minute walk. Enter through the driveway and into the terminal.
THE BUS JOURNEY TO YUANYANG
The bus left at 10:30am and started its journey along the Red River.
All of the best scenery of the river and valley is off the left hand
side of the bus, so get a good seat there.
There are two roads heading up towards Kunming in the direction of
Yuanyang. There is the nice new highway and the muddy, dirt road along
the riverbank. Our entire journey out was on the muddy dirt road. If
at all possible, it would seem worthwhile to explore whether there is a
bus that uses the highway, as it would cut a lot of time off the trip.
We might have ended up on the "local" bus, as people were constantly
getting on and off. There might be a express option.
The
scenery was outstanding, however. We passed small villages with thatch
housing and much of journey was right along the river, with the steep,
green walls of the Red River valley shooting up on either side.
About 1 hour in, th e bus stopped for a military checkpoint, where we had
to give our passports to a officer who took them outside and copied all
of our details down.
However,
with the muddy road, it took us 7 hours, which was a long haul.
Yuanyang is split into two towns, the new one along the river at the
bottom of the valley and the old one up in the mountains. It took us 6
hours to get to the new one, and another 1 hour to climb up the
mountain to the old one. We showed the name of our hotel to the driver
and he dropped us out front at about 5:30pm.
Another article on Lao Cai - Hekou - Yuanyang - Kunming:-
Yuanyang is located at Southern Yunnan,the elevation is around 3500 meter and above Kunming to YuanYang. Kunming to YuanYang by express bus(7-8 hours)Yuan106 around 370km. Hekou to YuanYang via Vietnam
Lao Cai(Vietnam immigration)-crossover the bridge to Hekou (China immigration)
As you exit Hekou immigration ,turn left,then walk about 100m to the bus terminal on your left side.
Bus schedule:6.30am.9.30am.10.00am to YuanYang.The travel time(168km)
is around 5 hours by 17 passengers mini bus(.Due to poor passenger load)
Your final destination is XinJiezhen to see the padi terrace.There are plenty of budget hotels at XinJiezhen to cater to your accommodation.
The best hotel(3*)is Yunti Hotel and Yunti Shungie Hotel.
Local food is plentiful and very cheap as compared with other parts of China
Local transport to see the various padi terrace
(a)motorized trishaw-Yuan150 /vehicle good for 2 passengers load
(b)minivan-for 7-8 passengers load for Yuan 250/vehicles
Standard travel schedule
(!)5-50am to 12pm,time to see sunrise
(!!12-4 break period
(!!!)4pm to 7pm,time to see sunset
Morning market at various local village:where you will mingle with the local and ethnic minority with very colorful costume.
(a)Wednesday
(b)Friday
(c)Saturday
(d)Sunday
Food
Southern China is rice country,most noodles are rice based.
Bakery
There are few bakeries around this town
BBQ Tofu & meat,available from morning until 2am
Plenty of street vendors serving the above and noodles.
Meat:Fish,pork,beef,internal organs are easily available
Local produce.Mainly agriculture based.:Rice,Tea,maize ,mushroom and vegetable.
No factory around:The air and water is virtually pollution free
Tourism:just picking up: still a non touristy destination yet.
Photography:Very scenic ,a heaven for photographer
Trekking:Can be arranged
Best time to visit:December through April:
Other time also OK
Ethnic minority:Hani,Dai,Miao,Yao and Zhuang
Rail transport:Not available yet
Air transport:Not available yet
ARTICLE ON CATCHING A BUS FROM KUNMING TO HEKOU
The bus station for going to Hekou is the "KUNMING EASTERN BUS STATION" and public bus terminal from
where bus no. 60 starts is very close to Kunming railway station (about
7～8 mins by walk). First bus from Kunming to Hekou 09:40am/2nd bus 10:40am/3rd bus
11:40am/-----/night bus19:30pm＝5～6 buses a day).
REQUIRED TIME, BUS FARE ETC
*Bus from Kunming to Hekou---it takes 8-8.5 hours/148-151RMB including insurance (Mar.2011)
*from Hekou bus station to CN immigration office--about 150m/7-8 mins by walk
*Hekou CN immigration(border gate) and VN immigration(border gate) are
facing each other with an interval of 150～200m having a bridge between
them over a river and border gates are opened from 08:00am to 23:00pm
with local time in CN (from 07:00am to 22:00pm with local time in VN)
*from VN border gate to Lao Cai railway station--about 3km/15,000-20,000VND by motorbike taxi=Xe-Om
ACCOMMODATION in KUNMING
①THE HUMP HOSTEL(＝昆明駝峰客棧
very famous youth hostel that has great
popularity among many travelers from abroad--so reservation is better
on line or Tel before going there.
*Address: Jinmabiji Square, Jinbi RD, Kunming China --(*Jinbi RD=金碧路）
*Tel & Fax: (0086)-0871-3640359/3631986
www.thehumphostel.com
E-mail: the_hump_kunming@yahoo.com
*This YH locates at real center of Kunming, and has big capacity for
travelers and eating, drinking, playing (billiyard), Internet,
relaxation Cafe rounge in and out=open air, city view---almost perfect
for all kind of travellers' needs and one more, very good location for
moving around & transport
*if you need, private room(twin, double) is also available.
②THE CLOUDLAND INTERNATIONAL YH(＝昆明大脚氏国際青年旅舎）
*Address: #23 Zuang Tang Lu, Kunming China
*Tel & Fax: (0086)-0871-4103777
www.cloudlandhostel.com
E-mail: cloudland2005@126.com
*This YH locates at very quiet place behind of a park and not so big and dormitory & private room(twin, double) is available.
*You had better have reservation on line or Tel before going there
YH in China----www.yhachina.com (register & reservation if you like)
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