Feb. 21, 2013
Bangkok to Chiang Khong
Except for one morning bus at 7 a.m., most buses from Bangkok to Chiang Khong leave in the evening. I chose to take the only afternoon bus by the state-run the Transport Co. leaving Bangkok's Northern and Northeastern Bus Terminal at 4:30 p.m. in hope of crossing the border early. It's a second-class bus and costs only 535 baht. There were not many people on the bus so everybody got enough personal space.
Feb. 22, 2013
Huay Xai to Luang Namtha
The bus arrived in Chiang Khong about 7 a.m. A Tuk-Tuk took me to the pier for 30 baht. Border crossing is actually open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Since I arrived early I had a chance to get in the queue early that turned out to be quite useful to get the 9:30 a.m. bus from Huay Xay to Luang Namtha for 60,000 kips (there is another one at 12:30 p.m.).
The road from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha is in very good condition, thanks to the Chinese government. It's also scenic, passing Luang Namtha National Protected Area (NPA). The bus arrived in Luang Namtha about 1:30 p.m. Shared Tuk-Tuk costs 10,000 kip to get to the town center.
I stayed at the ever-popular Zuela Guesthouse for 70,000 kip. The room is very clean and stylish. Staff are friendly. Even the restaurant is one of the best and reasonably priced in town.
The town center is too small to even walk around. I rented a bicycle from Zuela for 10,000 kip to explore the surrounding villages in the afternoon. It was some nice & relaxing exercise. The dirt road between Ban Nam Thong to Ban Pasak (crossing Nam Thong River on a bamboo bridge) is particularly spectacular. On the way back to town, I discovered Namtha Riverside Guesthouse between the airport and town center right on Namtha River. It looks like a nice and quiet resort, though far from anywhere.
The Night Market just opposite Zuela Guesthouse is a good place to try some cheap and delicious local food.
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| Road 3A near Luang Namtha |
Feb. 23, 2013
Mengla
From Luang Namtha, there are 8:30 a.m. buses to Mengla and Jinghong (separate buses). Since I wanted to check out Skytree Forest Park near Mengla, I took the Mengla bus. It arrived in Mengla at 12:00 noon Chinese Time (11:00 a.m. Lao Time). There are frequent buses from Mengla to Skytree for 9 yuan.
Skytree is a typical Chinese tourist site with expensive entrance fees (60 yuan for the park and 120 yuan for the suspension bridge). Even though, the park is a nice place to have some hiking to get some oxygen, especially for someone living in the city like me.
From Mengla, there are actually overnight buses to Kunming. In order to have a better sleep, I decided to take a day bus to Puer (a city in southern Yunnan preciously called Simao) for 85 yuan (3.5 hours).
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| Skytree Forest Park |
Feb. 24, 2013
Puer to Kunming
After a good night’s sleep in Puer. I took the 9:40 a.m. bus to Kunming for 187 yuan. Free lunch (vegetarian) is included in Muojiang en route. The bus arrived at Kunming's Southern Bus Terminal at 4:30 p.m. City bus 154 (or 209, infrequent) goes from Southern Bus Terminal directly to the train station for the one hour journey. My train from Kunming to Beijing left at 9:50 p.m. on time.
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| Mojiang Bus Station |
Feb. 25-26, 2013
It was a whole day on the train, passing numerous tunnels in Guizhou and Hunan provinces. The view is dramatic. When it reached Changsha, capital of Hunan province, it's already in the evening. It arrived at Beijing West Railway Station just before noon (about 30 minute late).
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| The Kunming - Beijing train (right) stopped at Huaihua Railway Station (in Hunan province) |
Overview
It was a nice 6 day, 114 hour overland journey from Bangkok to Beijing, passing Luang Namtha in Northern Laos and Xishuangbanna in Southern Yunnan. Luang Namtha is a very laid-back town to relax and the Skytree Forest Park near Mengla offers some nice hiking (though expensive). The total cost is around 1,300 yuan, about the same price of the cheapest one-way air ticket from Beijing to Bangkok.
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