I am still about two weeks away from the trip and there have already been some significant changes to the itinerary. Two big problems presented themselves which forced me to make some tough choices about where to go and more importantly HOW to get there.
The first big problem was that I discovered the bus ride into Laos wasn't going to be nearly as easy as I had thought. I originally heard it was a six hour ride, which doesn't seem unlikely if you are looking purely at distance. The terrain in that part of China however, means it isn't exacltly a straight shot from point A to point B. It's very mountainous, and of course the road conditions are less than perfect. I have read that it's between 22 and 40 hours by bus from Kunming to Luang Prabang. This was unsettling news, as I don't want to lose a full day of holiday sitting on a crowded bus. I started looking into flights and was shocked to find out the price; 2150CNY seems awfully steep for a relatively short journey. So, the great debate begins, as I can save 1700CNY by taking the bus. After much deliberation, I have decided to "take the path less traveled" for a couple reasons. First, although much of the trip will be at night, I can imagine the scenery on this route will be breathtaking. Driving through Southern Yunnan Province I'm sure will be gorgeous. Second, how many people can say they took a bus from China to Laos? I took a 25 hour train from Hong Kong to Beijing and I can honestly say it was a colorful part of my adventure of traveling to China. I think it'll actually be a pretty interesting experience and something a bit more memorable than simply hopping on a plane and drinking orange juice in the comfort of a coach class seat for two hours. Thirdly, money. Ok, who am I kidding, money is the first reason but not the ONLY reason.
The other "bump in the road" are the last two destinations of the trip, Guilin and Yangshuo. The final week of my holiday coincides with National Week in China, which for those of you who aren't familiar is the equivalent of the Fourth of July in the US. Also, it's important to understand that traveling in China during any type of national holiday is not pleasant. The bulk of the 1.4 billion person population is mobilized and it is a hectic and downright unpleasant scene. Guilin is a major tourist destination to begin with, and the thought of spending the end of my holiday in the midst of a tidal wave of Chinese tourists is not ideal. I decided to change the plan and head to Vietnam instead. Coincidentally, as I was kicking this idea around, I received an email from a friend of mine who lives in London - the email went something like, "Hey, your trip sounds amazing, I'll be in Vietnam from September to November, maybe we can meet up." So destiny intervened and now, sometime in late September I'll be taking a bus from Savannakeht in Central Laos to Hui, which is a coastal town in Central Vietnam. From there, I'll take a train to Ha Noi and then spend a few days in Ha Long Bay, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and oddly similar in topography to Guilin. Traditional Vietnamese fishing boats roam the coastal waters that are dotted with karst limestone peaks - it's stunning. It looks like a gorgeous town and surely Ha Noi will be interesting as well. I've booked my return ticket, Ha Noi to Beijing on October 9th, so the next order of business is getting to Beijing to secure my Vietnam Visa before I leave for Shanghai in 16 days.
I have so much to do in such little time! I'm ticking the days off the calandar and also counting down my final days at Heng Hua EF. I'm really going to miss it there but in the words of Tom Petty, "Time to move on, time to get going, under my feet, grass is growing, time to move on, time to get going."
~man zou~
Christopher
