Goodbye to China, but not to Asia

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Just a quick note to catch you up to the present. In about 3 hours I get on a bus bound for Luang Prabang, Laos, which is a slight deviation from my original route plan. Originally I was going to stop in Jinghong, in the far south Xishuangbanna region of China, and in Luang Namtha, a town in northern Laos, but that was mostly because I wasn't sure about connection between Kunming (my last "real" stop in China) and Luang Prabang (my first "real" stop in Laos). Since I managed to get a direct bus, I decided to spend a few extra days in Kunming.

Allegedly the bus will take 26 hours, but it is a sleeper bus with actual beds (I was worried about a direct bus being seats only, and I didn't want to spend that long in a seat). I should get there sometime tomorrow night, and then my schedule will resume as planned (mostly out of necessity...all my transport links in Thailand and Malaysia are already set).

It's weird to be leaving China and not going back home, but I'm excited to see other parts of Asia and how they compare with the country and culture I've started to get familiar with. I'm on my own for about 2 more weeks, until I arrive in Singapore. About 5 days in Laos, 5 days in Thailand, and 3 days in Malaysia.

My blog is current up through Nanjing, and as soon as I get a chance I will fill in the last 9 or so days in Wuhan, Changsha, and Kunming. Bye.

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