http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Yunnan , Jinghong en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:19:53 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:19:53 UTC From Lijiang we hopped on a 17 hour long overnight bus to Jinghong which is located in the Xishuangbanna prefecture of the Yunnan province. Not the most comfortable ride but whatever. Just north of Myanmar and Laos banna has become china's own minithailand attracting tourists looking for sunshine and watersplashing festivals hikers readying for epic jungle treks and pissedoff expats fleeing http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-348393.html Last part of our adventure in Xishuangbanna Driving through truly remote villages where time seems to have stop up to Mandian and its stunning rain forest and waterfalls... Mud therapy anyone What felt like the longest drive ever...Bulangshan Menghai JinHongSo here we were. After a well deserved rest in a tiny hotel in Bulangshan we were ready to hit the road againAs we head toward the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-335694.html Not exactly getting lazyhellipletrsquos just say it is been quite busy recently So here is part two of our trekking adventure in Xishuangbannahellip more pictures and more funAfter nearly got our backpack leaving without us getting lost in the jungle meeting our new traveling companion Yako the dog and spending the night at Ms Shu house we were ready for more adventures A few tips http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-330999.html Pick a place ... since my last trip in Guizhou China completely last minute and unplanned I had only one thing in mind do it againChina national holidays gave the perfect excuse and three days prior we indeed picked a place Xishuangbanna here we comeAn exotic name for a destination described as A tropical and minority area far away from the rest of China. Guess the word tropical and far http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-330382.html Basically over the whole year I went to Xishuangbanna so many times because it was the closet place for tourist to Simao and it had great things to see. So I thought instead of writing about it each time I would just make on entry with all the occassions.1st timeThe first trip to Xishuangbanna was with Jayne and Amy as we went to the water spashing festival along the river banks of the Mekong Delt http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-328142.html Yunnan one of the 27 provinces in China that has 23 tribes out of 56 tribes in China. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-314106.html Diese nicht einmal 60 km heute waren wohl die hrtesten meines Lebens. Dies lag aber daran dass ich gestern vermutlich einen Sonnenstich bekommen hatte und krperlich extrem erschpft war. Wenig hilfreich war dazu noch dass es die ersten 35 km jetzt wieder auf dem perfekten neuen Highway konstant bergauf ging nie richtig steil zwar aber stetig und ich fhlte mich so schwach dass ich hufig http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-302676.html Hi all. It has been at times busy at times relaxing but altogether a very varied 10 days since the last post. A quick tour tuesday 3rd day of Lao New Year. more celebrations in Luang Prabangwednesday Slow boat to Pak Beng along Mekong riverthursday continued on slow boat to Huay Xaifri 77km to wild campingsat 59km ride and 50km hitch to Luang Nam Thasun and mon 2 day trek in Nam Tha nati http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-270234.html Traveling long distance via bus can be a bit of a bummer as shared roadways result in delays uneven surfaces make for a bumpy ride and as those prone to travel sickness well know curvy roads can wreak havoc on gastrointestinal systems. There must be a solution that can at least partially alleviate the stresses and irritants of traveling on the highway righthellipEnter the Chinese sleeper b http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-244155.html So Banna Jinghong was our first stop after leaving the tour. We arrived safely although the overnight sleeper bus left a little to be desired unless you enjoy being squashed and stapped into tiny bunk beds. This is the first time we've seen seat belts since leaving the UK but they were definitely needed we'd be on the floor with all the swerving and driving here. Jinghong was a smallish city http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-234228.html Hi there from South China. Said farewell to a lovley Canadian girl called Carol that Stefano and I meet in LaungPrabrang and travelled a week with. After a week with us she has decided to change her travel plans of heading to Indonesia and is now meeting us in Chendu in 2 weeks and continuing to Central Asia for that leg of the trip. So instead of travelling alone I am still travelling with Stef http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-166190.html Reveil a 7h au crie strident d'un gamin insupportable. De toute facon vu la proximite de l'intimite dans le train il est difficile de faire une longue nuit. Les chinois se couchent tres tot la lumiere s'eteint vers les 22h mais se leve tres tot aussi. A 6h il y a du vacarme. Le train n'a mit finalement que 17h au lieu des 30h de prevues. Bonjour Kunming Il fait une chaleur sous nos sac on s http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-166187.html Well the last 7 days have been filled up with a lot. We were in Laos until the 22nd we visited 4 towns and logged 46 hours in buses traveling from town to town. We went to Phonsavan from Luang Prabang there we got see the Plain of Jars. These Jars are old but no one knows the age of them these we dragged from a quarry 30 KMs away and carved on the hill tops way before the industrial revolut http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-151421.html Last Day in KunmingOk I couldnrsquot handle it Kunming was simply too cold for me. Despite all my efforts I had failed to acclimatise and I needed to head to a warmer place. Coincidentally XiShuangBanNa was going to be the center of the Dai new year festival within a few days so after virtually no decision making process I had booked a bus ticket. Of course the bus wasnrsquot leaving unti http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-149841.html Next morning friday we dicided spontanicly to take a flight to Shishuabana the flight cost 360y50 and 15 hours bus cost 200y this area supposed to be sub tropical and is bordered with Laos and viatnam. we wanted to experiance a bit of joungle towns atmosphare. Right now we are surfing the interent in the small town of Ganlaba or something on the bank of the Makong river. Yesterday we sle http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-141146.html We sat on the bus most of the day making our way back to Jinhong. We got back in just enough time to cuise the jade market eat at a local restaurant with pineapple rice for dessert. up early once again we got on a bus for the Sanchahe Nature Reserve. We met two other girls from Germany and after some instruction and persuasion were able to hire a guide to take us off the zoolike path and into http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-122790.html After the two cups of coffee at Mei Mei cafe that woke me up out of my 3 hoursofbussleep haze we talked to the cafe owner who gave us a rough sketch of a trek throughout Xishuangbanna that included 4 days of allday hiking and sleeping in small remote minority villages to make our way around the region. Jinhong was warm with palm trees and new sights but we were anxios to see the countrysid http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-122439.html Hi again all...Well Im now about 6hrs closer to the Lao border and now traveling the great city of Jinghong.... Its amazing that this place is part of China... Its warm and there's jungle all around... Me and the Korean girls Lee JIN and Nara got into a taxi and went to the guest house callled Wanli Dai Style Guesthouse... Now this place is very basic... With only three beds in the room and that w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-121607.html After laughing off my haircut and boarding our luxurious sleeper train I felt like I was in japan again on an immaculantly clean bus with small perks like goody bags plastic socks to cover our shoes and nylons for our feet no stink bomb smell like the last sleeper bus We each had our own beds and another no smoking sign made breathing beautiful. The ride itself was a little bumpy I was sl http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-120524.html na veel te lang te blijven plakken in lijiang in het meest geweldige guesthouse ooit mama naxi zijn we doorgetrokken naar het zuiden en genieten we hier van de zalige warmte. Xishuangbanna is het uiterste zuiden van China en je hebt hier heel veel etnische minderheden. De lokale markt is de moeite Akha vrouwtjes die lange pijpen roken monikken in de tempel rijstvelden palmbomen en bananen .. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-108588.html oh heute war ich schon richtig fleissig. Bin knappe 30 km am Mekong entlang gefahren Richtung Ganlanba. Teilweise wars ziemlich bergig und die hupenden Lastwagenfahrer haben mich manchmal ziemlich knapp ueberholt und mich erschreckt. Aber trotzdem wars eine schoene Radltour. In Ganlanba ist der Dai Garten in dem es 5 Dai Doerfer gibt die alle ueber 1000 Jahre alt sind. Im April findet hier da http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-106677.html Well Rick's dream has come true and we are now breathing bonafide Chinese air I know it's somewhere here amidst the exhaust fumes. We arrived here in Jinghong city or I guess for Chinese standards village yesterday evening. It was sad to leave Laos but we've got so much planned I must admit our grief was shortlived. To catch everybody up we left Vientiane last Thursday on a VIP bus to t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-45783.html