Arrived In Guangzhou – the train actually took 27 hours and with the added delays of missing the first train, it was a long journey indeed. Even so, I think it is my favorite way to travel. The beauty of hopping on a moving vessel that comes equipped with a comfortable bed and a picture window that allowed for me to see so much of a country as vast as China. The Kunming – Guangzhou line cuts across the whole of southern China and the landscape varie...

Some travel days just don’t seem to end. It seems that whenever I make plans, I wish immediately I didn’t. I can’t seem to learn this lesson.In Shangri-la, after learning I couldn’t do the overland route to Tibet (altitude), I found a cheap $50 flight from Ligiang to Kunming. Because I had already done the fabulous overnight train on that route, I figured I would fly and just get on with my travels and get to Kunming in order to go some...

From the border town of Hekou, with the huge help of Rachel's Mandarin, we were able to catch a day bus, leaving at 10:30 am, to Kunming. As it turned out, our bus was of the sleeper variety and we were the only westerners on the full bus. Right away, the differences between China and everywhere else I have travelled in Asia became apparent. Starting in Hekou, while looking for an ATM, it was apparent that no one spoke any English at all – even in t...