Our last stop in China was again necessitated by proximity to the border. Unlike Chita though, Kunming was a very pleasant city that was easily accessible to tourists. We saw a few international tourists here too and as there are many sights nearby, including Shangri-La, we could understand why. We had a mere day here so got to walk around the city. There were a lot of building works going on but otherwise the city was very green and pretty.

Currently the only way to get Laos by land is by a 24-hour bus ride. We thought we had prepared for this but were surprised to find that instead of seats, the coach was filled with bunk beds. This meant the night was reasonably pleasant and we could actually get some shuteye, but the following day was quite uncomfortable as we could not sit upright, Laos roads being so bad that once you lifted yourself into a sitting position a large bump sent you back down.

The border crossing itself was reasonably straightforward. The Chinese officials used both our passports as examples to train the new recruits and we got a Visa on arrival to enter into Laos. Once we crossed into Laos, the roads were exceedingly bumpy and windy through the mountains. More on that in the next blog...