hekou-kunming

hello. some help please. did this trip two years ago using lp southwest china. stopped along the way in three towns that sounded pretty nice. now i am using lp china and that whole itinerary is non-existent. always thought sw china was just taken from the china book but guess i was wrong (again)!! anyway, is the train up and running from hekou to kunming? what is the bus schedule like? are there day buses? sleeper buses? please fill me in. many thanks.

hi again. just found a section that had the info i requested. still not used to lp's new format. sorry for using up the space. i love their site update. hurray!!!

Train is still not up and running as far as I've heard.

Not likely to be for a few more years yet according to a post I have.

Does anyone know if there's a bus between Hekou and Kunming. How often does it go and how long does it take?

Yes, express buses leave at 0940 and 1240.
Cheers!

There are also express "sleeper" busses that leave at 8PM from Hekou. The bus terminal is just down the street from the border crossing. The trip is Y109 and takes 12 hours.
We took one on March 8.
There were no stops except for ID check (just outside of Hekou), toll booths (What gall to charge a toll on this road, it was more than HORRIBLE). No food or pee stops at all. If you are foolish enough to go this way to Kumming, book early so you at least get a forward berth. One continuous bump all the way except for about a 1/2 after 5 hours into the trip.
If I was stupid enough to do this again I would at least take the day bus so I could see some of the scenery. The first half of the trip climbs into the mountains and should be pretty scenic.
Mike Oakland California

I'm new to thorntree and not quite sure how it works - like thanking people here or doing it through their email address.

Anyway, thanks Ellyse and Mike. Both bits of informtion are really useful. I think I'll change direction now and get to Yunnan Province from northern Laos (where I'll be for about ten days) and possibly return to Hanoi by air. Either that or the other way round. I only have about a week in Yunnan as a taster for next year and would like to get up to Lijiang if possible.

Nick

Gejiu & Jianshui make good overnight stops to break up the Hekou > Kunming trip, & yes, it is very scenic in daylight hours. You may have to change busses in Mengzi, but it was only a 10 minute stop.

Nick,
I'm writing this in Lijiang right now. In the new city which is super easy walking from Disneyland (oh I mean the sacred old town). Great food all over the new city by the way. The old town is very well perserved. I shouldn't be so harsh. You can get to Lijiang by air from Kunming for about Y750 ($100) round trip. Easy flight. I definitely recommend Lijiang just to see Yulong Mountain (Snow Mountain). Very impressive. Good luck

Chris...thanks for the info on Gejiu and Jianshui. I didn't do the research well enough so I suffered on the bus.
Mike

#9 and #6, your comment, "If you are foolish enough to go this way to Kumming.."
does anyone know the estimate airfare Hanoi - KunMing?

#10: Not sure about Hanoi -- Kunming, but I helped a couple of travellers with Kunming -- Hanoi tickets on Vietnam Airlines and they cost about 2750 RMB each, flying on 15/4 this year. Hope that helps.
Cheers!