Hi. What's the best way to go from Lijiang to Chiang Mai over land?

-I have a U.S. Passport
-I'm on a low budget
-I don't have a lot of time, since my Chinese visa expires on Oct. 29 or 30* (5 or 6 days from this posting).

And I can't leave until Monday.

So I have to get from Lijiang to the border within a two or three* day span.

[*I entered on Aug. 31 with "60 days", but I dont know whether that's 60 days inclusive or not. What day do I need to be out by? The 29th or the 30th? And what happens if I "overstay" by one day?]

Anyway, the most questionable part of the journey is the beginning, from Lijiang to the Laos border. Since theres apparently no train, I'll have to take a bus... Where should I book it?

The thing I'm worried about is making connections in time. For instance, if I get to Xishuangbanna but it's too late to continue that day (i.e. there are no more buses onward), then I'll have to stay the night, and that could make me "late" and overstay my visa.

So I'm looking for a pretty detailed itinerary, including departure times, locations, prices, and an explanation of HOW to go about buying the various tickets.

Please only post information if you know for certain that it's up to date. I hear these things change from year to year.

Xie xie very much!

you can take night train arriving kunming as early as possible from lijian on sunday evening,then take bus to xishuanbanna the next day at kunming,which means you are supposed to be xishuanbanna on Tuesday evening.after one night in jinghong,you can take a bus directly to luang prabang from xishuanbanna,but i am not sure if you can get into laos without laos visa.hope it can help.

sorry,the date you will arrive at xishuanbanna is monday.

night bus/train to kunming,then you can take a bus directly to luang prabang.never did it myself,ive heard its a looong journey,but i guess it could work for you. buy the ticket at the bus station,ot through a travel agency (such as wondersofyunnan) or hostels (the hump,but be there before 5pm!)
laos visa is on the border,you will need pictures maybe.search "laos" in the articles or forums section....
flying to jinghong shouldn't be too expensive...

Yes, back to Kunming and then down to Jinghong will be fastest by bus. If you're heading to Chiangmai, you'll want to get the direct bus from Jinghong to Huaisai(sp?) on the Thai border. Visa on arrival in Laos is not a problem. I just did it in August.

What is the best way to get from Kunming overland to Bangkok?
Thanks!

over land is 500 yuan by bus. its not safe imo, if you sleep at all you need to have locks on your luggage and carry ons.

Get the subway from central Kunming to the south bus station (Luosiwan). Bus from Kunming south bus station to Jinghong (~11hrs).

Either: (A) Stay in a cheap hotel, enjoy a night sitting around the cafes and wandering along the newly LED-enhanced Mekong, then get the first bus in the morning to Guanlei (关累). (B) Bus immediately onward to Menglun, where the Chinese tropical botanical gardens are worth a stroll and hotels should be cheaper than Jinghong (plus, you won't spend money on booze because there's nothing going on!). Then onward to Guanlei in the morning.

Guanlei is where the cargo boats depart for Thailand. Not only is taking one of these cheaper, more relaxing and more beautiful than the Laos-by-bus route, but there is no intermediate Laos visa required before arriving in Thailand.

When you get to Guanlei just ask around the docks for a boat fare down, should be maybe 300RMB Guanlei to Chiang Saen. From Chiang Saen it's a cheap bus ride to Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai, both more pleasant than Bangkok and connected with it by bus or in Chiang Mai's case sleeper train as well. (Though the sleeper compartment tickets can be hard to get without booking at least a few days in advance).

Fear not: if Guanlei won't stamp you out, they'll just refer you to Mengla (the very nearby land border) and you can take the more expensive overland fallback. But really, do try the boat.

You will have to get a Lao visa at the border - the bus will stop there for you. You have to be out of China by midnight of the 30th. Advise you not to take the bus all the way to Chiangmai, it's too long a bus ride. You can get a bus from Jinghong to Luang Namtha in Laos any morning about 10 o'clock.

Take the boat!

Honestly, it's one of the most memorable journeys left in Asia.