Greetings!
We are a couple reaching Kunming on 2nd October. Have 7 days. Planning a trip nearabouts. Fellow netizens were a big help in my pre-travel research.

I had a few final queries before I sealed the plan:
a) Would travelling around Kunming (eg. Planning a trip to Stone Forest in the morning train) be possible without knowing the local language. I am afraid my Mandarin is limited to Ni hao.
b) Which is a Hotel which has English speaking staff and has good travel services too??
c) Are they any others planning a trip at the same time to join in to create a group???

b) Camelia Hotel on Dong Feng Dong Lu. If you find them on the web, make sure you get the hotel and not the hostel, if that is what you want.
Rooms are clean, about 200RMB/room/night. They do a so-so crossover breakfast included in the price.
The alternative would be the higher end hotels charging at least double.

c) outside the Camelia hotel are travel agents, there are organised coach trips to the stone forest. This may be easier than getting the train as the railway station is a taxi ride from the hotel. The coaches pick up from near the hotel, and I think a mini-bus is provided if needed. But you are stuck with a tour guide.

Hey Tigertiger. Thank you for the inputs. It really helped in boosting my confidence to plan out on my own rather than go for the expensive private tour plans. Cheers!

bear in mind that on October 2 you'll be right in the maelstrom of the national day holiday... lots of people travelling; potentially difficult to get tickets, rooms; busy tourist sites, etc. good luck.

Hi,

I went through your message for travllling in Yunnan, since 2rd Oct is the second of the national holiday, so it's harder to get tickets, cars, hotels etc, you better arrange it as soon as possible!

You can go to Stone forest by bus (not train), it's about 85KM away from Kunming, hiring a van/driver plus a tour guide would be a good suggestion, it's also affordable. You may interested in a english-speaking Kunming tour opeartor called Wonders Of Yunnan!

website
www.wondersofyunnan.com

Good luck and welcome to Yunnan!

Kind regards,
Linda

hi....

their are many places to visit in Yunnan,
and many Hotels in Yunnan for stay like.............

Lijiang Hotels

Dali Hotels

Lhasa Hotels

You may be visit to the following link for better information....
www.china-hotels.ws/hotels/yunnan.htm

Hotel in Orlando

http//wwwdaysinnhotelsorlando.com

I read your post after the fact - but if you plan to visit here again - you can get some good free info from my website

WWW.HUGOYUNNANTRAVEL.COM

Hugo