Hi all
I am living in Chengdu at the moment, planning on getting to Kunming next week so I can get a bus to Ventiane for a good ol' visa run. I have been reading threads here and on the Thorntree forum about the bus station shifting and different prices quotes - as the information is not so current, I was wondering if anyone here had any up to date information to aid this traveller along.
I plan on taking the train from Chengdu to Kunming - I am under the impression that there are two train stations in Kunming (correct me if I am wrong) as there are 2 options on the ticketing website - which one should I be getting to so I can best get to the bus station for Laos (I think there is a Kunming Station and a Kunming East Station?)
The information I have gathered indicates that I should catch bus 154 to the Xin Nan Bu (Southern) bus station and that the ride takes 90 minutes (?!) Seems a bit out of the way for a regional bus station, but I guess that is the price of modernising and I hear its a ploy for unlicensced taxis to make a cut - anyway, wondering if this is still the case.
Does the bus to Ventiane run daily? Will I be able to buy a ticket on the same day of depature (my partner needs to get out of China before his visa expires). If so does anyone have a current price and time of depature - word on the street is about RMB486 and it leaves around 5pm or 6:30pm takes a whopping 40 hours (hopefully this has changed since 2011 ?)
I also hear differing accounts about the Laos visa on arrival, some say RMB is accepted others say you MUST bring US$ - can anyone confirm this (or is it up to the mood of the immigration officer?) Also wondering if we need passport photos, my partner who was there 4 years ago laughed when I said we need photos as it wasn't required for a visa then, but things always change.
Also wondering if changing money at the China Laos border is a good idea, have heard that you can't change once you get into Ventiane (but then that doesn't sound too convincing - surely city money changers are more reputable).
If anyone can answer any or all of these long winded questions, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
Ting
The train from Chengdu will arrive at 昆明站, the main train station.
The best value option to get to the southern bus station is to take bus C71 (?) which runs from the old Nanyao Busterminal 南窑客运站. This terminal used to handle most of Kunming's long-distance traffic, but is now disused bar shuttle busses that connect to the new bus terminals. To get to Nanyao, walk out of Kunming station and up the main road leading north, which is 北京路, on the left hand side. Nanyao is about a block north and departures of the shuttle busses is frequent. They are 5Y and take 35min to the Southern Busterminal 南部客运站 (no stops on the journey). There are also normal busses which will indeed take about 90min and cost 2Y.
All busses in direction of Lao go from the southern terminal. The bus to Luang Prabang used to leave at 18:30, there is now also a bus to Huay Xai on the Thai border. I do not know if there is a bus to Vientiane and when it goes. If it exists it most likely leaves in the afternoon or early evening as you heard.
Of course no-one can tell you if you can get a ticket if you just show up. Quite possibly there is a bus-ticket office inside the train station somewhere, but I have not used it.
However, there are other options if you cannot travel: take a bus to Jinghong and continue to the border at Mohan via Mengla. From the Mohan side, it is easy to travel to Luang Namtha from where you can get onward busses. There is also transport from Jinghong and Mohan directly to Laos. Transport from Kunming to the Mohan border is a minimum of 13 hours. Sleeper busses are never fast and thus 40hours all the way down seems about right.
I would fly, which costs less than 1000Y if you book ahead.
Visa: you will need a photo. RMB is accepted but at a slightly worse rate. There are some money changers on the Chinese side who trade in USD, RMB and Lao Kip. I traded enough RMB for USD for my visa to then realize I could have paid in RMB. On the Lao side there is a shack pretending to be a bank, but it may be closed. Some people on the Lao side will trade RMB for Kip, but they did not seem equipped for larger amounts. In Luang Namtha are ATMs which take Chinese and international cards and some official moneychangers (rates are pretty good). The rates for RMB go down the further you go from the border.
Thanks Ludwig for such an informative post! Will be keeping it all in mind, we leave tomorrow!
Ting
@ludwig, I thought that the Huay Xai bus only runs from Jinghong, not all the way from Kunming.
I believe there is a daily Kunming-Luang Prabang and a separate Kunming-Vientiane service. The latter I have seen in Laos; I was driving just north of Vientiane, and the bus was just in front of me headed north towards Kunming. I think the Kunming-Vientiane service leaves around 5pm daily or when there are enough passengers. BTW you might want to consider going only as far as Luang Prabang, stopping for the night and catching a faster minibus rather than the tortorous 48hour direct service.
Lao Airlines offers a reliable and cheap daily A320 service (occasionally they will use an ATR-72 when passenger loads are smaller) from Kunming to Vientiane. One way flights are no problem, and if purchasing a return flight you can easily change your reservation free of charge.
For VOA, use USD since the rate in RMB will be significantly worse. However, if you have difficulty sourcing USD in China, then RMB may be your only choice. I believe only THB or USD are accepted at Vientiane airport, so if flying in you'll need to exchange your RMB at the border when you arrive.
