Hello all,
For my next trip to Yunnan I will be going from the Menglian area to the Jinping area, which is quite a long strech. On Day 1 of this trip I will probably have enough time in the afternoon to go to PuEr to spend the night.
My question is : Can anybody tell me where I should break my journey on Day 2 so that I may easily catch a bus to Jinping on Day 3. I am thinking of Mengzi, Gejiu or Jianshui, which are towns where I have already been so will not be visiting any place on the way. Thank you.
PS : Sorry I mean't Lancang, not Lincang
Menglian County is in Puer and Jinping County is in Honghe.
Plenty of busses from Menglian to Puer, if you still have time continue on to Jiangcheng. From Puer at least one bus, from Jiangcheng several busses to Luchun, which has an early morning bus to Jinping. This route avoids the big cities, goes through minority areas along the Vietnamese border and is more direct, but the roads are still in good condition.
All the timetables, as for most other places in Yunnan, here:
www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/
In your case:
www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/station/simao/
www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/station/jiangcheng-main/
www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/station/lvchun/
I rode the route Ludwig is talking about by bicycle a few months ago. Very pretty country.
I also cycled from Jinping to Lancang a few months ago. I took some of the roads Ludwig's talking about, and some that are even more off the beaten path and closer to the Vietnamese border. You can read about it here:
www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/11832
As for the buses, Ludwig's suggestion of Simao-Jiangcheng-Lüchun-Jinping is definitely a great route, but it might be a little too much for your time schedule. Each of those segments takes almost all day on the bus. Another option would be Simao to Mojiang, and then Mojiang to Lüchun on the new road.
the fast and easy route is from Puer(普洱)to Yuanjiang(元江), and Yuanjiang-Yuanyang(元阳)(the town at the river bank, not the terrace), and Yuanyang-jinping. don't go to mengzi or Gejiu, otherwise you need to turning back again. yes, if you find bus go to Mengzi or Gejiu in Puer, you can get on the bus, and tell the driver you wanna go to Jinping, he will let you to stop at manhao(蔓耗), the point that turning to Jinping, start from Yuanjiang you will travel along the Red river.
go through LuChun is also an option,you will have the chance to see the foggy mountain, the zig zag road ride may make you dizzy as well, it goes very slowly, and I also doubt whether you can stand the smelly country bus with a small seat space.
I'm doing tourism tranportaion, you are welcome to email me johnxie@189.cn for more information.
can stop at yuanyang for the 2nd day.
Thank you very much guys for your answers, it's a great help, I will study every option.
According to my info, there is no new road from Mojiang to Luchun, or did I miss that? The new road is from Luchun to Yuanyang.
I'd also recommend the route Ludwig advises. Pu'er - Jiangcheng - Luchun is possible in one day, and you can leave the next morning early on a straight bus to Jinping. Luchun is also worth staying a day or 2, or exploring the county a bit...
Have fun!
Thank you, this new road sounds interesting and I wouldn't mind finding out more about if for further travels.
However for the time being I am quite happy with Ludwig's suggestion. I have been to Luchun before and might go back some other time. This time I want to be in Jinping on day 3 so I'll stick to this solution because the road will be more fun, and I have concrete info... unless once in PuEr I find out there is a better combination.
By the way I am curious whether the Luchun/Jinping bus takes the small road through LaoMeng and Tongchang or along Hong He through NanSha and ManHao ?
