So alternatively I could ride in from Ruili to Muse and fly back from Yangon or something? That's Kachin state on the other side, right? Can I ride on freely from Muse to Yangon?
Any updates on this?
* Is it possible to cross the border in either direction without a tour group?
I might want to cycle from Myanmar back to Kunming, could I cross at Muse/Ruili? And would I be able to connect from Yangon to Muse without having to fly over a restricted area?
Not sure if you really need a jeep. There are plenty of local drivers that are pretty skilled with their vans and anywhere you are allowed to drive is paved anyway. But I'm sure there are drivers there with jeeps that will take you for a fee.
As far as I know there are almost no roads across the Gaoligong mountains (Nujiang to Tengchong) and for the ones that do exist, a jeep is complete overkill.
I tend to agree with Alien on all points but a 10 hour bus is not for everyone. Be warned that delays are very common on this route. Last time I was stuck for 3 hours in Tengchong airport. Add to that the 1 hour early requirement, the 30 minutes to get to the airport, the hour flight, the 30 minutes to get out of Kunming, the 30 minutes to get back to Kunming city and all the fees, and the bus suddenly becomes a reasonable option.
You could also take the train to Dali (overnight, saves you a hotel) and then bus to Baoshan/Nujiang and Tengchong.
In five years, Bitcoin may have matured and be a great way to get your money out of the country (direct, no restrictions, hardly any fees). Bitcoin markets exist in China too, bought my own first bitcoin here.
If you catch a bullish wave, you may even make some money off it.
It'll be slow because the GFW works both ways. Having a VPN set to China will solve the problem, 70 USD a year are worth it.
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First and last experience. Absolutely horrible. I came in late with a big flesh wound. The doctor sewed it up and told me to come back in the morning "perhaps to redo it, and to change the bandage". When I did come back the next morning, they just changed the bandage and sent me off.
When I peeked at my own wound, I noticed it was horribly done. "Like a vet did the stitches," as someone commented. I then had to stay a night in a different hospital in order to do it right, with a 40% chance of getting infections. This cost me a lot more, thanks to Richland fucking up in the beginning.
Whatever X-rays were taken were not printed out and given to me so I couldn't go to another hospital for a second opinion or treatment.
The nurses didn't seem to know where half the things were and the doctors had to repeat orders to get basic things like scissors.
In the next hospital, it was noticed that I had fractured my jaw in two places. On the five X-Rays taken at Richland, they did not notice the fractures.
Pretty sure these people are not actual doctors and are therefore criminal.
Super place. Really cool interior, lots of good beers and drinks, fun toilet inside the telephone booth, and an interesting clientele.
Cons: pretty hard to find, no matching glasses for the imported beers, and home brews need some work.
Teaching and support lamentable.
Four people signed up for the highest-level class and got a teacher who does all the talking, refers to herself as 老师 and makes classes absolutely uninteresting. As of this moment, only 1 person is still going on a regular basis.
While staff is friendly, they are absolutely incapable to help out with visa matters in an adequate way. Lack of information beforehand, lack of support and lack of information during the visa process meant that I am waiting forever for my residence permit to be processed, without any information about why it's taking so long, why they can't get started ... I'd say this school is a good option if all you wanted is a visa, but they can't even handle this properly.
Anyone giving this school a 5-star rating hasn't been to any decently-run schools in Kunming, such as Keats'. The only redeeming quality is facilities and space, those are indeed excellent.
Have been studying at Keats for almost four semesters now and I'm very enthusiastic about the quality of the teachers and the commitment of the school's staff.
One point of criticism is that I think they could put in some effort to group people of the same level together, rather than base it on who was together in last semester's class.
I stayed here in the early days of March 2013. Dave and his wife are swell owners, the staff attentive, the food good, rooms in perfect order, WiFi fast enough... Much like the old hump, the entire place is an excellent place to relax and make friends. And that is what you come to do in Dali, after all. The location is a bit isolated from the old town, but nothing is really far away in Dali. Besides, it makes for a better starting point to walk up Cangshan.
Shangri-la to nowhere: A week on the edge of Tibet
Posted byIf you crossed Central Asia during summer, I think a luggage this size would be enough for the essentials.
Luggage does not increase with distance. Once you have a tent, sleeping and cooking gear, a change of clothes and some tools, that's it.
Many long-distance riders like to add extra panniers to the front wheel in order to balance their bikes, but with good material and careful planning, this isn't necessary.
A bigger problem is food and water, but you could lose this extra ballast once you're past the barren areas.
Official: Yunnan will have two bullet trains by 2016
Posted bySo that's:
Official: "Yunnan will have two bullet trains by 2016"
not:
Official: Yunnan will have two bullet trains by 2016
:)
4G/3G connections are possible at high speeds. It all depends on the handover when you move from beacon to beacon. Some providers are particularly bad at it, others better. I remember that I had no problem using mobile internet riding high-speed trains in Germany with Deutsche Telekom, but with O2, the connection would always drop.
Streaming movies over Wifi is very unlikely. Takes up way too much bandwidth and most people who bring their computer will have their own movie collection.
Megatrudge 2014: 400 kilometers across the Gobi
Posted byrespect Pavel. That's a real bloody challenge!
Land mines and coffee in Wenshan
Posted byBecause they have no idea where they put them. That's the deal with mines, military don't seem to keep track of where exactly every mine is positioned, especially as some of them are moved around by landslides or other factors.
Elephant poached for ivory in Xishuangbanna
Posted bycloudtrapezer you're just saying something. China is actually one of the few countries to enforce a pretty strict wildlife protection policy. Banna is one of the few places where elephant populations are growing instead of dwindling because of this policy, much in contrast with other Asian regions.