User profile: bluppfisk

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Forums > Living in Kunming > IP Calls

I've just given my parents a call in preparation of a call to my grandparents (they get confused by the skype delay) on Christmas day. 20 yuan is gone in less than 8 minutes though. Is this normal? Are there better options to call abroad?

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Direct flights from BKK to KMG (or the other way round)?

Where do I find the cheapest tickets for (if possible direct) flights from Bangkok to Kunming? Ctrip, China Southern and Air China all have ridiculously high prices (2000 RMB, close to what I paid for Düsseldorf-Bangkok), probably because they go via Guangzhou.

I believe they must come cheaper, especially as the flight is for 1 March. Any ideas? Also, I need to put a fairly large box (containing my bicycle) into the hold. How do I arrange this?

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > want to cycle?

I'm planning a similar trip towards Bangkok soon. 15th of January is my preliminary start date. However, I'd stick closer to the lake and make Yuxi my first stop. You're welcome to ride along on my first day(s).

S

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > overland visas to Thailand and Laos

On my overland trip to Thailand, I was planning to get Visas on Arrival for both Laos and Thailand.

However, I've just read that the overland Thailand visa will only grant me 15 days, not enough. Hence my questions (considering my nationality is Belgian):

A. How can I get a 30-day or longer visa if I'm planning to enter overland? Does that require me to go to the consulate?

A1. Where is that?
A2. How much time and money should I anticipate?
A3. Which documents should I prepare?

B. If I enter Laos overland, how many days VOA will I get?
B1. How much money do I need for this?
B2. Which documents should I prepare?

I know I could search the internet for this, but there are so many factors influencing this (policies change over time, nationalities differ, points of entry differ ...) that I'd rather ask people that live close by.

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don't forget that Dulong is a heavily Christian area, AND that drinking there is a serious issue. You can compare it to the droughts and the alcohol bans in both the US and in the Nordic countries in the early 20th century, when drinking had half of the country on its ass. Or Kunming.

"However, the RMB has, despite dropping recently, grown overall against foreign currency, so the real cost in global terms has risen even further, perhaps 15x and 6x. Yes, there has been inflation, but that happens everywhere and not 15x in 15 years, ie. 100% per year!"

That doesn't sound right. If you're consuming domestically, you can't state that food prices have actually risen a multiple of the actual inflation because of a difference of RMB vs foreign currency. At least that's not a good indication of economic situations.

This only holds true in the eyes of the few who shop in Yunnan using foreign currency (I guess importers are feeling it).

Reviews

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.