The tropical botanical garden at Menglun (勐仑) is quite nice, I went there for the first time in November and was very impressed. One can easily spend a day or two there and still not see everything there is to see.
I really enjoyed the afternoon I spent there and only saw a fraction of what there was to see. My favorite part was a less-visited section of pristine rainforest in the back.
There's a hotel located within the garden compound where you can stay overnight, allowing you to essentially have the entire facility to yourselves.
If you choose to stay a day or so, you may want to stock up on food. There's plenty of tasty tropical fruit to be picked up in Jinghong or Menglun. If you want to have a picnic there it may be worth stopping by Wangtianshu Deli (www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/wan_31347/) in Jinghong before heading out:
It takes about 60-90 minutes to get to Menglun from Jinghong by car. I'd recommend showing up around one or two pm, as during mornings the park has a lot of tour groups passing through. That gives you an afternoon with the gardens basically to yourselves.
If you don't mind taking a little extra time to get to Menglun, I'd suggest rafting from Jinghong downstream to Ganlanba (橄榄坝) and taking a car east from there. It is possible in Jinghong to arrange a driver to meet you at Ganlanba.
Enjoy your trip!
Kunming bans car horns downtown
Posted byI heard it works in Yuxi, an hour away from here. I've also heard that a no-horn rule was implemented quickly and effectively in Nanning a few years back.
Harbour Plaza Kunming purchased by Park Hotel Group
Posted byHi Shirleen,
Thank you for pointing that out, the errors have been corrected.
Chris
This weekend around Kunming
Posted byThanks to dianjing for noticing that... it's been corrected. We got the info from their recent flyer which didn't mention the admission fee.
Shanren Band show canceled
Posted byError corrected, that's what happens when I skip my lunchtime coffee...
Finally: South Asian food in Kunming
Posted byJust went by the airport and noticed that the Sightseeing Hotel is now a pile of rubble...