@bucko LMAO i read your blog and my experience was so similar to yours! the scumbag wrote a number down on a piece of paper and told me to pay. this was in LP and apparently there was a one way system there despite not one traffic sign saying so. then a friendly passer-by offered to translate for me, she told me he was accusing me of lying when i mentioned no traffic signs and advised i pay up. i havent had luck with thai, vietnamese, khmer, laotian traffic police

I rode my motorbike to L.B back in '08 and had some 麻烦 at the border crossing as a foreigner trying to motorcycle into Lao with the chinese immigration officers and then even more 麻烦 with the corrupt Lao police fining me as soon as they saw the Chinese license plates on my bike.

I heard from different sources (and from personal experience) that the customs and immigration staff at Mohan can be quite uncooperative with foreigners trying to take a vehicle across the border. And also the Lao police will hassle anyone with foreign plates. This was a while ago, so I want to know of anyone's most recent experiences as I plan to drive to LP in'16

What is the quickest way to drive to jiaozixueshan? I read there is a new road that opened and takes only 2 and a half hours but baidu maps says the quickest way is 5 minimum. Years ago, I cycled north on small roads to 雪山乡 and jiaozixueshan was signed on newly paved roads. But the other day, I drove to luquan on the highway and saw there was a sign for a turn off just outside kunming (when you go through that tunnel) to jiaozixueshan. Anyone knows which would be quicker?