Forums > Travel Yunnan > Are turnaround visa runs possible at the China-Vietnam border in Hekou? I successfully did this last weekend.
Got the 8:30pm sleeper bus (320RMB, a bit pricey I think) from south bus station to Mohan (advice: sleep on top, middle column, near to front). Arrived about 8am. (Bus arrived in Mengla just after 6am and waited there for about 45 mins, so may have been faster to get out there and get a minibus to Mohan).
There was almost no one at the border crossing so going out and in took about 10 minutes. Like somenick said, down the stairs, cross the road, up the other stairs. No need to be discrete. No one cares :)
I was told there is a bus all the way back to Kunming at 5pm.
Instead, I took a bus back to Mengla (1 hour, 17RMB). Then the bus to Jinghong (2 hours, 42RMB, every 15 or 20 mins). From Jinghong got the seated bus (very nice one) for 193RMB, 7 hours (including a border control).
You could probably do all that in one day and arrive back in Kunming before 10pm (so you can get the local public bus to the centre of town). However, I decided to stay the night in Jinghong.
The whole thing costs less than 600RMB including food on the way. Could probably do it for less if you don't take the bus all the way from Kunming to Mohan (break it up instead).
Enjoy :)
Forums > Travel Yunnan > Are turnaround visa runs possible at the China-Vietnam border in Hekou? @Stirfry - thanks for the info.
I'm going to attempt the same thing in a couple of weeks time. I'm on a double entry, so need to hop out and back in soon.
Is there anything I need to watch out for while hanging back in no-man's land? Also, I don't actually have an old Laos visa - could that be a problem?
Counting days - does the counting start with the day of entry as Day 1? In other words, if (in theory) it was a one-day chinese visa would that mean you have to leave on the same day as arrival or the next day?
Forums > Food & Drink > Food Courts? I just tried the one below Roberts School but there wasn't much for vegetarians at all.
Much better, was another food court a few doors up the hill (same side) from Roberts School. One stall in particular, with a long queue (25 people) out on the main street had about 8 veggie dishes to choose from.
Queue up, grab a bowl of rice and then select about 5 toppings. Pay up, pick up your bowl inside the food court and enjoy. Lots of people also choose to takeaway either using provided containers or bringing their own.
Service is a bit hectic because they are so busy. No time for banter with the staff who seemed understandably stressed.
Food was good and excellent value (7RMB). I definitely appreciated the fact you get so much variety in one meal.
From what I can remember, opening times 11:30-13:00, 17:30-19:00.
The other stalls seemed nothing special and were nowhere near as popular.
