Laos forum

Hello!

I've never taken any flight between Laos and China(Kunming) but i tarvelled northern Laos and Yunnan-China many times by overland linking them from both sides so i'll describe about overland.

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First of all, i’ll show you the route from LPB to Kunming.
LPB - Oudomxai - LNT - Boten/Mohan border - Meng La - Jinghong - Kunming
(*LPB=Luang Prabang, *LNT=Luang Nam Tha)

Now you can use direct bus from northern Laos to Kunming as below.
*BUS WITHIN LAOS (=all bus services are daily)
A) bus from LPB to Oudomxai--5-6 hours
B)bus from LPB to LNT--about 9 hours
C) bus from LNT to Boten/Mohan border--2 hours

*BUS FROM LAOS TO CHINA with one booking (=all bus services are daily)
D) direct bus from LPB to Kunming(sleeper)--about 24 hours
E) direct bus Oudomxai to Meng La(day bus)
F) direct bus Oudomxai to Jinghong(day bus)--about 8.5 hours
G) direct bus LNT to Meng La(day bus)
H) direct bus LNT to Jinghong(day bus)
(*direct bus=international bus with one booking)

*BUS WITHIN CHINA=from Xishuangbanna to Kunming (=all bus services are daily)
I ) sleeper bus from Mohan(border town in China) to Kunming
J) sleeper bus from Meng La to Kunming
K) day bus and sleeper bus from Jinghong to Kunming(Dep.08:00am-22:00pm many)/205-271RMB(Oct.2011)
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DETAIL above bus services
A) bus from LPB to Oudomxai--55,000Kip/09:00am, 12:00, 16:00pm from LPB northern bus station
B)bus from LPB to LNT-- 90,000Kip/09:00am from LPB northern bus station/ 110,000Kip/08:30am from LPB newly built opposite southern bus station=booking at agent or your Gh in town center is avalable and pick up at your Gh is also avalable
C) bus from LNT to Boten--25,000Kip/ 08:00am, 09:30am, 11:00am, 12:30pm, 14:00pm, 15:30pm

D) direct bus from LPB to Kunming(sleeper bus)
*operator--Naluang Company Travel
*departure day--every day
*departure time--07:00am
*bus fare--420,000Kip (at travel ageny 460,000-480,000Kip)
*arrival point--new "Kunming southern bus station"
E) direct bus Oudomxai to Meng La(day bus)--50,000Kip/08:00am (Oudomxai has only 1 bus station)
F) direct bus Oudomxai to Jinghong(day bus)--90,000Kip/08:00am
G) direct bus LNT to Meng La(day bus)--50,000Kip/08:00am from LNT southern bus station(=10km from town center and near the airport)
H) direct bus LNT to Jinghong(day bus)--95,000Kip/08:00am

I ) sleeper bus from Mohan(border town) to Kunming/330RMB (Oct.2011)/Dep:13:30pm,14:30pm, 17:30pm (*timetable-Mar.2010)
J) sleeper bus from Meng La to Kunming(sleeper)/305-327RMB(Oct.2011)/about 12.5 hours/Dep.18:00pm/18:30pm/19:00pm/19:30pm(*timetable Mar.2010--ie:.19:00pmMengLa -07:20amKunming)
K) day bus and sleeper bus from Jinghong to Kunming/205-217RMB/8.5-9 hours/Dep.08:00am-2200pm---many buses a day
*Jinghong has 3 bus stations along Meng La Road(main road )
Jinghong B/S(north) /Banna B/S(center)/Southern B/S(south). and we travellers normaly use Jinghong B/S and Southern B/S for going to direction Kunming & Laos.
*bus fares except (D) are not now but at the time of 2010 so they’ve maybe raised up with some more Kip now.
*If you go to Kunming by overland, i recomend you to take buses as below.
1)day bus to Oudomxai(A)+day bus to Jinghong(F)+day bus to Kungming(K) or
2)day bus to LNT+day bus to Jinghong(H)+day bus to Kunming(K)--LNT is very good place for breaking your trip or
3)day bus to Oudomxai(A)+day bus to MengLa(E)+sleeper bus to Kunming(J)

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PS) Bus Station in Kunming
Kunming has 5 new big bus stations now and Nan Yao bus station near the railway station that we travellers used for many years is entirely closed now, and our buses coming from Laos and Xishuangbanna arrive new Kunming southern bus station very far from city center.
Well, you have 3 options for going to city center as below.
!)by taxi--about 30mins/about 40RMB
2)by shuttle bus(microbus) betwen southern bus station and Nan Yao bus station(building itself is closed now)--bus No.C71/5RMB/about 30-35mins=almost same to taxi because this shuttle bus runs on highway
This bus(several C71 buses continuosly leave here) is waiting passengers stopping at neighbour to a 2-tier toilet(outside of bus terminal building) at the left side corner of bus station area with the big terminal building in the background.
3) local bus No.154/2RMB/about 70-90mins from public bus station neibough to the big bus station building.

Good luck!

roads: not clear what ''leg'' you mean. In China its very variable-from brand new 4-lane motorways till old-style bumpy moreholesasasfalt-with the former clearly in the winning mood-as long as it lasts.
C-East; also not quite clear what you mean by reliable: they do not fall down very often and do most flights reasonably on time. Most annoying are frequent time changes-sometimes unannounced-do not book to long before (no, that pernennial fear of youn newbies that flights are ''full'' is ungrounded). For domestic CN book via ctrip or elong-some 2-1 weeks befor for best price.

Afraid I can't comment on the route from LNT to the border. However, the road from Boten to Jinghong is new, in 2008 it was a day of winding turns and vomiting Chinese passengers - but my friends who traveled the route in 2010 say its smooth sailing now.

You may lose time but save a lot of money flying from Kunming to Hong Kong as it is a much larger airport, wouldn't be surprised if your Jinghong to HK flight passed through Kunming anyway. Not sure what your schedule is like but a night in Jinghong is not bad, you can rent bikes and head out to a local hotspring (made into a community pool - nothing rustic) nice on a clear night. Then take a bus to Kunming the next day - or take a night sleeper bus (fairly comfortable) and you'll arrive early in the morning.

China Eastern is fine - one of the more reliable Chinese airlines, I've had delays more often with China Southern. As well, out of airports like Jinghong's there aren't delays very often, it's only during the busy season that things start to clog up - very rarely is a flight cancelled in China, the departure time may be moved by a couple hours, but as cbkk says, that is usually only if you purchase months in advance. If the time is changed you'll receive an email from ctrip or elong if you book through them.