bgtp Posted December 30, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2002 The best guidebook I found was 'China, Yunnan Province - The Bradt Travel Guide' by Stephen Mansfield. It was very helpful, particularly in recommending day-trips to smaller towns/sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted January 1, 2003 Report Share Posted January 1, 2003 Great informative report BGTP. I admire your independent traveling spirit. That's the way I like to get around, and it's great fun to go to places not already overrun with westerners. How did you access your money in China? Did you use ATMs, travelers checks, or take USD or Baht for exchange? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgtp Posted January 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 shotover, I used both traveller's chex ($US) and actual $US. Funny thing, the hotel in Kunming excanged my trav chex at a bank rate rather than some rip-off hotel rate. Maybe some law requires they use an 'official' rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 2, 2003 Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 What hotel did you use in Kunming? I will be there in March and was looking at the Camellia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted January 2, 2003 Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 Were ATMs common in SW China? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgtp Posted January 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 I stayed at the King World for 260 Y or $31. If you arrive by plane, travel agents will find you and ask you if you need a hotel. I knew the internet rate for the King World was 280, so I asked the agent if she could get me a room there for 260. She said yes. When checking out, I told the help at the King World I would be coming back the following week and could I book a room at the same price. They said no, it would cost more and to get the cheap price I would have to go thru an agent again which is what I did. Didn't notice a lot of ATM's, but to be honest I wasn't looking for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 Guys; My apologies if I sound like a party pooper or pissant, but Ruli is even admitted by the Chinese government to have a massive AIDS problem. Since it is a major entry point into SE Asia, China believes that AIDS first came to Ruli. Most of the trade is directed to truck drivers, who have dispersed the disease throughout the country. This is also a major opium entry route, so IV drug usage apparently is high there. I haven't done any primary research on this, just reflecting what I've read in magazines. Please be careful. Hopefully the situation is not as bad as I painted it, but no sense in taking extreme chances if anything looks dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 Just to add a detail to bgtp and LaoHuLi's great posts: the massage at the Camellia Hotel (which is very popular with backpackers) costs around 80 RMB for a standard (very pleasant) 1 hour massage. When I went, the friendly and attractive girl offered an HJ for an additional 200 RMB. Further services would have been available if I had stayed at that hotel. If you don't speak Chinese, the only hassle will be to be firm in avoiding the manicure, sauna, etc that they want to sell to you before the massage. What cracked me up was the girl explaining how much safer the Camellia is than other hotels, because it was started by the government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 ATMs are quite common in Yunnan, the problem being that a lot of them only accept Chinese cards. Your best bets are the main branches of the Big 4 Banks. In Kunming, quite a few of the branches in the centre take foreign cards, in other places, you may be down to the main branch of the bank of China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 I'm will soon be going to Kunming. I'm flying with Yunnan airlines from BKK. I would like to go to Ruili also. I know that Kunming - Mang Shi can be done with Yunnan Airlines, but I can't seem to find the i time table anywhere on the web. Anyone got info? :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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