So, here's the plan. I say "the plan", it's a plan, a plan that nobody seems to have thought of and written up on the Internet or in the guide books. If the bus times are what we think they are, we're aiming for the following:
5.30pm: taxi to Kunming South Bus Terminal
7.30pm: Bus to Yuanyang
Saturday 2.30am: arrive inexplicably early, hike to viewpoint above the terraces. Wait.
6.30am: Watch (and photograph avidly) one of the most beautiful sunrises on the planet. Feel smug about having got a better viewpoint than tourists who arrived later. Hope that smug feeling outweighs cold.
9.30am: Decide that seven hours in Yuanyang is probably sufficient.Bus to Jianshui.
2.30pm: Arrive Jianshui, eat lunch and await connecting bus.
4.30pm: Bus to Jinghong, centre of Xishuangbanna. Sleep for 17 hours.
Sunday 9.30am: Arrive Jinghong, find hostel. Jungle!
If the times have changed (and nobody thought to make it public) then we could well be spending a night in one of the towns above, where accommodation is plentiful. The drawback is that it eats into our schedule an extra day - it's better to travel and night than day - and making it as far as Hainan is looking less and less likely.
The further south we go, the warmer the climate will be. It'll also be harder to find decent internet connections, it being jungle and all, but I'll try and get some photos up as soon as possible.
I've enjoyed Kunming, but am definitely ready to leave. It's like a clean version of Zhengzhou, which is great, but it's time for another dose of adventure! Remember that you can clikc on the blue markers on this map to read mini-blogs.
Speak soon,
X