Lao-ward Bound

Reid here.  We have finally decided on the next thailand-skipping stage our travels!  After much careful consideration, and, when that failed, a decisive tournament of rock-paper-scissors between the major options, we have chosen to head overland to Laos and work our way south to Cambodia.  

Our first stop in Laos will be Luang Nam Tha, a small border (ish) town that is the jumping off point for excellent eco-trekking in the Nam Tha jungle preserve.  But lets not get ahead of ourselves.  First we have to get to the Laos border, and that will involve a few exciting (?) firsts: our first overnight train in China (reputed to be quite nice), our first sleeper bus (not necessarily sharing the train's reputation), and our first land border crossing (not counting the hong kong - shenzhen one, since both are technically china, and I wanted three "firsts" for narrative flow).  

We'll take a short (1.5 hour) bus ride from Yangshuo back to Guilin, where we will catch the 18-hour night train to Kunming (capital of Yunnan province).  From there, we will take an overnight sleeper bus from Kunming to Mengla (a small transport hub near the border).  There, we'll transfer to a local bus that will take us over the border (where we'll cross the border and pay $30ish for a one month visa) and on to Luang Nam Tha.  

A side note on sleeper buses.  I did not realize such things exist.  I sort of wish that I still didn't.  It is a coach type bus with the seats replaced by two rows of bunks along each wall and another row of bunks along center.  The bunks are a bit less than 6 feet long and travelers have frequently described the sleeping experience as "coffin-like".  Smoking and spitting are also frequent complaints.  I think it will be an adventure.

As we peruse the Lonely Planet, we're getting excited about eco-trekking, staying at the "Gibbon Experience" - www.gibbonexperience.org, volunteering with some local literacy projects, and (hopefully) using my construction experience to help build a school.