Information on YuanYang

Accounts for 08' Trip

Just a brief account of our accounts for this 08' trip(all amounts are in per pax):

China

Bus from Hekou to Yuanyang: 45rmb
Tourguide and transportation for rice terraces: 30rmb
Minivan from Yuanyang to Jianshui: 40rmb
Bus from Jianshui to Jinghong: 155rmb
Bus from Jinghong to Luang Nam Tha: 70rmb
Accommodation: 35-40rmb( 2 star hotel rates)
Food: 10-20rmb

Total spent from Communal: 3435rmb(Per Pax: 572.5rmb=130Sing)

Laos

Bike rentals in Luang Nam Tha: 10000kip
Bus from Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang: 85000kip
Tuktuks in Laos: approx. 5000-10000kip(subject to your bargaining skills)
Bus tickets from Luang Prabang to Phonsavanh: 45000kip
Minivan from Phonsavanh to Sam Neu: 90000kip
Transportation, tour guide & entrance fees to Plain of Jars(Site 1): 60000kip
Songthaew from Sam Neu to Vieng Xai: 10000kip
Tuktuk to escape from “ghost hotel”: 4000kip
Caves exploration & bike rentals: 40000kip
Songthaew from Vieng Xai to Na Meo( Lao-Vietnam border): 20000kip
Coffee money at the customs: 2000kip
Accommodation: 18000kip- 20000kip(guesthouses)

Total Spent from Communal: 6,211,000kip( per pax: 1,035,100=200Sing)

Vietnam

Taxis: 68000VND (Don’t get duped from bogey ones, only take the ones that are “Hanoi Taxis”)
Accommodation: 12-16USD per night
Train tickets from Hanoi to Lao Cai: 88000VND

Total Spent from Communal: 2,188,000VND(per pax: 365,000VND=30 Sing)

In USD: per pax: 16.5USD=25Sing

Total Spent per pax: 385Sing

Last Journey in Laos

Fusionoize Update III

Hi everyone again,

heres another update from the six of us in Hanoi, Vietnam. The weather is rather warm and we are living in the old quaters of the city. For those who don't know, things in Hanoi have really changed since 2006. The inflation rate is at 25 %; a decent meal now costs 4-5 SGD while we got ripped off on a taxi by paying around 22SGD for a 15 mins ride. So far, Dog is down with fever and has no appetite (he had a banana desert for dinner only) and Seth is feeling unwell too (he just plays PSP all day on bed) while Edmund is having diahorrea since morning. So far, only myself, tommy and Khooky is fine (don't you see a common similarity between the sick and the strong?!) But those who are worried by that (you know who you are!) don't worry, they will be in my caring hands till the end of the trip.

JW

Fusionoize Update II

Hi to anyone whos reading.

This is our second and final update for our trip so far. Today is Day 15 and we reached Hanoi from Vieng Xai (Laos) after a 12-hour bus ride, so here I am. We will be staying here in Hanoi till this Sunday (21st Dec) where we will take the 8pm flight; do note that there is a mistake in our itinerary, our ETA is 0050 on Monday morning (1am!) and not 4am as stated previously.

As it is rather late now and we have not showered for 4 days since Phonsavanh (its' 10 degC, not that we were lazy or anything), I will briefly run through our journey in days so far:

Day 7: Luang Nam Tha
Day 8: Luang Nam Tha - Luang Prabang
Day 9,10: Luang Prabang
Day 11: Luang Prabang - Phonsavanh
Day 12: Phonsavanh
Day 13: Phonsavanh - Vieng Xai
Day 14: Vieng Xai
Day 15: Vieng Xai - Nam Xoi/Na Meo(international borders) - Thanh Hoa - Hanoi

To be honest, Laos was not as cheap as we expected due to the global inflation; meals cost about 3 USD per person per meal while bus tickets are rather expensive compared to last year. The border guards at the Vietnam side receives a 'special mention' prize from us for their efficiency in stamping our passports while talking about the 1st leg of the Singapore-Vietnam AFF match the day before. Alcohol seems to make things easier after one of them asked us to give them one of our chinese liquor bottles (we bought as gifts) too, so no one's complaining.

JW

Fusionoize Update!!

Hi guys,

JW here giving an update on the trip so far. Today is Day 7 and we are in Luang Nam Tha town, Laos which is approx. 10km from the border (Boten) with China which we left on Day 6.

Day 1: Singapore-Hanoi-Lao Cai
By the time we arrived, it was already 2200 and we could only purchase the 3rd class seats on the train to Lao Cai. In short, we didn't sleep well or eat well through the whole night......
*apparently no-smoking signs are meant for display purposes only, people DO smoke in enclosed train cabins!

Day 2: Lao Cai-Hekou-Yuanyang
Finally, stepping into China was a breeze as we spoke a common tongue and the people were very friendly. Except for the part where everyone spits and the horror stories about the Chinese public toilets are 100% true, with a few details that we can add onto.

Day 3:Yuanyang
Day 4: Yuanyang-Jianshui-Jinghong
Day 5: Jinghong
China was pretty much the same; big cities, spitting people, smokers everywhere, spicy and salty food but we survived it. We have travelled at least 1000km so far through China getting from one place to another in Yunan Province, China. Yuanyang was the coldest place we visited (8 deg C at night) but the worst is behind us. I just worry how to adjust to Laos given how relatively comfortable our travel in Yunan has been so far.

Day 6: Jinghong-Boten-Luang Nam Tha
Laos was a totally different experience, given that we don't know howto speak Lao in the first place. The prices of food have gone up (1 meal = approx. 3-4USD) but other than that the weather is less cold and the hotels have HBO, Star Movies and so on so we should be just fine! Apparently due to the economic crisis, there are lesser Whites around in town now which is the same for China tourism as well.

In closure, the six of us are generally fine with no illnessesor injury thus far and we are on track for the itinerary, just that we changed some destinations. Our money will definitely last us the whole trip and we have access to computers from this part onwards of the journey.

PS: To the person who thinks I should be dead by now, sorry to disappoint you! Lol do take care of my stuff I passed to you though, I need it till April!

Final Itinerary

Note: We all need Renminbi (RMB) since we are passing thru China for a few days. Bring along more USD (Hanoi and Laos) and some SGD as well just in case.

In my case: SGD500 to USD330 approx, SGD250 to RMB (haven’t changed), plus extra SGD 250.

*MPFSC gave us some handy thermos bottles meant for travelling on Tuesday; if you don’t wanna bring along with you on the trip pls SMS me to remind me not to bring it for you on departure date, thanks.

In case you are still blur, we are meeting @ 1500(3pm) tml at the budget terminal.

Day /Time	Morning	Afternoon	Night	Comments
Day 1 – 04/12/08	-	SIN-HANOI (1735 ETD, Meet at 1615 budget terminal!)	HANOI-LAO CAI (2000 ETA in Hanoi; overnight sleeper train)	From Noi Bai airport we go directly to the train station and buy the tickets immediately.
Day 2 – 05/12/08	LAO CAI-HEKOU-YUANYANG HoursH	YUANYANG
Day 3 – 06/12/08	YUANYANG AND/OR SURROUNDING AREAS
Day 4 – 07/12/08	YUANYANG-SIMAO		SIMAO
Day 5 – 08/12/08	SIMAO-MENGLA-MUANG SING		MUANG SING
Day 6 – 09/12/08	MUANG SING AND/OR SURROUNDING AREAS
Day 7 – 10/12/08	MUANG SING-LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA
Day 8 – 11/12/08	LUANG NAM THA-LUANG PRABANG		LUANG PRABANG
Day 9 – 12/12/08	LUANG PRABANG AND/OR SURROUNDING AREAS
Day 10 – 13/12/08	LUANG PRABANG-SAM NEUA		SAM NEUA	We can skip Phonsavanh totally by backtracking up north and taking a smaller road seen in thr google map on our blog!
Day 11 – 14/12/08	SAM NEUA AND/OR SURROUNDING AREAS (e.g. Vieng Xai) OCIP Section!			We can base ourselves in Sam Neua to access Vieng Xai (1 hour)
Day 12 – 15/12/08
Day 13 – 16/12/08
Day 14 – 17/12/08	Buffer Day
Day 15 – 18/12/08	SAM NEUA-VIENG XAI-NA MEO		NA MEO
Day 16 - 19/12/08	NA MEO-MAI CHAU or NA MEO-THANH HOA		MAI CHAU/THANH HOA	At Na Meo buses are irregular, so we cannot decide which route back to Hanoi till then.
Day 17 – 20/12/08	MAI CHAU-HANOI or THANH HOA-HANOI		HANOI
Day 18 – 21/12/08	HANOI		SIN-HANOI (0400 ETA)
Day 19 – 22/12/08	SIN (home sweet home, after almost 3 weeks! )

Itinerary Ver 2

The journey from Jinghong to Kunming is a mere 8 hours by bus; 2 days was the older route (my apologies; thanks Seth!). Since there are even overnight sleeper buses, we can fit the new itinerary (personally I support this one!) into our 18 days of travel. Read, comments please.

*Both itineraries are similar from Day 1-11 as we would have to cover these places anyway; note the changes from Day 11 onwards which is a pretty drastic route change. This itinerary is a worst case scenario already i.e. overland trvaelling by day if we cannot find overnight transport to our next destination.

Note: Charter – private bus, motorbike/tuk-tuk or taxi

Bus – Public transport

Day /Time	Morning	Afternoon	Night	Comments
Day 1 – 04/12/08	-	SIN (1735 ETD, Meet at 1615 budget terminal!)	HANOI (2000 ETA in Hanoi)
Day 2 – 05/12/08	HANOI-MAI CHAU (approx. 2 hours by charter, 4 hours by bus)HoursH	MAI CHAU-NA MEO (approx. 4.5 hours) NA MEO-VIENG XAI (approx. 2 hours by bus)	VIENG XAI
Day 3 – 06/12/08	VIENG XAI (Pathet Lao Caves)	VIENG XAI	VIENG XAI
Day 4 – 07/12/08	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	Note: approx. 1 hour by charter between both villages
Day 5 – 08/12/08	SAM NEUA	SAM NEUA	SAM NEUA	Can be based in either village given close proximity for CIP
Day 6 – 09/12/08	SAM NEUA-PHONSAVANH (approx. 10-12 hours by bus)	SAM NEUA-PHONSAVANH (approx. 10-12 hours by bus)	PHOSAVANH
Day 7 – 10/12/08	PHOSAVANH (Plain Of Jars)	PHOSAVANH	PHONSAVANH	Given only one attraction worth seeing, we may leave in the afternoon for Luang Prabang and spend the night there instead of Phonsavanh.
Day 8 – 11/12/08	PHONSAVANH-LUANG PRABANG (approx. 8 hours by bus)	LUANG PRABANG	LUANG PRABANG
Day 9 – 12/12/08	LUANG PRABANG-UDOMXAI (approx. 5 hours by bus)	UDOMXAI-LUANG NAM THA (approx. 5 hours)	LUANG NAM THA	If possible, we would get a straight ride to Luang Nam Tha and avoid Udomxai except for lunch. Night buses are available too, have to play by ear and ask around.
Day 10 – 13/12/08	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	Given travelers’ accounts,2 full days is already the bare minimum to spend here.
Day 11 – 14/12/08	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA
Day 12 – 15/12/08	LUANG NAM THA-BOTEN-MENGLA (approx. 1-2 hours)	MENGLA-JINGHONG	JINGHONG
Day 13 – 16/12/08	JINGHONG	JINGHONG	JINGHONG
Day 14 – 17/12/08	JINGHONG	JINGHONG	JINGHONG	There are overnight sleeper buses (8 hours, Dog) but irregular.
Day 15 – 18/12/08	JINGHONG-KUNMING (approx. 8-10 hours by charter)		KUNMING
Day 16 - 19/12/08	KUNMING-LAO CAI-HANOI (2 days by train? Overnight sleepers OR 10 hours from Kunming to Hekou by bus then overnight sleeper from Lao Cai to Hanoi)			Have to check exact time and train route beforehand!
Day 17 – 20/12/08
Day 18 – 21/12/08	HANOI	HANOI	SIN-HANOI (0400 ETA)
Day 19 –22/12/08	SIN

Itinerary 2008

Note: Charter – private bus, motorbike/tuk-tuk or taxi

Bus – Public transport

Day /Time	Morning	Afternoon	Night	Comments
Day 1 – 04/12/08	-	SIN (1735 ETD, Meet at 1615 budget terminal!)	HANOI (2000 ETA in Hanoi)
Day 2 – 05/12/08	HANOI-MAI CHAU (approx. 2 hours by charter, 4 hours by bus)HoursH	MAI CHAU-NA MEO (approx. 4.5 hours) NA MEO-VIENG XAI (approx. 2 hours by bus)	VIENG XAI
Day 3 – 06/12/08	VIENG XAI (Pathet Lao Caves)	VIENG XAI	VIENG XAI
Day 4 – 07/12/08	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	CIP (VIENG XAI OR SAM NEUA)	Note: approx. 1 hour by charter between both villages
Day 5 – 08/12/08	SAM NEUA	SAM NEUA	SAM NEUA	Can be based in either village given close proximity for CIP
Day 6 – 09/12/08	SAM NEUA-PHONSAVANH (approx. 10-12 hours by bus)	SAM NEUA-PHONSAVANH (approx. 10-12 hours by bus)	PHOSAVANH
Day 7 – 10/12/08	PHOSAVANH (Plain Of Jars)	PHOSAVANH	PHONSAVANH	Given only one attraction worth seeing, we may leave in the afternoon for Luang Prabang and spend the night there instead of Phonsavanh.
Day 8 – 11/12/08	PHONSAVANH-LUANG PRABANG (approx. 8 hours by bus)	LUANG PRABANG	LUANG PRABANG
Day 9 – 12/12/08	LUANG PRABANG-UDOMXAI (approx. 5 hours by bus)	UDOMXAI-LUANG NAM THA (approx. 5 hours)	LUANG NAM THA	If possible, we would get a straight ride to Luang Nam Tha and avoid Udomxai except for lunch. Night buses are available too, have to play by ear and ask around.
Day 10 – 13/12/08	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	Given travelers’ accounts,2 full days is already the bare minimum to spend here.
Day 11 – 14/12/08	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA	LUANG NAM THA
Day 12 – 15/12/08	LUANG NAM THA-BOTEN-MENGLA (approx. 1-2 hours)	MENGLA	MENGLA
Day 13 – 16/12/08	MENGLA	MENGLA-LUANG NAM THA (approx. 1-2 hours)	LUANG NAM THA	We can choose to leave in the morning for Luang Nam Tha if nothing is left in Mengla
Day 14 – 17/12/08	LUANG NAM THA-UDOMXAI (approx. 5 hours by bus)	UDOMXAI-MONG KHOA (definitely within one day total)	MONG KHOA	MONG KHOA/ MUANG KHOA (different spellings)
Day 15 – 18/12/08	MONG KHOA-DIEN BIEN		DIEN BIEN
Day 16 - 19/12/08	DIEN BIEN-LAI CHAU		LAI CHAU
Day 17 – 20/12/08	LAI CHAU-LAO CAI	LAO CAI	LAO CAI-HANOI (overnight sleeper train)
Day 18 – 21/12/08	HANOI	HANOI	SIN-HANOI (0400 ETA)
Day 19 – 22/12/08	SIN (home sweet home, after almost 3 weeks! )