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A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Kunming, China by TravelPod blogger Cadkinsca titled “China, Finally” Cadkinsca’s travel blog entry: “The border is a short stretch of the Red River. You exit Vietnam on one side, walk through “no man’s land” across the bridge and deal with China, which is the first country to x-ray my bag not involving an airport. I was then pulled aside so they could inspect my books to see if any were prohibited contraband. They didn’t take my Lonely Planet because it covers southwest China only, but they took another guy’s because it covered the whole country, including Taiwan. It was then – you guessed it – another 12-hour busride. Had I known I couldn’t get to Yuanyang, I would have skipped Sapa and flown from Hanoi to Kunming. The bus itself was alright, but the road for most of the way was the worst one yet – dirt in parts and pockmarked in whole. That particular border crossing is not terribly busy, but they are building a new expressway. Unfortunately, it wasn’t finished and it taunted us the whole way, temptingly towering over us with nice fresh concrete and six whole lanes of smooth unachievable pleasure. To make it even better, the driver only stopped at the most spartan of rest stops, presumably because he got a kickback or they were owned by his cousin. And, a mere 3 hours into China we had a winner of the shittiest (literally) roadside bathroom of my entire trip (see pic). Once we got to Kunming, four of us from the bus …
