Bus From Kunming 昆明 to Shangrila 香格里拉
I went to the Kunming Bus Station since it seems to be the only bus station in Kunming which goes to northern Yunnan. The bus station was located at a developing part of the city which made it a little less comfortable to go to. The bus station itself was dark and dreary which made me stay outside of the station most of the time. I spent most of my waiting time at a nearby restaurant where I have my late lunch and early dinner. My trip will take me to what probably is one of the more outrageously named places in China – Shangrila. The trip costs me more than two hundred yuan to buy. I decided to go to the furthest point of my trip then slowly work my way back. I figured, if I were to get stuck somewhere it might as well be somewhere near the start of the trip so that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting back to Kunming as the rides will get easier to catch as I approach Kunming. I had a choice between Shangrila and Deqin which is even further north of Shangrila, however my concerns about altitude weighed heavily on my mind and I just decided to err on the side of caution since I don’t have any companions.
Small Beds on the Sleeper Bus from Kunming 昆明 to Shangrila 香格里拉
The bus from Kunming to Shangrila is a large double decker sleeper bus. I have taken some sleeper buses in China before, I believe it was in Guangxi province and they were surprisingly comfortable. I was expecting the level of quality to be somewhere like that but I was disappointed. There were three to a row on the bus with the three rows sporting narrow beds. It was really narrow as is it only was just enough to fit my shoulders and I’m not very big either. There was a little fence on the bed to keep you from rolling over in your sleep. If you are on the top bunk things might get a little bumpy. But don’t worry about rolling over, there is a seat belt to make sure you don’t. I was hoping I would be able to get the bottom bunk as that would be much easier to access but there was no more space. At least it was towards the front the bus rather that the last row. I would have probably thrown up several times by the time we reached Shangrila.
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