Chaingsaen To China By River?

[Xangsamhua]

Does anyone know if it's possible to travel by river from Chiangsaen (Chiangrai) to Yunnan in China?

[gamini]

yes, I did it some time back. It was a nice trip on a small cargo ship. We had a bunk to sleep in overnight too. About 2 days and on night

[Xangsamhua]

yes, I did it some time back. It was a nice trip on a small cargo ship. We had a bunk to sleep in overnight too. About 2 days and on night

Thank you. I'm asking on behalf of a Chinese teacher at our school, so if she needs further details I'll post them in the thread.

[asanee]

be aware that above did not say HOW long ago.

long, long ago it was only possible the way he descibed.

Then came a regular (2/3 times weekly) nice passengerboat-and the Chinese in their eternal quest to bring in more money, only allowed people to go with that. There should be a site-in really low water=end of dry season, often cancelled. Takes just 1 long day downstream. Not that cheap.

Then according to some reviews, it became agian (perhaps mildly illegal) to go by cargoboat-at much lower prices. The Chinese may clamp down on that any moment without warning. Plus that there have been some shootings and drug-related issues on the river. You do NOT need a Lao-visum to go this way.

There is a splendid alternative: by bus via Laos: a daily sleeperbus runs Kunming-Vientiane, and there you can pick up a train or bus to BKK. Less of a nice rivertrip, but quicker and loads cheaper alltogether-for most Chinese the only way they look at things.

[Xangsamhua]

be aware that above did not say HOW long ago.

long, long ago it was only possible the way he descibed.

Then came a regular (2/3 times weekly) nice passengerboat-and the Chinese in their eternal quest to bring in more money, only allowed people to go with that. There should be a site-in really low water=end of dry season, often cancelled. Takes just 1 long day downstream. Not that cheap.

Then according to some reviews, it became agian (perhaps mildly illegal) to go by cargoboat-at much lower prices. The Chinese may clamp down on that any moment without warning. Plus that there have been some shootings and drug-related issues on the river. You do NOT need a Lao-visum to go this way.

There is a splendid alternative: by bus via Laos: a daily sleeperbus runs Kunming-Vientiane, and there you can pick up a train or bus to BKK. Less of a nice rivertrip, but quicker and loads cheaper alltogether-for most Chinese the only way they look at things.

Thank you. Very helpful information. Certainly worth knowing, too, that there may be some danger going by river.