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

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

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.

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.

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.