I can’t believe I am here, at home, writing the vlog of my final week of my latest little adventure. People look at me strange because I consider 4 weeks a short getaway, I’ve been used to saving for a couple of years to five years and then having trips of 6-8 weeks as a minimum. I find myself back at work too with just a single day to readjust to home/work life. Anyways, adjust I must! The final week of the trip starts in China, Kunming to be exact!

DAY 22 – Monday – Final Day Kunming

My final day in Kunming I headed to Mount Xishan, also known as the ‘Western Hills’. It was an okay day in the end but threatened to be a bust. I planned to go there, shoot a little video summarising my time in China whilst taking a cable car – as I had taken a few whilst in China – look at some views and return back to the hotel to relax, do some washing and get ready for the next day which would see me take the train to Laos.

However, after navigating my way to the cable car station, this amazing cable car that goes over the beautiful Dianchi Lake which is massive and a beautiful colour, I found it closed for maintenance. It had been a hassle to navigate to as well, because Google Maps just is pretty useless in China, not showing me the metro stations so I had to guess to get close and then take my first ever DiDi.

There was a taxi there though, and the lady driver took me up the mountain to near the peak for a decent price. A 30-minute drive because the side facing the lake was super steep and didn’t have roads all the way to the top so we had to drive fully around. Then I found myself walk a short walk to the peak for awesome views, and then hiking down via steep steps, some through carved out tunnels and the like. It was quite impressive and so I spent a few hours up the mountain in the end before returning to the hotel, where my washing refused to dry in the dryer. After four hours of not even half a load spinning and not drying I hung it up around my room and set the clock for half and hour earlier than planned.

DAY 23 – Tuesday – Train to Vientiane

Somehow I woke to dry clothes, and was soon on the way to Kunming South Station to catch my fast train, D86 or D83 (it has two number, no idea why) to Laos. Turned out, I booked from Kunming Station, much much closer to my hotel but thankfully the train did stop at Kunming South.

The train ride was very nice. The train comfortable, the border crossing was handled smoothly too, not a lot of people on the train to be fair. It reached speeds of 160km/h and they must have created more tunnels than I could have imagined before taking the train. To think of travel times in Laos when I was there previously – so many hours for short distances – and see you can make it from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in under 2 hours – mind blowing!

DAY 24 – Wednesday – Day of Rest

Vientiane is not a city brimming with things to see and do, I took the Wednesday to rest and get a two-hour massage at the hotel spa, found a lovely little place to eat in the evening and went for a good evening walk too. I was in the tourist district, so there was no shortage of restaurants and the like.

DAY 25 – Thursday – Buddha Park

Today’s sole activity was visiting ‘Buddha Park’, a forty-minute bus from the Central Bus Station.  This amazing park was created in 1958 and indeed contains a plethora of Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes, made from concrete. It’s also on the banks of the Mekong River, allowing me to get close and get some shots and even see Thailand from there as the river provides the border between the two countries.

There was this giant sort of ‘genie-bottle’ – that’s the best that I can describe it that you go inside and climb and clamber to the top of for some nice views.

DAY 26 – Friday – Sight Seeing Vientiane

So I left most of the sight-seeing to the final proper day in Vientiane. I managed to get in a few places this day including Pha That Luang Vientiane, also known as the ‘Golden Stupa’. A large golden stupa, I don’t know what else to say about it but it’s probably Vientiane’s most recognisable sight.

Patuxai is an arch in the middle of a main road in Vientiane erected between 1957 and 1968 to commemorate those who fought and died for independence from the French. You can go inside and climb to the very top for some Vientiane views. I also visited Wat Sisaket which is a significant Buddhist temple, and Ho Phrakeo Museum which is a lovely temple housing relics including several Buddhas.

I then head to COPE – where they supply equipment for victims that had stepped on a mine/unexploded ordinances in Laos, which sadly is still a thing today as the USA dropped MILLIONS of them during the Vietnam War to stop the Vietcong using Laos to transition from North to South Vietnam. They have a small visitor centre which is worth popping your head in to see.

I finished on the large Night Market back near the tourist area and the Riverside Amusement Park, where the heavens opened and we all sheltered in the dodgem car arena!

DAY 27 (& 28) – Saturday – Homeward Bound!

I flew out last Saturday evening on Hainan Airlines via Haiku on the Chinese Province/Island of Hainan. I took the day super easy, had a late checkout at 12pm and took full advantage of it. The journey home saw me nearly leave my laptop at security at Haiku Airport, but otherwise was fairly uneventful.

Hainan Airlines are rated as a ‘5-Star’ Airline by Skytrax, and whilst there wasn’t anything to complain wildly about, I would dispute that rating as it was all pretty basic. I considered an upgrade on the Haiku-Melbourne leg at the gate, but at over $1300AUD I just couldn’t justify it.

I arrived home shortly before 2pm in the afternoon on Sunday, and am still somewhat in a daze but surviving! There will, of course, be more content from this trip to come, starting with the vlogs from June the 22^nd. So I look forward to sharing with you much more detail from the last 4 weeks! Thanks for reading, today, take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!