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Photos of the Laos side of the border Luang Prabang station. About a 20-30 minute drive into town. Only farms around the station area. Immigration waiting area on the Laos side.

We had purchased our tickets on Trip from Kunming to Luang Prabang but for some reason you can't purchase the return tickets from any of the regular on line sites. Return tickets must be purchased from Laos agents and the commissions were quite high. From research I had found out that there was...

From Kunming main station we the new metro line that linked the main station to Kunming South station which is the terminal station for the newly opened Kunming to Vientiane railway. Our hotel was situated on the metro one stop before the main station to allow easy access the following...

With the tour over we were back on our own planned itinerary. We were heading for Laos and so the next day required a 7 hour high speed rail journey from Chengdu to Kunming and an overnight stay in Kunming. Chinese trains are easily booked on line (we used Trip) and require your passport...

After this last stop we were on the bus back to Chengdu to our hotel. The tour guide who had been very upbeat and friendly was dropped off at nearby Emeishan where he apparently resided. On this last short trip he seemed to be somewhat unhappy and the general feeling was that the group as a...

Our last stop on the tour. Leshan Giant Buddha. Overall the tour was great value as we were able to see some wonderful places in a relatively short time for a bargain price. Despite the language barrier our tour companions were mostly very friendly and a fun bunch.

Overnight at our hotel in Emeishan. Dinner at another industrial tourist place and a short walk around the local area. The next morning we headed to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. Our last stop but on the way we had to visit a local cultural village (shopping).

The summit area of Emeishan. One of China's four sacred mountains. While there have been various Buddhist statues and temples constructed all over the area for many centuries the Golden statue is a very recent addition.

From the bus drop off point there was a climb and quite a walk to the base of the cable car. Mrs Woodyren's knees were giving her some discomfort and after her experience with altitude in Huanglong she decided against heading to the summit. Huge lines at the base of the cable car...

Overnight in our Chengdu hotel and then another very early start as we travelled to Mt Emei. Arrived at Mt Emei late morning and then lunch within the park area. Mt Emei entrance. Then you are transported by park buses for the approx 1 hour trip to the area of the cable car...

We had time to walk around the local area in Chengdu that night. We went in search of some local food and were not disappointed. We found a night market and sampled a lot of the fare. I really enjoy the vibrancy, smells and tastes of an Asian street food market. Oyster and egg...

A few more photos of the bus ride back to Chengdu. Many of the towns along the way were devastated by the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. The road passed through many cherry and other fruit growing areas. Our Chengdu hotel for the night. Many of these local hotels are very...

Day three and we were heading back to Chengdu albeit with a few obligatory shopping stops. The local tour guides earn most of their salary through commission from these places. Locals seem to spend up big and fall for the fake (IMO) sales pitches and valuations. The markup from manufacture to...

Overnight in a local hotel. A few photos to show the standard of accommodation which was realy good considering the price of the tour was so inexpensive. Typical Chinese breakfast. I usually just ate boiled eggs and some bread or cake. At this stage I still hadn't seen a...

Dinner tonight was in a local town that was obviously set up for the tourist trade. Multiple buses arriving and funneled into the various eateries. Nonetheless it was decent food and entertainment. Spicy hotpot.

A few bus hops and more walking took us back to the park entrance. All in all we spent about 8-9 hours walking through the park. Another memorable day. Just outside the park entrance.

At this time we were at around the middle section of the park. We were running a little short of time and after a big day in Huanglong yesterday we were also a little tired. We caught the park buss between a few of the stops. Yak jerky. Tried a sample and bought some...

We basically followed the path on the right of this diagram. Unfortunately we only had about 10 hours in the park. They say it takes 3 days to walk it all but we managed to see a good portion in out time there. The paths take you very close without detracting much from the beauty...

A little more sun poking through enhancing the blue.

The park was spotlessly clean. An army of workers sweeping and cleaning. Like many parks in China now the whole park was non smoking and people from what I could see obeyed those rules. (Maybe the social credit system gives them an incentive to do so but that's a discussion for another day)...