Programme: Kunming – Stone Forest – Jianshui – Yuanyang – Dali – Xizhou – Tiger Leaping Gorge – Shangri-La – Lijiang
Hello Paul,
We had a magnificent tour of Yunnan. We ended up in a group of 12 with a friendly, warm and even hilarious atmosphere throughout the trip. That was great and contributed a lot to its success.
The tour itself let us discover many sides of northern and southern Yunnan. Transport was very well organised, with as little time as possible spent on the bus or train given the distances covered. We especially appreciated the three nights in Dali, which made the most of this efficient transport planning.
If there was one small thing to improve, it would be the size of the minibus in the first week. Its boot wasn’t big enough for all the suitcases, so some had to go inside with the passengers. It didn’t bother us, but it didn’t make the driver’s job easy every morning.
As for hotels, we were really spoiled with very comfortable boutique hotels, the top prize probably going to the one in Jianshui.
Just one small grey area: the Manty House in Lijiang. Very pretty, but the cleaning wasn’t thorough, there were some smells (no traps on the drains) and, above all, a lack of privacy, as the toilet and washbasin were in full view of the bedroom (no door or even a curtain…). But after asking around, I understood that not all the group’s rooms were laid out like this.
As for food, again we were very satisfied. Our guide managed to rein in the local cooks’ enthusiasm for spices, and we enjoyed tasty, varied meals throughout the tour.
As for our guide, Fuyangtze, alias Guillaume, was fantastic. He told us about his country in perfect French, with touches of humour. He helped us out whenever needed (changing money, dealing with locals at the markets, postcards…), always in good spirits. His strategy for the visits was perfect. You absolutely must keep him for your future groups.
One last plus: including and arranging the visas in your price. It makes life much easier for us tourists, especially those of us who live outside Paris.
Those are our first impressions of this trip, which we rank among our top three tours. We’ll recommend Yunnan Roads to our friends and acquaintances.
Thank you again for offering us this magnificent tour, with the icing on the cake: sunny weather, a complete change from what you get in France at this time of year.
Kind regards,
Bernard and Michèle