The Journey(s) of Ian

I have always wanted to make the short journey from China into HK by land, and here in the year and month of the lord June 2017, was at last my opportunity.  On the surface the process is easy enough, embark on the train, complete the hour plus trip, disembark, but the problem is that this is an international journey. The status of HK gives it a degree of autonomy, and border control is one of the features.  I arrived at the Guangzhou East Railway Station midday, and with a bit of back and forth found the departure point for Kowlon (the mainland part of HK). It is upstairs from the main station. This station also departs for Shenzhen, which is an internal mainland destination, far less hassle. Signage is mostly Chinese, but there is sufficient English to get around. Just follow the signs. Buying the ticket (186 yuan ~us$30) was the simple part, no need even for ID!, however, things got more complicated after this. Without going into great detail, expect to be sc...

It has long been an ambition of mine to travel on a high speed train, but to this date I have always missed out, so I was eager to sample the High Speed train between Kunming and Guangzhou. To start, I had to get to Kunming and, I am happy to say, my departure from Jinghong was about as uneventful as it can get. I purchased my ticket the day before. The only real problem was the lack of English at the southern bus station (where one buys a ticket for the journey north), however, armed with the city name “Kunming" written in Chinese in my notebook by my hotel manager I quickly purchased a ticket from the helpful lady behind the glass divider.  The next morning, awakening at 06.00, packing, girding my mental loins for the 24+ hour trip, I set of at 07.00 to walk with my two bags to the bus station. An early arrival, sitting, the centre of some attention (not many foreigners in this nest of the woods), then bus boarding. In China boarding a bus or train requires a bag and bo...