An Overnight Bus From Kunming to Dali (Yunnan Province China)

An Overnight Bus From Kunming to Dali (Yunnan Province China)

We left Beijing mid-afternoon and flew to Kunming in Yunnan Province. The plan was to find a way to Lijiang (about a 10 hour bus ride away) and make our way to Tiger Leaping Gorge and do some hiking but outside of that 10 days of traveling with no plans and no direction. We had done some research on ways to get to Lijiang and read that there are buses overnight night sleeper buses from Kunming to Lijiang as well as buses that go about ¾ of the way to Dali. After a taxi ride from one side of Kunming to the bus station we pull off the interstate and start winding our way through some narrow streets with small children running around on the sidewalks with the adult’s playing cards outside of small shops. Next thing I know our cab stops and I move my attention from the window to the road in front of me and I see why we’re stopped, sitting in the middle of the road is a push cart that is six inches off the ground with a piece of ply wood forming a platform for a “stoplight,” it’s like this that I’m reminded that while China may be at the forefront of development and progress it is still a developing country.
In the bus station we learn that the bus we wanted to get on to Lijiang was sold out and we wouldn’t be able to get a bus until the morning to Lijiang, there was a sleeper bus that would be leaving shortly heading to Dali and we’d be able to get a bus from there to Lijiang. I’ve heard about sleeper buses from some of my friends that have spent a good deal of time traveling around China but none of them really told me what to truly expect other than bad smells, filth and discomfort.
The bus looked normal enough from the outside so I made my way towards the door with my backpack not wanting to put it under the bus because of the ever present threat of theft, as I tried to make my way up the stairs I stopped as I realized there wasn’t even going to be enough room for me let alone my 70 pound backpack. I toss my bag under the bus and make my way to my new home for the next 7 hours, the sleeper bus had “bunk beds” on the left side of the bus there were single bunks with an aisle that separated the bed on the left side from the bed on the right that slept three across with metal bars separating the people in the “beds.” The beds were assigned and I was lucky enough to get the bunk that was right next to the aisle, with Dirk between Cooper and me. As part of our luxury transportation we were provided with pillows and blankets were older than most of the people on the bus and smelled like urine. The bed itself was easily the most uncomfortable place I’ve ever laid down, it was clearly built for narrow shouldered people who are shorter than 6 feet tall. Dirk was reading the Lonely Planet guide book about Kunming and Dali and read the warning “Be weary of your luggage if you take an overnight bus from Kunming to Dali it is common for you to find it with a slit through it and your valuables missing,” and I just had to put my bag under the bus great!
As Dirk and I fought over who’s shoulder could dig into the metal bar between us the bus driver would take turns that would make me thankful those metal bars were there otherwise I’d have a 4 foot fall to the floor. Sleep was needless to say hard to come by as I’d find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep in for about 20 minutes until I’d wake up with a pain somewhere in my body.
Throughout the course of the ride to Dali we’d stop at random times because people would have to use the bathroom. Because there was no bathroom on the bus when people had to go the bus driver would stop on the side of the road and the needy person would have to find the closet tree to do their business. While we were stopped I realized that the smell of urine might be more than just a smell but come from necessity on a long overnight trip without a bathroom, with that comfortable thought it was time to try to get more sleep.

Shortly after 2 AM, I awoke to see us driving down a dark alley very slowly. I was really confused as to what was happening because we weren’t supposed to get into Dali for another 2 hours. Apparently the violent tossing in my bunk I felt all night was our drivers attempt to set a new speed record for our bus trip to Dali and we had arrived 2 hours early. Some of the other passengers got off the bus so I decided it’d be a good idea to check on my bag, stretch my legs, and see if I could find a bathroom. Bag was fine, had a good stretch, and I managed to find a drain grate that had to work as my bathroom. With some of our bus mates departing I managed to find a solo bunk on the bottom level that provided me with a little more comfort. I doze in and out for about two hours when suddenly I feel my foot get grabbed I open my eyes to a man frantically yelling at me in Chinese. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what he was saying but I kept hearing Lijiang, I look at my watch and see that it is about 5:45. I looked around trying to find Ted so he can figure out what was happening and as I find him I hear Ted say “there is a bus leaving right now for Lijiang if we hurry we can make it.”
We all jump off the bus grab our backpacks and make our way to “the bus.” The bus is a glorified Ford van that has 16 adult pass angers, a driver, two babies and a ton of luggage. I’m crammed between the wall (there was a window but since I was sitting on the wheel well I couldn’t see out the window) and Ted, with my knees buried in my chest. I look over to Ted and ask him how long the trip to Lijiang is from Dali, he looks at me and smiles “four hours get comfy.”
I managed to pass out for about an hour sitting propped between Ted and the wall while occasionally catching my head from falling off my shoulders (it reminded me of knob year physics class). Even with the sleep it was a long four hours, I couldn’t look out any windows and the lack of shocks on the van meant reading was impossible. So I sat there and did nothing, I’d close my eyes and try to get some sleep but the constant jarring proved to be too much.


A couple pictures one is a map that will show the area in Yunnan I was traveling. The other is a picture that was taken on the overnight bus of Dirk, Cooper and me.