West China 中国西部 April & May 2005 孔思义 & 黄亚萍
 
THE CREW So there was Nigel Croft, world explorer and owner of a well-equipped Toyota Landcruiser, joined by ourselves, John and Jemi Holmes (孔思义 & 黄亚萍). And of course, we had the “guide”, Mr Frank FAN from Beijing (or close to it) as he often reminded us.
 
On 31st March Jemi and I flew from Shenzhen 深圳 to Kunming 昆明, and then flew on to hot and hazy Jinghong 景洪 in Xishuangbanna 西双版纳, southern Yunnan 云南.  Once upon a time this was a twenty-four hour bus ride.  The Jinghong city motto should be “Pretty damn tropical !”, it certainly seemed hot and sultry after Hong Kong and Kunming.