Nine weeks and two days to go but who's counting? There is so much I want to see and do that the trip is still very much in the planning stage.
Things to do before 6th July
1. Japanese B encephalitis vaccination. Apart from the £5 private prescription fee, the vaccines cost anything from £82:90 (from Boots in Preston) to over £350 from Superdrug! It takes at least five working days to order it in, then the injection schedule is over five weeks, with one month until it is effective. As I am not planning to be in Laos until the begginning of August, it will have plenty time to get into my system.
2. Youth hostel card from the local tourist information office. Discounts at various places more than save the cost of the card.
3. Chinese visa - as I will not have enough time to do everything in China in the thirty days allowed on the visa, I will buy a multi-entry visa which costs £60 and lasts up to six months.
4. Get malaria tablets - shopping around for the cheapest price.
I have two hotels booked for the beginning of the trip. I fly into Shanghai on the 7th July, spending three nights in that fantastic city. I then have ten days before I go to Hangzhou for the solar eclipse which will take place on the 22nd July. I need to be in Hangzhou for a couple of days to make sure I get the best viewpoint sorted and out and to check that the weather will be clear enough to see the eclipse. Totallity lasts for five minutes and thirteen seconds so it is a very long one. The last two I watched lasted only two and a half minutes.
After the eclipse I have thirteen days before my visa expires for that portion of the trip so I will go to Kumning before going into Laos.
