NAKHOM PHANOM, 3 July 2018: Workers had hardly started dismantling the Mekong Tourism Forum bunting before talk shifted to the 2019 venue; China’s Dali.
Confirming Dali as the 2019 forum venue, tourism officials from Yunnan reassured delegates that transport from Kunming to Dali would not be an issue.
But Dali lacks direct flights from any of the Mekong Region’s capitals. Getting there will require most delegates to fly to Kunming and transfer to domestic flights.
However, Kunming’s tourism representatives attending the MTF said a high-speed rail link is due to start this month (July), which would offer a two-hour transfer between Kunming’s main station and Dali.
There are already regular train services between the two cities that take six hours, but the opening of high-speed train services will cut travelling time by four hours.
According to news reports in Kunming, it took five years to construct the 10.22 km Xianghe Tunnel, which is part of Guangzhou-Dali’s high-speed railway. The line was completed 6 February.
Now that the tunnel has been completed the first high-speed train from Kunming to Dali is set to roll out this month.
According to a post on TripAdvisor the timetable was distributed 1 July indicating that the train will stop at both Kunming’s south station and the city’s main station before heading for Dali.
The trip takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Kunming Main Station, closest to the airport, and will cost about RMB 150 one-way.
Asked for a comment on how MTF delegates will deal with airline and rail bookings to get to Dali, the official said the host committee would come up with a solution to make it convenient to book and pay for rail tickets.
But despite the romance of overland travel, most delegates will probably fall back on air travel, which is easier to book overseas.
