@Dazzer, yes taxi fares are higher at night in Kunming, 9.60 cny is the starting fare. During the day it's 8 cny.

The Thai border crossing at Myawaddy/Mae Sot will open officially for overland crossings this month (probably next week or around mid-April after the Water Festival at the latest). This is the only overland crossing where travel to/from the rest of Myanmar will be permitted without permission. The Mae Sai/Tachileik crossing should allow overland crossings too BUT you have to fly to Tachileik or Kengtung from Taunggyi first as the road between Taunggyi and Kengtung has not yet opened (only the first couple of dozen of km from either side are OK to travel but not anywhere between the checkpoints, which leaves most of the road off-limits).

From China, the permit requirement for travelling between Mu-se (opposite Ruili) and Lashio has been removed since last month, however I'm not sure whether a permit is still required to cross the Chinese border overland in either direction via Ruili though. Please check with a Kunming or Ruili based travel agency and keep us updated. Forget about the Bangladesh border, it is definately closed and not safe on either side.

Just showing up to find a room should be possible, particularly in smaller towns where online booking is not an option. When it comes to Yangon, it's best to book ahead a couple of days as most accommodation is full most of the time there BUT if you happen to stumble upon a place, particularly on the outskirts of the city it's unlikely such a place would be full since most foreigners choose to stay in the city center.

ATMs are available in most larger towns and they definately work (VISA and Mastercard credit and debit cards accepted as well as Maestro etc.) the most reliable bank seems to be CB Bank but Kandawza is OK as well from what I've heard. The maximum withdrawal amount is 300,000 Kyat per transaction and there is a 5,000 Kyat user fee added onto that for each transaction you make.

Since Mar 31st, Yuan and Thai Baht can be exchanged at banks and money changers in addition to Euros, Singapore Dollars and of course US dollars. It is therefore no longer necessary to bring in only crisp US dollars. In February, I brought in some Euros and US Dollars, however, I exchanged everything for Kyat - I didn't spend a single US dollar anywhere.

I would therefore bring in any quantity of these 5 currencies that you may need and fund the rest of your stay using ATM withdrawals - and perhaps bring a small amount of US dollars just in case, but increasingly it is possible to avoid using US dollars whereas just a year ago this was not the case.

300 Yuan or $50 a day is a reasonable budget - in Yangon you might be pushing it a bit but hostels for $15-20 a day can still be found, otherwise most places go for at least $30-40+ and often much higher. In other towns, $30-40 gets you a good room, but $20 is the average for a cheap room.

Check Lonelyplanet's Thorntree forum (www.thorntree.lonelyplanet.com) for more details. It appears to be possible to cross this border in either direction, but a guide and permit are required. As mentioned, soon this required will be abolished but for now this seems to be the way to go. I also heard it was easier to travel from Yunnan into Myanmar than the other way round so go figure.

@cuihulongjing, I agree that Santa Fe is an awesome place. The elevation is about the same as Kunming, so no adjustment will be needed for you once you move there, it's a smaller place so easier to get around...the people are really friendly and are easy to strike up a conversation with and the surrounding landscapes are breathtaking. Despite being a high-altitude desert, I even think there is something really nice about the drive down to Albuquerque - the colors and variety of landscapes are really beautiful.

Having said that, I don't feel that Kunming is particularly anti-foreign or anything like that. If anything, it's probably more welcoming than many other cities. The only anti-foreigner vibe you describe probably stems from last year's incidents that occurred mainly in northern China and re-verberated around the country - though I don't think the average local even remembers these incidents nor associates every foreigner they see with these incidents, especially when they're in Kunming, not Beijing.

But of course if we're talking air quality, quality of life, the friendliness of people in general (including local-to-local interactions), even the climate and weather then clearly a place like Santa Fe is way ahead of Kunming. Not only that, but I'm guessing you're an American and thus perhaps longing to go back home? If you're like me, then at some point living in many not-so-multicultural countries like China, it's kinda refreshing to go back home and experience the multicultural diversity that many of our western societies are becoming known for. This means people will be used to seeing different ethnic groups and races, better food from all over the world, and many other things.

I was able to get my Chinese driver's license in late 2011 after having first applied on a tourist visa at the end of 2010. The reason why it took me so long to get it after I submitted the paperwork was that after the first time I failed, I was quite busy then out of the country quite often but finally when I passed almost a year had passed since I first submitted my documents. Since that time, I have always been on a resident's permit but my tourist visa was indeed accepted as the basis for my original application.

Glad to hear that foreigners can now take the test every morning. The previous rule of every Thursday didn't make much sense to me but importantly, was one of the reasons it took me so long to attempt the test again: Thursday was my busiest day teaching at the time and at other times I was studying.