China Travel Forum

[Wendell]

hi.....

i am planning to fly to lhasa from kathmandu. i live in india (american passport). i thought of flying to chengdu but the flight from kathmandu to chengdu is 722 USD !!!! i can fly to lhasa for only (?) 322 USD.
my question is about the permit thing. i understand (clearly) that i MuST have a permit to get on the plane. no problem. but can i get a permit without booking a tour??? how can i do this???

if i must book a tour to get a permit, can i book a tour for only ONE day?? (i plan to stay about one month). can anyone suggest where i can obtain the proper documents from kathmandu, or by email?

also is it possible to take buses everywhere alone without a guide? i do speak tibetan (not well, but i get along) and also i am a buddhist nun so i know many lamas in tibet will let me stay at the monastaries. but i heard that they won't let me on the buses? that tourist have to take private cars?

finally if anyone is interested in doing a religious pilgrimage and visiting many monasteries and being involved directly with tibetans.....i'm planning to go sometime in april. i plan to stay at "middle of the road" type of places. not totally low end, not top notch. in between. i have no particular set itinerary.

I plan to take it is it comes so to speak. i am considering amdo as i know some people there, but not sure. for sure i will do shigatse, sakya, ngor, etc. i do have extended family in dingri so this is my eventual destination and will return to nepal over the friendship bridge.

[Jack Li]

Theres no way around the griuppermit and that includes a tour. But a basic tour can be 3 days sightseeing in Lhasa. Your problem is that you will need to enter on a grouppermit and thats normally only for a max of 21 days with no possibilities of an extension. furthermore its very difficulty to get a grouppermit with only 1 name on.

Going to Chengdu is actually a quite good idea. Its more costly but you will then be travelling on a regular chinese visa and you will have a min of 30 days with a possibility of an extension (although not in Tibet).

You can take busses to ganden and Samye with no problems. Busses to Shigatse and Gyantse can sometimes be problematic, the way to go then is to deal directly with the driver.

Lots of places dont have public transport. hitchhiking is normally not that difficulty and with some knowledge of tietan and wearing a nuns robe I think you will get on easily.

But turning up at the chinese embassy in Katmandu with a tibetan buddhist robe and an itinary about religious pilgrimage can give you problems. dress casually and give them an ordinary itinary and you will be fine.

[Guest]

From what I see and experience in Lhasa you will need a so-called 'group' permit, which also doubles as your China visa.

It is quite expensive to get this permit for just one person. Also it is hard to get these permits for long duration (eg over 21 days). Once you are in Tibet you cannot extend the permit/visa.