 |
|
|
| |
| |
Trip Preparation: Travel Issues
Mainland China > Tibet (o'land) | Mainland China > Tibet (air) | From Nepal
In Kathmandu you can book onto an organized overland tour (usually with a flight one way). Tours range from a basic three-day trip direct to Lhasa, up to a week-long trip with side trips including Everest Base Camp. Flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa depart three times per week in season.
Individuals cannot purchase tickets, so you must be part of a five-person 'tour group' and book through a travel operator. The catch is that because you are outside Tibet the agent takes your passport to the Chinese embassy, which issues you with a new visa (and may cancel any existing valid visa issued elsewhere) but only for the duration of your tour (usually around 7-10 days). If you are lucky some of the travel agents manage to avoid this.
Alternatively, it may be possible to cross the Nepal/Tibet border, with a valid Chinese visa already in your passport, and rent a four-wheel drive vehicle from the CITS officials next to the Chinese immigration post, to take you (plus any bikes) directly to Lhasa. You can easily take a bus or hire a taxi to get you from Kathmandu to the Nepal/Tibet border.
|
|
A typical switchback road
up a mountain pass
|
|
