1

It is possible to book a tour from Kathmandu to Lhasa in under 300 GBP if you find the right agency. I don't know whether it is "outrageous". In Lhasa, a train ticket to Urumqi via Lanzhou could be as cheap as 35 GBP (347 yuan).

2

ok but is this taking into account the 'group tour' factor ie the agency needs to accompany me until i leave china?

the 'outrageous' price (quotes of $7000 & $3000 so far) comes in when you try to pass through Tibet and into the rest of China; as far as i can tell, the opposite route (China-Tibet-Nepal) is fine as they know youre certainly out of the country at the end.

if you know otherwise, please tell!

3

No, the tour group only applies while you are in Tibet. Once they see you off on the train in Lhasa, you are on your own. But you are limited in the visa you get and need to proceed pretty quickly to Urumqi where you can obtain a Kazakh and /or Kyrgyz visa for onward travel.

But before deciding to travel that route, consider carefully your next step. Assuming you go to Kazakhstan, your options are onward travel to Azerbaijan via an irregular ferry across the Caspain Sea or a long train ride to Moscow with a transit visa which only allows you a night or two stopover before leaving the country since obtaining a Russian visa is quite difficult and outrageously expensive.

Ruth

4

Thanks Ruth

my plan now is to get the Kazakhstan visa in Delhi, then go to Nepal, Tibet, China, Kazakhstan. And yes, I think from there I'll try my luck with the ferry. Overall, that seemed simpler than wiggling through more countries, more visas, more costs etc. I suppose for me this is primarily a route home, which will also be a fantastic adventure. So I think my streamlined plan (I had looked at kaz-uz-turkm-iran etc) is a good one?

5

You'll need an Azerbaijani visa and these are increasingly difficult to obtain. Despite the difficulties in obtaining a Russian visa you might want to consider this as an alternative to crossing the Caspian Sea to Baku.

Ruth