KTM to Tibet for two months: Visa ... - Thorn Tree travel forum

KTM to Tibet for two months: Visa Question

Replies: 8 - Last Post: 16-Feb-2007 15:30 Last Post By: westwood

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Posted
15-Feb-2007 13:02
by: akoisapixie

Posts: 5
Registered: 15/02/07

KTM to Tibet for two months: Visa Question

Hi.

I plan to visit Tibet in May and June this year. At the moment I intend to fly to Kathmandu and from there travel to Lhasa via the friendship highway. At some point I also plan to travel to Mt Kailash on a tour. What is the best way to go about organising a visa for this trip, I am a bit confused by the group visa/individual visa problems when taking tours to Lhasa from Kathmandu. My intention is to get a 1 or 2 month Chinese visa in the UK, take a tour into Tibet from Kathmandu and possibly extend the visa when taking the Kailash tour. Will this work? Any advice?

Chris.

Chrispatkinson

Posted
15-Feb-2007 13:41
by: Laker31

Posts: 307
Registered: 17/03/04

1

No, it will not work the way you are planning. If you arrive with a Chinese Visa in KTM, it will be cancelled in favor of a Group Visa when you sign up for a tour to Tibet.

This question is asked several times a week. Please do a search on the FAQ or in this branch, and you will find a lot of your questions already answered. Afterwards, if you are still unsure about something, feel free to ask.

Yaks, Yaks, Yaks. Need I say more?

Posted
15-Feb-2007 16:46
by: Losang

Posts: 1,485
Registered: 04/09/04

2

#74 on the Frequently Asked Questions thread at the top of the NE Asia Branch or go here.

Need more info about Tibet? Try these: Life on the Tibetan Plateau: Tibet Tours and Pictures and Land of Snows: Picture Tour of Tibet

Posted
15-Feb-2007 18:15
by: westwood

Posts: 9,353
Registered: 21/10/02

3

Yes, why do people still think its easy going from Kathmandu to Lhasa given the number of posts on this topic lately????

"The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."

Posted
15-Feb-2007 21:20
by: vistet

Posts: 2,147
Registered: 13/09/02

4

Getting to Lhasa is easy , show up in Thamel with a new backpack , a freshly stocked moneybelt and a moment of indecision and you´ll probably find yourself drinking chang in Lhasa a week later. Transforming the group visa in to a normal tourist visa on the other hand (something I haven´t tried) appears to be one part bureaucracy, one part alchemy and one part luck. If you want to be sure to spend serious time (i.e. more than the 14-21 days you´ll get coming from Ktm) in Tibet, go via mainland China. If you really want to see Nepal as well, fly Kathmandu-Chengdu and work your way back.

high road to ..

Posted
15-Feb-2007 21:24
by: vistet

Posts: 2,147
Registered: 13/09/02

5

(the bureaucracy/alchemy/luck thing won´t happen in Lhasa anyhow , you have to go to ... oh , well that´s where the luck part comes in , but not inside Tibet. )

high road to ..

Posted
16-Feb-2007 03:31
by: akoisapixie

Posts: 5
Registered: 15/02/07

6

Thanks. The link was particularly useful. I guess the easiest (and cheapest) way of doing things is to fly to Chengdu, travel into Tibet, extend my visa if necessary and exit to Nepal. The group visa sounds like hard work.

Chrispatkinson

Posted
16-Feb-2007 06:00
by: vano

Posts: 12
Registered: 04/11/03

7

Hi,
I read a lot of info on the forum because i have the same plan that u have, Chris.
Travel in Nepal, enter Tibet from Nepal, visit Lhasa, then continue the trip in China (visiting Chengdu and Kunming) and exiting China going to Vietnam or Laos.
I read a lot of info on the forum, FAQ, and asked.

I found out that:
A possible solution for me to travel from KTM to Lhasa and further (Chengdu or Kunming) could be:
1. get an individual group Visa in KTM
2. travel from KTM to Lhasa with my group
3. travel to Chendgu or Kunming with my individual group chinese visa and try to extend it for 30 days (because the group Visa I get in Nepal for Tibet is only 21 days)

The best for me now would be to get in contact with someone who already tried to do this or did this.
Otherwise I will have to wait until I am in KTM (will be there in sept. or october) and find out what is the best solution.
Maybe at the end it will be the flight from KTM to Chendgu (and then entering Tibet from China): how much does this flight cost?

Thanks to anyone for helping!
Rene'

Posted
16-Feb-2007 15:30
by: westwood

Posts: 9,353
Registered: 21/10/02

8

#7, individual and group have two totally different meanings. You will be very lucky to get a travel agency in Kathmandu to issue an individual visa. If its a group visa, you'll have to exit Tibet with those on the same visa.

"The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."

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