Thorn Tree travel forum

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?

2

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

Need more travel information for Tibet? Check these out…

The Land of Snows

Life on the Tibetan Plateau

3

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

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

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 ..

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 ..

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

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'

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.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.