Tibet via Nepal

Replies: 7 - Last Post: 12-Mar-2007 06:31 Last Post By: Jeroen

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escapeoz

11-Mar-2007 03:13
Posts: 21

Tibet via Nepal

Hi,

These are new questions about the same direction of travel;

My dad is wanting to travel from Kathmandu to Lhasa in July this year. He then wants to take the train through to Bejing.

He has his visa for India and Nepal and wont have any trouble getting the Chinese visa too.

I am very confused about the travel permit that he needs for Tibet. It seems that he can get one from the chinese consulate in Nepal. But i read on online (Access Tibet Tour)that he would also need to get a chinese visa at the consulate in nepal (regardless of having one in advance).

*Does anyone know if this is true? If so, then i think its pointless for him to buy a chinese visa before leaving Australia, agreed?

He doesn't actually plan to do anything in Lhasa or Tibet (at 68 turning up is impressive enough), just rest a night or two before boarding the train. He is very flexible with dates, but would it best for him to book his train ticket from Nepal, a week in advance?

thanks for your help
Brenda

ellyse

11-Mar-2007 07:20
Posts: 8,932

Don't get the Chinese visa before he gets to Nepal, as it would be pointless. Travellers entering overland from Nepal will have any existing unused Chinese visas cancelled and put on a group visa which would also entail being on a tour. This group visa also allows travel in the Tibet Autonomous Region. However, if he's going to travel on his own after taking the train, and will be staying longer than what the duration of the group visa is for, he'll have to find a place to change his group visa into a normal Chinese visa, which might be problematic.
Cheers!

Jeroen

11-Mar-2007 07:23
Posts: 2,367

Be careful, when I visited a few years ago you had to go into Tibet on a Chinese group visa (not a normal visa - if you had one, it was cancelled at the border!) and also out again after the trip TOGETHER WITH EVERYONE ELSE mentioned on that document - any deviance was near impossible. In principle travelling on to elsewhere in Chinas was impossible - though I managed to convince a bureaucrat otherwise in Chengdu. Check if this is still the case.
Note that after a rather gruelling 5-day high-altitude jeep ride, it's very nice to relax for more than a day or two - I'd suggest 4-5 days at least. There's plenty to see in Lhasa and I thought it's a lovely place. Then let the Lhasa hotel arrange his train ticket - should be easy to do 2-3 days in advance I think.

zhaoyun

11-Mar-2007 08:05
Posts: 733

Read #74 in the FAQ.

vistet

11-Mar-2007 14:55
Posts: 2,282

I´d like to echo # 2 : most people will find the first days of the Kathmandu-Lhasa run gruelling - IF not acclimatised. Getting some time above Ktm will ease this a lot. I believe Langtang is an eight hour bus ride from Ktm. Without that , discuss medication (i.e. Diamox) with your doc - regardless of age. Do some background reading here.

high road to ..

Losang

11-Mar-2007 23:25
Posts: 1,526

This should answer most of your questions about traveling from Nepal to Tibet.

Need more travel information for Tibet? Check these out…

The Land of Snows

Life on the Tibetan Plateau

escapeoz

12-Mar-2007 04:56
Posts: 21

Thanks all- i will read up on those links you have suggested-

My dad is spending 4 months in India, and then taking the overland trip to meet me in South Korea. He has time to kill, but isn't really a tourist...ie he is about the destination...i will suggest that , for health reasons, he spends at least 5 days in Lhasa and another 5 days in Beijing-before he boards a ferry to Seoul.

-has anyone out there ever gone on a tour with Access Tibet Tours? would you recommend them?

Jeroen

12-Mar-2007 06:31
Posts: 2,367

Wise. Just don't underestimate that ride - it's 5 days of bumping and twisting over sometimes horrible stretches of roads. I'm pretty fit but was worn down by the time we arrived. The views, culture, Tibetan smiles and remoteness are worth it all however.

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