Thorn Tree travel forum

Visa from Nepal to Tibet by land

Hi,

I want to travel from Nepal to Lhasa overland by myself. In Lhasa I´m meeting up with a friend and we want to travel around Tibet together before going to Chengdu.

1) Do I have to get a group visa in Kathamandu? I´ve heard it is now possible to get a individual visa?
2) How long does it take to get a visa?
3) Is it possible/usefull to organise my visa to China and/or Tibet in advance from The Netherlands? I understand that a visa to China will get cancelled if you want to enter Tibet from Nepal. Is this still true?
3) If I need a groupvisa, can I leave my "group" and continue on with my friend and enter China with her (we want to take the train)?

I will be traveling for three weeks only, so my concerns are more about time than money (where the visa are concerned anyway..)

Thanks for any help you can give me. The whole visa-thing is very confusing!