Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Your budget is for Beijing or Lhasa?
Cheers!

2

All your questions have been answered lately and more than once. Suggest you use the search function at the top of the page!!!! But this almost seems like a troll with those questions.

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

3

you need the permit
and the budget would get you a single room if you don't want to share at the low season....presuming you are going there soon

4

asking for the train fare: beijing x lhasa.
budget for beijing or lhasa for a room is usd15/day

5

A tad too low for Beijing if you want a private room. Not sure about Lhasa.
Cheers!

6

Train fare is around 1000 for hard sleeper - depends on which berth you get/want.

Don't know what you'd get for $US15 p day. China is not as cheap as SEA (at least not in Beijing or Lhasa).

"If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." Margaret Thatcher

7

Dorm bed, more than enough.
Cheers!

8

tnx all

9

Trainfare around 1000 rmb depending on your preferences, scheaper for hardseats, expensive for soft sleeper.
Some manage to buy the traintickets themselves. There has been some posts about it recently. getting a trainticket with no permit is a risk, if they check you ypou will most likely not be allowed to board or you will be fined. That said, it seems like the majority gets through with no check.
You do need a permit to do it legally. It is unfortunately not a scam from the agencies, but they make money out of it. Several agencies I have talked to or have posted here would prefer the permit system didnt exists, as it also makes their business more difficulty.
The agencies in beijing tend to claim that a (several days) tour is necessary to get a permit. Avoid them. In Beijing Leos Hostel, www.leohostel.com, can help you.

10

My husband and myself managed to get soft sleepers from Xian to Lhasa just last month. We had to have someone who lives in Xian buy them for us 10 days in advance. We also had an agent in Lhasa get us the TTP, AFTER we had confirmation that we had indeed two soft sleepers on the train. We had to scan our passports and then email them to the agent in Lhasa (we were in Shanghai at the time), who in turn emailed us back out TTP - all in one day mind you. We boarded the train in Xian - no one asked us for them. We arrived in Lhasa and just simply walked off the train still with no one asking for our TTP. We also walked off with people without TTP's. The agent in Lhasa wanted to charge us $USD410 per person for four days, not including accommodation. We ended up paying him approx $A100 for two TTP (even though we probably could have gotten away without them), one nights accommodation and taxi fare for the driver who incidentally missed our arrival on the train as we arrived 1.5hrs earlier. But that's another story. I have been told that you cannot get a flight from Chengdu to Lhasa without your TTP as you need to produce it to get your air ticket. You can do Lhasa and anywhere else for that matter by yourself. We did. Forget the tour agents who want to charge you heaps. Just get there and soak up the place. It is unreal. Enjoy..

11

Hullo Susan! :) I was the one who wanted to know how much you ended up paying for your tickets and permit. :)
Cheers!