Thorn Tree travel forum

1

I've only heard about people going through that way by hired car. well there is the north way and the south way which will get you in chengdu. consider it's winter now, you need to worry about the road condition. if theres ice on road then that is really dangerous. there have been reported ad hoc robberies. but since it's low season and not many people are going that way, maybe that's less of a risk.

2

Main difficulty is that it is not legal, unless you hire a guide and vehicle and get a whole lot of permits. Doing it legally will be quite expensive.
2nd problem is that you probably don't have enough time on your visa, at least not enough to make it worthwhile. Usually visas arranged in Kathmandu for Tibet only give 21 days. Assuming you spend a few days in Lhasa, and want to make sure you have a few days in Chengdu to be safe (you'll have to extend your visa there), you won't have much time to see sights along the way. The going is very slow, and roads are often very poor. I'd guess the minimum time is 7 days- and most of those would be spent driving, which would be both unpleasant and exhausting.
3rd problem is the weather. I don't know exactly what the weather is like, but you will cross a lot of passes (I crossed 9 when I went from Chengdu to Sichuan, using both the northern highway in Sichuan and southern in Tibet) and they may have more snow this late in the year.

Since it is illegal for you to cross through this area, private car drivers will be hesitant to take you, and bus drivers will likely refuse outright. You will probably have to rely on hitchhiking. Hotels will also be hesitant to take you, especially in towns with PSB offices. If the police catch you you can be detained, lectured and fined, and returned to where you came from. The new Lonely Planet also reports that people who have been caught have been beaten- I'm personally skeptical of this, though. I snuck into Tibet from Sichuan in October last year, and was only able to make it because I was assisted by some Chinese travelers I met. I wrote about my experience in my blog (link below).

In short, I don't think it's worth trying.

3

This is not the timeof year to try that rout. If you manage to get a busticket from Lhasa to either Yushu or Xining fine, but then you could just aswell take the train to Xining. If planning to go from town to town it will include hitchhiking and winther is definitely not the time of the year to do that. The temp are much lower than the Lhasa area, and the weather can be firece. Plus the problems about getting a place to sleep. Going illegally is best done at the summertime, early autumn when weather is still ok.

4

The eastern regions of the TAR require foreigners to have anywhere from 2 to 4 permits. To travel through here legally, you have to have these permits, a 4WD, driver and tour guide. It is possible to go illegally, but you run a high risk of being caught and fined by the police. The police in places like Chamdo are not friendly. Since this region sees very few foreigners, you will easily be seen unless you camp far from towns. It is a great region of Tibet...one of the best in my opinion (especially the regions of Tibet in western Sichuan). If you decide to do this route, be very careful and don't spend a lot of time in any of the towns along the way until you reach Dege.

Need more travel information for Tibet? Check these out…

The Land of Snows

Life on the Tibetan Plateau

5

Changing/extending your Tibet permit to a real Chinese visa is reportedly not a good idea to try in Chengdu. Consider Leshan which is nearby, a couple of hours by bus.

Good luck and please report back your experience.

Ruth

First check: Everbrite's travel pages, the New RU sticky,and New RU train sticky

Since I have taken the time to answer your question, it would be nice if you took the time to respond as to whether the information was helpful.

6

If you came from Kathmandu, your visa time is really short, it usually took 4 to 8 days to arrive in Lhasa, the total time on your visa should be around 21 to 27 days, how many days do you left? You'll have a hard time to extend it in Lhasa (impossible as far as I know), probably not possible in Chengdu, perhaps you can do it in Leshan?

But what can you do if your visa time is running really short and you find nowhere to extend your visa?

And the trip from Lhasa to Chengdu by landcruiser is around 2 weeks...

Extensive FAQ about travel situation and permit restrictions in Tibet
Spinn Cafe , Lhasa, Tibet - we are based in Lhasa
Spinning in Tibet (ISBN: 9789881805966), published in Hong Kong.