Lhasa Open To Foreign Tourists ... - Thorn Tree travel forum

Lhasa Open To Foreign Tourists

Replies: 317 - Last Post: 31-Oct-2008 14:20 Last Post By: davelliot

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Posted
26-Jun-2008 17:17
by: Losang

Posts: 1,485
Registered: 04/09/04

Lhasa Open To Foreign Tourists

So it is official...Tibet (Lhasa) is open again to foreign tourists.

Here is what the Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) told us this afternoon how travel for foreigners to Lhasa needs to be arranged:

1. Everyone must be part of a group tour.
We asked how may people makes a "group" and the TTB wasn't 100% sure, but thought that 2 people would be enough to make a "group". This minimum number could be changed to 3 or 4, but today we were told 2.

2. Everyone in the group must carry the same nationality passport.
This means that if you are a Canadian passport holder, everyone in your group must also carry a Canadian passport. If you hold a Canadian passport, you cannot meet up with a person holding a Swiss passport and form a group to travel to Lhasa.

3. All tours to Lhasa and the TAR must be guided and arranged before arriving in Lhasa.
A tour guide will accompany you everywhere you go during your stay. Also, in the past you could show up in Lhasa and put together a trip to Everest Base Camp at a travel agency. Now, all travel plans will have to be arranged BEFORE you arrive in Lhasa.

4. All hotels must be arranged in advance.
As Chris Jones mentioned earlier, not all hotels in Lhasa have the right permits to allow foreign travelers. All hotel reservations must be made at hotels that officially allow foreigners. Most of the popular hotels in Lhasa will probably be okay, but there may be some that are not.

5. All foreigners must have all of the proper permits before departing to Lhasa.
This is nothing new, but you can be certain that all train stations and airports will be checking everyone's permits.

6. Travel to Lhasa must be arranged at least 10 days in advance.
We have been told that an official itinerary must be given to the TTB 10 days before the customer plans to arrive in Lhasa. The TTB will be doing at least some sort of a background check before a permit is issued to travel to Lhasa. Before you could get a permit in 2 or 3 days. Now it will take at least 10 days to process...maybe even longer.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rules change slightly over the next few days, but this is the latest that the TTB is saying. I think there is no chance of individual travel to Lhasa for quite a while. Group travel is the ONLY way to get to Lhasa. If anything major does change, I will post an update.

If anyone has any further questions about this, feel free to send me a private message.

Edited by: Irene_Adler

Need more info about Tibet? Try these: Life on the Tibetan Plateau: Tibet Tours and Pictures and Land of Snows: Picture Tour of Tibet

Posted
26-Jun-2008 18:18
by: pazu

Posts: 2,103
Registered: 05/02/01

1

Thanks for your post Losang!

Extensive FAQ about travel situation and permit restrictions in Tibet
Spinn Cafe, Bar and Tours , Lhasa, Tibet - Your information hub
Spinning in Tibet (ISBN: 9789881805966), published in Hong Kong.

Posted
26-Jun-2008 18:56
by: anneastorga

Posts: 33
Registered: 19/04/07

2

great info! thanks!

www.travbuddy.com/mabby

Posted
26-Jun-2008 23:54
by: lamtag

Posts: 1
Registered: 10/04/08

3

thanks for the update, Losang. I was wondering what kind of regulations would be in place for foreigners to go in. I love reading your stuff. thanks

Posted
27-Jun-2008 00:56
by: mrcjonesy

Posts: 886
Registered: 26/03/06

4

oooops I was half asleep and stuck my update in the wrong place. Excellent update Losang. I'd just like to add a couple of things that I have also heard.
The info below is in addition to Losang's list above.

1. There is a time limit on permits that will be enforced ( but no one knows how long this time limit is) (in the past there was no time limit on your permit)
2. Some areas are still off-limits (such as Samye) so NOT ALL OF THE T.A.R IS OPEN.
3. Coming IN from Nepal is still not confirmed as possible (due to the embassy in Kathmandu not stating whether Chinese visas will be issued yet or not) but going
overland from Lhasa to Nepal is apparently OK. (Nepali agents appear to have been told that they are good to book clients......so there is some confusion here)
5. Everest Base Camp is open.

Thats all I know at the moment. Sounds like there is lots of confusion in Lhasa.........even government departments don't know what is allowed and what is not. (nothing new I guess) Everyone seems to be waiting for a few groups to get in and see how the new permit process is actually implemented and find out what the new rules really are.

Unfortunately, the statement that Tibet is "Open" is not exactly correct!? Its more like "closed" ......but open a little bit if you want to play be all the rules!!

So....once again.....if anyone is actually in Lhasa....please post and let us know how your journey went?

Posted
27-Jun-2008 04:17
by: anaya

Posts: 2,463
Registered: 14/02/04

5

lets hope the cheaper tibetan owned guesthouses can survive this, hopefully they dont request staying at specific hotels.

Posted
27-Jun-2008 05:44
by: lhasaipso

Posts: 284
Registered: 09/09/07

6

euopean travel agents tell that the three main monasteries drepung , ganden and samye as well as ebc is still off limits

Posted
27-Jun-2008 06:39
by: mrcjonesy

Posts: 886
Registered: 26/03/06

7

#5 Unfortunately a lot of the smaller tibetan owned guesthouses do not have the new permits required for hosting foreigners (the permits may not actually be new.....but rather that they are enforcing old rules that were previously ignored....I'm not sure on this)

At the moment no-one is requesting staying at specific hotels. Agencies are free to book what ever authorized hotels they wish.

#6 I have heard directly from Lhasa that Samye and Drepung are closed. I have not got confirmation about Ganden yet. Word from TTB in Lhasa is that EBC is open.

European agencies are relying on second hand info. Losang and myself are using info direct from Lhasa (usually the TTB office) so we usually quite reliable. However there is going to be lots of confusion for the next few months I think.

j

Posted
27-Jun-2008 08:15
by: nahuel

Posts: 6,607
Registered: 23/05/05

8

"2. Everyone in the group must carry the same nationality passport"
Chinese are ridiculous. Then I cannot travel with my wife as she has an argentinean passport and I a german one.

Posted
27-Jun-2008 10:27
by: Losang

Posts: 1,485
Registered: 04/09/04

9

#6...The most reliable information is going to come from Lhasa rather than from somewhere in Europe, Australia or N. America. Everyday I get emails from people across the globe who hear some news regarding Tibet in their home country and most times, it is a rumor that is far from the truth. In early May I received an email from some people from a western European country who basically told me I was an "arrogant fool" to think that Lhasa was closed because their nightly news in their country reported that foreign tourists were allowed to go to Lhasa. They thought I personally didn't like them and was refusing to help them get to Lhasa. I tried to explain to them that the area was still closed, but they did not believe a word I had to say. Obviously, the news reported in their country was wrong since Lhasa didn't open until just 2 days ago.

I appreciate you posting what you heard from travel agencies in Europe. It is always good to know what agencies outside of Tibet are reporting. Hopefully, people planning on traveling to Lhasa will read through the TT to get the most accurate travel news there is.

I have also been told that places like Samye and Drepung are closed, but my understanding was that Everest was open. I will check on this again to confirm it. As Chris has said, our information is coming directly from the TTB in Lhasa.

Need more info about Tibet? Try these: Life on the Tibetan Plateau: Tibet Tours and Pictures and Land of Snows: Picture Tour of Tibet

Posted
27-Jun-2008 16:00
by: kelsanggyalmo

Posts: 17
Registered: 06/10/03

10

thanks for the latest news. got the same news from the same source like 1 and 4. but:
according to several agents group memebers m u s t n o t have the same natioality. of course i do not bet eating my keyboard, things are too fragile here.
everything else is like 4 states: pretty unclear. there is huge force now on local agents and guides not to let travellers stay over the tourarrangements time limits independently. how they will be able to handle this in reality we have simply to see in near future. more i do not want to discuss in this forum, if you have some experience in the area you know, that any time everything is never sure. for me it is clear that i will not take any risk to give trouble to local guides who must guide me any time. that is a horrible vision for me as an adult, independent person. so for now we should wait what informations the first ones getting in as groups of independent travellers will state.
some agents (i contacted about a dozen all over china) gave different statements. but people are on the way, this i s for sure now. the first arrangements took place. if they will join this forum, i do not know since i do not know them persoally. good luck to all of you.
kg

Posted
27-Jun-2008 16:21
by: pazu

Posts: 2,103
Registered: 05/02/01

11

And Sim's Cozy Guesthouse has posted a lot of new information here:

http://www.gogosc.com/enly_lasa_application.asp
"--- Sim's Cozy reveal the truth ---
The present situation about arranging trip to Tibet"

The option 1 and option 2 on the website are available, but not option 3. Check the website for more information.

Extensive FAQ about travel situation and permit restrictions in Tibet
Spinn Cafe, Bar and Tours , Lhasa, Tibet - Your information hub
Spinning in Tibet (ISBN: 9789881805966), published in Hong Kong.

Posted
27-Jun-2008 16:21
by: kelsanggyalmo

Posts: 17
Registered: 06/10/03

12

sorry, it seems every two minutes new infos are showing up. just another agent who just arranged a tibettour for a few persons said, a group to tibet must have same nationality. they call it a "private tour" of 2 to 3 people. hhmm. but it did not take them 10 days to arrange the tour, ticket etc. but 3 days only. it seems you have to check all the lp - mentioned agencies to see what is possible.
kg

Posted
27-Jun-2008 16:26
by: pazu

Posts: 2,103
Registered: 05/02/01

13

And I also suggest the moderator to make this thread sticky, there are too many threads about telling each other again and again that Tibet reopened, but this thread has the best and most useful information so far.

Extensive FAQ about travel situation and permit restrictions in Tibet
Spinn Cafe, Bar and Tours , Lhasa, Tibet - Your information hub
Spinning in Tibet (ISBN: 9789881805966), published in Hong Kong.

Posted
27-Jun-2008 19:34
by: jak_dafool

Posts: 1,437
Registered: 24/03/06

14

This is a great thread and once again kudos to Losang and cjonesy for providing the best Tibet travel information on the net.
You guys are doing a wonderful job and I'm pretty sure everyone appreciates it!

No longer posting on TT because TT sucks.

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