2012 TIBET PERMIT SITUATION UPDATE

Intrepud. Where are you from? I arrived in Xining today (16th April). I had a Tibet tour booked for 17th and the train from Beijing 15th. I had to cancel my train ticket (soft sleeper) and buy a new Xining one (hard seat) which shattered that little luxury. I thought I would come to Xining just to see if there were any more travellers here from the UK I could join forces with. I am British and meeting my American friend tomorrow. She is hoping to meet some Americans! So I am going to wait here a few days in the hope the permit situation changes before I abandon this dream of Tibet... for another year.

JR_Strang - After the March closure, it is not uncommon for the Tibet Travel Bureau to insist upon groups of the same nationality. In the past this has lasted a few weeks. This time it seems to me to be lasting longer. I can't predict when or if it will change by May. No one can.

Ruth

It's interesting how some are having more trouble than others. My tour agent has been insisting that it wouldn't be a problem to get a permit, and I just found out a few hours ago that she now has it! I am a single traveler, arriving in Lhasa on April 21st and I will be there alone for 9 days. I will then meet a small group in Lhasa (2 other people, I don't know where they are from) for 6 days to the Nepal border. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of you!

spink - im Irish. I called Intrepid today and was advised they wont know if they have the permits until the morning of the 19th (the day the train leaves) so I've no choice but to fly to Beijing and hope for the best. In the last group the one person who wasnt approved was actually British, not American. If some of the group get approved then the trip goes ahead and anyone who didnt get approved can switch to another trip or get a refund. Its not ideal (I'd rather know before I go) but I'm putting all my faith in the powers that be that itll come good. (This is my second attempt too, I tried in 2008 but all the borders were closed unexpectedly (in the run up to the Olympics) so I'm hoping it will all work out.)

sck125: Which tour agent did you use? The one I am corresponding with would not even quote me for my 14-day tour because he is not confident about the permit situation.

eyesonworld - I am using traveltibetguide.com which is part of Access Tibet Tour. ATT isn't highly recommended on here, but so far they have been great to me and they respond very quickly to emails.

I saw a copy of my permit today, there are two other Americans listed on it with the same last name.

Thanks for your information and wish you an enjoyable journey. Perhaps you can update on the experience here later. :-)

I wonder if it there is a big price difference if you arrange your Tibet trip once you are in China, compared to if you do it over the internet beforehand.

My friend and I (British and American) got permits yesterday and will travel to Lhasa by train on Friday 20th April. We are our own two person group. As far as I know the no mixed nationality rule is still in force but I think we finally got ours approved through persistence and assurances we were not going to cause any trouble in Tibet. We are only staying for 6 days due to our China visa restrictions and being dropped off at the Nepal border.

I had been planning to do a bike ride from Lhasa to Kathmandu for months with an outfit called Makalu Adventure. Everything seemed totally fine until about a week before departure, when they said only two of the ten or so persons on the tour had been approved by the TIbet Tourism people. They also told me that this is affecting a large number of tour companies. So they cancelled the trip.

Since then I have been in touch with Himalayan Glacier Trekking, who tell me that they have been sending people to Tibet on a regular basis since the beginning of April.

So who knows. People are hearing different stories from different sources. I will update this board if I get any positive news once I get on the ground in Kathmandu tomorrow.