Hi
Me and my partner are looking to take a tour from KTM to lhasa incl EBC starting mid August some time. I have been looking around and tried a few companies but all seem to be £1000+. has anyone been with any tour companies they would recommend? We would then be taking the train from Lhasa to Chengdu
Thanks!!
Just be aware the visa you get in Kathmandu will have a limit of days. Probably 21 or thereabouts. It cannot be extended at all. So you need to be near a border when it is close to running out.
Back to your question, Trekkers Society was a name given to me when we looked at doing Tibet from Nepal. Their tours arent cheap either for a private group. I think you might find that with a lot of tours unless you go with some of the bigger set tours.
okay do you have any advice on visas too? as i have looked at a few tour companies, so we would get nepal visa on arrival in kathmandu and the tour company would get tibet visa for us . But do we still need chinese tourist visa for going on to chengdu and other places in china after lhasa? we would be spending at least 30 days in china after lhasa, maybe 35 days. thanks
A lot of the Tibet based agencies can also arrange tours of Tibet for those starting in Nepal. Companies like Tibet Highland Tours and Snow Lion Tours (as well as many others) should be able to easily arrange all of the tour details for you if you begin in Nepal.
Do be aware that there are more restrictions on foreign travelers who go from Nepal to Tibet and then on to Mainland China. You can only enter on a Group Chinese Visa, which the travel agency must arrange for you. This Group Chinese Visa is normally only valid for 21 to 28 days and cannot be extended. If you plan to take a 10 or 12 day tour of Tibet, you might not have enough time remaining on your visa to explore the other areas of China you are planning to go to. To avoid this restriction, do your trip in the reverse order (if your travel plans allow you to). By beginning in Mainland China and then going to Tibet and Nepal, you avoid the limited duration Group Chinese Visa restriction and can enter on a 30 or 60 day normal Chinese Tourist Visa, which can be extended in any major city in China (except Lhasa) for an additional 30 days.
thank you Losang! I think I emailed you as well! But i had a question regarding Chinese visa- we have been told that to apply for chinese visa from UK you need to provide proof of entry and exit but if we travel Beijing- KTM then we will be exiting via tibet which would make them reject the visa. we do not want to book a flight say from Chengdu to KTM and not use it as quite short of money anyway. our travel agent suggested that he print us a flight intinarry but we do not book the flight, but we show the flight itinerary as proof of exiting china? for example a flight itinerary from Beijing-London. do you think this would work?! thanks
The method suggested by your travel agent is likely to work. You can always say that you are unwiling to make an irreversible booking as long as you are not sure that you can travel , i.e. Have that visa. I have until now never run into a visa application process where the requirement for an air ticket could not be met by a preliminary reservation instead.