Hi,
we are two guys planning the bike trip lhasa to katmandu. just spent the last two days driving through beijing to find travel agencies in orader to geht ther permit. most "agents" we found actiually didn't know much about the service they offered, so we finally bought it for 2200 yuan plus a deposit of 1000 yuan which we'll get back if we book another tour in tibet or buy the train ticket back to beijing. don't know yet if we can manage to get those 1000 sometime, but thats not the question:
does anyone know, if the price is ok? it includes permit, train ticket, local guide for three days and accomodation for three days. everyone told us it would be impossible to get a permit without booking at least a small tour like we did now. we don't really need the tour etc, but we had no choice.
another question about permits. once we are in lhasa, noone wants to see the permit anymore, right?
is it correct that we can travel around lhasa without any other permits?
i read some of the other bikers threads and most of the could travel the friendship higway without buying a permit or anything...anz other/newer information available?
thanks a lot,
axel.
2200 plus a 1000 commitment for a tour is VERY expensive. In April I paid 500 for a permit,v and though it might be more expensive now that regulations are tighter after the protest in late April, 3300 is a lot.
You might need to get permits for the towns after Shigatse, but for travel in Lhasa district more permits should be unnecessary.
Currently planning the same trip for mid-October so very interested to know how you go re permits beyond Lhasa. Hopefully you can update this post with the `answer' when you find it. Good luck!
That is fairly steep, in June this year myself and two other cyclists bought this package in HK: Train (soft sleeper) from Guangzhou-Lhasa 1800 permit 3 nights hotel 1000= 2800RMB.
-Just to add to this the Tibetan guide at Lhasa end whose sole job it was to get us to the hotel, was very nervous about us leaving on our bikes 3 days later and insisted we MUST book permits/ tours if leaving Lhasa....In theory he could be in hot water if we'd got stopped by police and questioned outside of Lhasa county. Lhasa county, and correct me if i'm wrong anyone, extends all the way to Shigatse and Gyantse so in theory definately no problems biking to these.
We cycled out anyway and took in Gyantse, Shigatse & EBC on the way to Nepal. No permits and no hassles at checkpoints. Things frequently change so be sure to source any more recent info regarding borders and permit checks.
No one wanted to see our permit ONCE we arrived in Lhasa. But it was inspected, with the new permit for Everest, on entering that region, and exiting. Our guide bought the Everest permit in Lhasa as part of our deal.
Indicative - we each paid NZ$3700 for hotel and transport (guide and driver) in Xian - and guide, driver, Toyota, permits, all hotels, most meals and monastery entry tickets. Quite happy with value for money. Well, the guest house in EBC is a rip -0ff but the alternatives looked worse. EBc has all the charm of an old disused construction site. However, we saw the mountatin from the guest house for a total of 20 minutes in the 24 hours we spent there. Rain and cloud. My wife saw the inside of Tibetan toilets for a day or so after we stayed at the guest house. Rest of vacation tops!!!
Hiya,
I cant comment on the prices that you quoted but can give some info on permits. I have just cycled from Chengdu to Lhasa without permits and only had to go through 5 i think nightime checkpoints. The word in Lhasa right now seems to be not to bother getting an ATP in Shigaste because they only want to see your passport when crossing the checkpoint before EBC.
I would get your Nepal visa in Lhasa though, because if you did have problems with the PSB they will more likely send you to Nepal and not back to Lhasa.
Cheers Joff
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