Has anyone heard of GreatTibetTour.com in Lhasa?

I read through all 63 pages of Tibet in Thorn Tree (and contributed and asked questions), but haven't seen mention of GreatTibetTour.com in Lhasa. They say they are the online brand of Tibet Whole World International Travel Service. I like my communication with them so far, but I'm planning to book my tour in Tibet with them via the Internet. We're planning on leaving for Chengdu in early October 2007.

Would appreciate any comments on them.

Thanks,
Morty

Don't know them but my advice would be to ensure they are registered. One of the Chinese-based companies we looked at was not. Non-registered tour companies shold be avoided. We used Adventure World who organised with CITS. Might be slightly higher but definitely worth it.

good advice.....steamlover

There are plenty of small agencies in mainland Chinese cities and also here in Lhasa that are not registered. They simply have a larger legit agency actually providing the permits/tickets etc. (This is the reason why Tibet permits were difficult to get for a while as all the big agencies simply dropped the unregistered agencies they associated with when things tightened up here) This is a sketchy way to opertate as you never actually know who is providing the service and if any permitor other issues arise then the agency you booked with usually has no idea what to do or how to deal with the problems.

If you hunt around you will find legit small agencies that will be fairly priced and offer good service. I have heard good things about "Tibet Tour" namgyal_tenzin@hotmail.com )

You could try getting a quote from him. He is Tibetan and based in Lhasa so you are not booking through some faceless agency in a Chinese mainland city.

CJ

1. 
   
   Don't know them but my advice would be to ensure they are registered.
   
   It seems they're registered, but when I clicked on the registration icon, the image took so long to open that I quit. But now I will go back and let it open.
   
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   <hr>We used Adventure World<hr></blockquote>
   
   Thanks--I checked them out but not only are they much more costly, they don't offer what our Great Tibet Tour company does.

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<hr>the big agencies simply dropped the unregistered agencies they associated with when things tightened up here) This is a sketchy way to opertate as you never actually know who is providing the service and if any permitor other issues arise then the agency you booked with usually has no idea what to do or how to deal with the problems.<hr></blockquote>

Great point, Chris--thanks.

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<hr>I have heard good things about "Tibet Tour" namgyal_tenzin@hotmail.com<hr></blockquote>

I'll check them out.

hi,
I have no idea about Great Tibet Tour but we have used an agency based in Nepal called Yala Adventure ( www.alltibet.com).They have given us very good price as well as best service.You could ask with them once.

Thanks,
David

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<hr>5.

hi,
I have no idea about Great Tibet Tour but we have used an agency based in Nepal <hr></blockquote>

Thanks, David, but we're going to go to Tibet from Chengdu.

-Morty

Do not waste your time with greattibettour.com....I booked my holiday with this company and had such a nightmare with accommodation that they had booked us into - they overcharged us by USD$1500. The accommodation was dreadful and their response was pathetic and not helpful whatsoever. I recommend the Jardin secret hotel in Lhasa who could help with Tibet travel as they were extremely friendly and helpful unlike greattibettour.com. DO NOT get scammed into greattibettour.com like we did. For most Westerners, electricity, hot water and food are essentials...this was not provided at many of our hotels that greattibettour.com booked us into. WE were not warned about this and paid TOO much money.