Tibet permits not required from Lanzhou via train

Fellow Thorns:

Just a few personal Tibet experiences and a few questions. Firstly, I bought a train ticket to Lhasa from Lanzhou, on the street in Lanzhou (lucky on that one) and took the hard-sleeper to Lhasa for 537 yuan - about a week ago. Nobody asked me about permits or anything all the way to Lhasa and in Lhasa - so it looks like that info corroborates others' experiences regarding the relaxed policy of the Tibet Travel Permit and the trains into Tibet. No body I talked to had trouble in Golmud either. Lhasa is a great city to hang around in too, so I've been relaxing...

Now the tricky part - I want to get down to the Nepali border on my own if possible. Should I buy a Tibet permit here in Lhasa so I don't get sent back by the cops. Is it even possible to take puplic transport to the border or must you book with one of these "Land-cruiser travel agencies" for big bucks? I would be very grateful for any personal experiences regarding this tricky question...

Thanks in advance,
Cal

Hi, thanks for the info regarding Tibet travel permits. Im planning a similar trip myself, and from everything I've heard, you dont absolutely HAVE to book with the Land-cruiser travel agencies, and a travel agent (Flight Centre, AU) also informed me that if you're in Nepal for less than 3 days you dont need a visa to enter. Dont know where your from, but thats the word I hear for Aussies. Not sure if that helps, but posted with good intentions. Good luck.

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<hr>..if you're in Nepal for less than 3 days you dont need a visa to enter.<hr></blockquote>

You get (I got ) a three day transit visa , no fee.

Nice update , thanx.

the ops question is about the need for a permit for the journey from lhasa to the nepali border.

i haven't first hand experience but i have heard that if you state you are traveling directly to the border you do not need a permit. i have also been informed that one can take a bus from lhasa to shigatse and from shigatse to the border.

Scaler, thank you for great info! Please tell me which street you bought the ticket on? I am on the way to Lanzhou in a week and heading from there to Tibet and I intend to ignore the permit. So please tell me where you bought the ticket and I will go straight there. Many thanks.
(oh, this post is more than two months old, I hope the poster is still around!)