Bike tour Lhasa to Kathmandu Sept. 2011

its about 1500USD per person, including everything exept flights Tibet visa and nepal visa and of course bikes and camping equipment and supplies...which we will have to bring. Note that this price is by far cheaper then any other offer I have found on the internet, ranging between 2400 to 4000 USD per pax.

latest update, I have found another Agent that would take a group of 4. doing all the trip as sheduled above but leaving us on the border with Nepal, that would be just 2 days riding on our own.
-Including tibet permits, guide, driver, jeep.
-Not Including Hotels (wich i will organise for the group) camping equipment (I will bring cooking gear for the group, you just bring tends and sleeping beds and mats), bikes, food and meals.

All for 6800 RMB per person based on a group of 4. So far we are 3 so please if you are interested in joing let me know ASAP. 6800 RMB is at today exchange rate around 1000USD,

Edited by: gsimiani

Try contacting other agencies in Lhasa as the price you've been quoted still seems a bit high, esp if it doesn't include transportation to Lhasa.

By the way, don't expect the ride from Lhasa to Kathmandu to be an extremely challenging bike tour, esp if you have a car to carry your stuff. The road is paved all the way to the Nepal border and the climbs are never very steep. Only the side trip to the EBC is on rough road. But the scenery is indeed stunning all the way.

Other remarks :
* you are apparently planning to camp at the passes. Are you sure this is a good idea ? Sleeping above 4700m on day 2 from Lhasa and over 5000m on day 3 is bound to make you pretty sick with AMS (acute mountain sickness).
* taking a day off in Shigatse could be a good idea as it'd give you some time to visit the monastery which is truly beautiful, do the kora or simply enjoy watching pilgrims and chatting with local Tibetans.
* day 12 : Lhatse is south of the turn-off to Sakya, so if you sleep in Lhatse then you need to back track to go to Sakya. There are fairly cheap hotels/guesthouses in both Sakya and Lhatse, no need to camp (no nice place to camp there anyway).
* check in Lhasa that Sakya is indeed included in your permit or you might end up in trouble with the PSB who will try to get money from you.
* day 14 : Sheggar/Shekar is several kms off the main road. Better stay at Baipa I think
* you cannot camp at the EBC proper, in fact you can only stay at the base camp for 1/2 hr or so. So it might be a better idea to go there as a half day return trip from Rongbuk.
* day 23 : I'd recommand you to cross the border and go sleep on the Nepali side (Tatopani is a good choice for a nice shower or bath at the hot springs) rather than stay in Zhangmu which is just another ugly Chinese town.
* Check the itinerary carefully. Sometimes, the guides are not aware of the distances a cyclist can ride and will tell you "oh the pass is very near" when there's still 9kms to ride uphill on rough road (Pang La for instance), or they will tell you after Tsho La (the last pass before descending towards Nepal) "Well, it's all downhill from now on, easy to reach Nyalam in a couple of hours". For one thing, for a downhill, there are quite a few ups. And even if the road is good, the headwinds make it quite diffcicult at times.

Good news: 2011 is "Tourism Year" in Nepal, visas are free.

Saramaca, you're being a bit modest, aren't you. Just a small link in your signature to the most facinating tour in 2010 won't do - we want the whole and detailed story.

Hi Igor. Just got back home last week, I will try to update the blog whenever I have the time (and a proper internet connection).

gsimiani - are you still looking for another person for the friendship highway tour in September? I may possibly be interested..would you be flying directly to Lhasa? or Kathmandu and then transfer? What dates are you looking at in September?

Tara

Latest update is that the starting date is 4th of October, meet up and acclimatise in Lhasa for 3 days before starting the trip. Seems we have got a team of 4 now if Tara decide to join us,. price is 6800 RMB per person and we will apply some changes on the itinerary as suggested by the wise Saramanca.

Any additional participant will probably mean a reduction in price so if any one is interested please contact me.

For those who have done the route before..Is it suitable to use a touring bike vs. a mountain bike? I am getting a trek 520 which has 700cc tires that I may swap for wider/tougher ones. It also has the drop handlebars which I have heard mixed reviews about. I am an avid road cyclist, but haven't really done any touring..though the Tibet tour will be supported. I am planning on cycling through Yunnan in China and into Southeast Asia following the friendship highway.

The road is paved all the way from Lhassa to the border (except the side trip to the EBC which is really rough with a lot of stone). In Nepal, it's a mix of potholed tarmac and pack-mud or soft mud depending on the season.