Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

cycling Nepal-Tibet-China - is it possible?

Country forums / North-East Asia / Tibet

Hi all

I'm in a bit of a quandary. I've landed myself in India, en route to Australia by bicycle. I had to fly to get into India, but I hope to avoid flying out again. I can't get a Pakistan visa, so the next possibility appears to be going into Nepal, into Tibet and out to SE Asia via China.

My Googlage is letting me down, so I was hoping you could enlighten me - is this possible? I've read reports of cyclists going the other way (officially and unofficially), but I haven't seen anyone who has successfully gone the other way.

I know I'd have to arrange a man-with-a-van to follow me around Tibet as a tour guide (funds permitting - I'd hopefully tag onto another group or meet some like-minded individuals to lower the cost). Can I then arrange a Chinese visa and keep on keeping on?

Advice and links to other suitable threads are most welcome!

The problem you will have, assuming that you can afford the tour costs, is that the Chinese visa /Special Tibet permit that you will be issued in Nepal, will only be valid for 21 days and cannot be extended. So, you will probably need to fly anyway in order to exit China before the visa expires.

Best option is either to fly to a Mainland city and then start cycling south, or bypass China and fly direct to SE Asia.

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Aye, I couldn't transit Nepal and China in 21 days. Thanks for clarifying.

I'm in Nepal and India for the next six months, so I do have plenty of procrastination time.

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You must arrange ahead of schedule your time in tibet, and you have to let the travel agency to help you to apply for tibet permit.This is the Chinese government regulations, but if not in Tibet and other places can be arbitrary stay

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Hi,
the most essential thing for you is to get the China Visa from Nepal to get into Tibet and that is very limited which is for 21 days... Since your journey is bit long, you have think for alternatives to get out of China before your visa expires...In case, if you have enough validity for your visa then you can do your journey with proper permits...Anyway, Best of Luck for your coming adventure.

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