Latest news about permits TTB and PSB

Hey

I am travelling alone and I got a TTB permit to Tibet without problems.

TTB
Here are the following possibilities to get the permit or to come to Tibet without!

1. I contact John from an agency in Xi'an to get the permit and a flight ticket some weeks before. He answered me that he can do it for a single person and I paid everything by Western Union. I met John in Xi'an in my Hostel where he gave me the flight ticket and a fax of the permit.
He is a very correct person. My flight ticket was cheaper and he give me the money back. I can recommand him, even for other tours! I got my permit for 500 yuan and a cheaper flight for 1290 yuan.
You can contact him by mail: johnqingg2004@yahoo.com.cn
Address: CITS Lianhu Office, No.21, Lianhu Road, Xi'an, China
Tel:029--87313996 or 029--87288731

I found his e-mail in the forum.

2. Leohostel (Beijing) made permits for 2 persons and can organize train tickets. When I stayed there, I saw that other travellers got everything.

3. In my flight there were 2 persons without permit! They asked at the police station in Xi'an about the situation and they were told that there are not many controls for the moment in Tibet. They just went to the Airport in the morning, bought the ticket and get to the plane!

Controls
My permit was only checked during a second by a person in the check-in. No police was interested, nobody in Lhasa - the most travellers never see their permits!
Now I am in Shigatse and on the road there were 2 police controlls, but my bus was never stopped.

PSB
I went to the PSB office in Shigaste some hours ago to get a permit to Gyantse. The women there told me, that you don't need another permit, the PSB, if you travel only to Gyantse.

I hope I could help other persons!

I am pleased to read that John helped you! I don't know if I gave you his address or you got it from one of the other people on here who also recommend him. John's my travel agent and has been for three years.

Me too ZHET, I'm happy to finally see a report about John after recommending him left, right and centre!
Cheers!

True. I've also recommended him in emails people have sent me, but I haven't heard back if he was able to help them or not. For those who want train tickets to Tibet, I'm guessing that maybe he wasn't able to help them. They seem to be hard to find.

By the way, I found out about John on this forum. Yes, he posted a message about three years ago. I can't remember now if it was a blatant ad or if he answered a question, then added the information that he was a travel agent in Xi'an. I guess because I found my travel agent on here, I am a little more patient with others who post like that. Well, not with the obnoxious ones who spam all the posts about their area, but with those who are more subtle.

Actually I havent seen anyone here blatantly advertising for some time now.

Maybe they get zapped too fast for you to see them around?
Cheers!