Lhasa

Tashi Dele!

I am considering a join-in tour of Tibet, commencing from and terminating in Lhasa. Once the tour ends, would it be possible for me to spend an extra day or two in Lhasa without a guide? I would like to walk about and see more of the city than the tour will cover. I am aware that some sites and nearby locales require that foreign visitors be escorted by a guide. In such instances, I plan to hire an approved local guide for a few hours. Will I be able to obtain transportation back to the airport/train station on my own?

Thank you for any responses.

What you want to do is illegal and puts the travel agency you book your tour through at jeopardy. After all, they are responsible for you from the time you arrive in Lhasa till the time you get on either the train or plane.

would it be possible for me to spend an extra day or two in Lhasa without a guide?

No.

Will I be able to obtain transportation back to the airport/train station on my own?

Absolutely not according to reports. You can't take a bus and taxis aren't supposed to take you. Transport to/from the airport is supposed to be arranged as part of the permit.

I suggest that you ask the company with whom you are arranging to travel to add an extra day to your permit.

Please read this report to understand that while the risks to you are slim, the problems for the hosting agency may be huge: Traveling illegally in Tibet

Ruth

Thank you kindly for your responses.

I definitely would not want to jeopardize the tour agency nor myself. I will simply request an add-on from the agency so that I may have the continued services of a guide for the extra days in Lhasa.

Agree with the others....it is not possible to stay in Lhasa without being part of an organized tour. When you send in your itinerary to the agency you are using, they need to issue travel permits for the duration of your stay in Tibet. You will need to show proof that you will be leaving Tibet on the day that your tour ends. Just recently I talked to some good friends in Lhasa who told me a story of a group that they took to the train station, but then the group took off on their own and somehow managed to get to the Tibet-Nepal border. This caused a lot of problems for my friends travel agency. For more about that story, read the following link:

Traveling Illegally in Tibet

You should have quite a bit of freedom while in Lhasa. The guide is normally only with you for a few hours or so. By no means is the guide with you 16 hours a day. You can have plenty of time to explore the city on your own, however many of the temples and monasteries will require your guide to be with you in order to enter.