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Yes, we emailed a travel agent in Beijing, and asked him to buy train tickets for us 7 days ahead of time. He's commission was 50 rmb per ticket (about 7 usd). Ticket price is printed on the train ticket. Ours was 813 rmb for a lower berth hard sleeper.
We bought our train ticket through a travel agent from Beijing. He did not ask about permit. When we flew out from Tibet to Beijing, no one care about the permit either.*We do not have first hand experience on regulations of FLYING INTO Tibet.
That depends on where you want to go once you arrive Lhasa. If you plan to visit only Lhasa area, Ganden, and Namtso, then no, don't bother with a permit if you take the train in. We took the train in from Beijing and did not have a permit. No one checked nor asked. Only passport and train ticket were checked. *but if you know you will be traveling to other area in tibet other than the above mentioned, it is worth while to get the tibet permit ahead of time.
You will see spectacular scenery in either direction along the Qinghai Tibet railway. Unlike other trains in China, the Qinghai Tibet train cars have pressurized cabins and so none of the windows can be opened.This presents a significant obstacle to taking good pictures on the train. When you hold your camera up to the window, you will notice considerable glare and also have to fight reflection.I found myself using the window's curtains as a shield to manage this problem, but you should probably bring something better though I don't have any specific suggestions.Another problem you'll notice outside your window is the constant interference of electric lines and their poles. As the train is moving, you have to guess when the wires will be below the desired subject of your photo. You might have to take several consecutive photos and delete the bad ones later.In fact, I found myself...
As with many other children I would see, she was a beautiful child, terribly curious about foreigners who would park by the side of the road near her home in the middle of an otherwise empty horizon. She had earrings of both turquoise and coral and wore a heavy dark green jacket held together with a huge safety pin over blue corduroy pants.During our entire encounter of five minutes, she said not a word; she was most interested in just looking at us, at what we were wearing, at our Land Cruiser--she was curious about everything. Unlike children who saw foreigners more frequently and so were sometimes quite vocal about demanding tribute, she asked for nothing, not even in return for the photographs we took of her. We were able to share some small gifts with her but nothing we did could provoke so much as a smile.
Don't go to Tibet with a nasty attitude torwards the Chinese occupation, or the thriving tourism industry in Tibet. Both will make your trip a very unpleasant and unenjoyable one. #1 The Han Chinese are there to stay. If you think lhasa is too Chinese, too modern...you are welcome to the remote villages with no running water, sewage running down the streets, and livestock sharing roads with automobiles. It's quaint, yes, but many westerners prefer the cushier comforts of Lhasa. And the Chinese "invasion" of Tibet is much more humane and culturally tolerant than the European "invasion" of North America, or Australia, where the native population, language and culture were to the point of annihilation. IN Tibet, signs are still in Tibetan, monasteries are active, and people still speak in their local language.#2 If you're hoping for a truly enlightening experience, remember this: so are...
It is really worth visiting the Barkhor Square (in Lhasa) first thing in the morning, the atmosphere really is magical! There are many more pilgrims than any other time of day, and also many of the devotees will light fires in specially constructed ovens in order to create a misty effect. And the result is surreal. It has to be seen to be believed.
Many of the pilgrims coming to the Barkhor Kora in Lhasa from remote villages in Tibet, had not seen westerners until the came across us. They were as curious about us as we were about them, but they were a little less subtle. Touching, especially patting one’s rear end, was common practice. Stroking blond hair, touching the skin and feeling the material in your clothing also happened a lot. This was not just confined to Lhasa, but happened in almost every town we went. Sometimes it was a lovely experience, other times it became a little tiresome to constantly be the centre of attention, with their nudging each other, giggling and pointing.
A very bizarre incident happened inside the ground floor chapel in Utse Chapel in Samye. As we were walking around the chapel, a mobile phone started ringing. I was rather annoyed with my fellow travellers, that they couldn’t switch off their phone when in such a holy place, when I noticed a monk reaching inside his robe and bring out the latest fold-up camera phone. Unreal!
Norbulingka, meaning "Treasure Park", was first built in the 1740s. As a result of continuous expansion by the Dalai Lamas, it covers an area of 40 hectares. The Qing magistrate dispatched to Tibet built the original palace for His Holiness, the Seventh Dalai Lama who often visited the area. In 1751, the Seventh Dalai Lama began construction on the Kelsang Potrang as his palace where he ruled and received officials and high lamas. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama lived in the Kelsang Potrang during the construction of his new palace. Construction seldom stopped under the reigns of different Dalai Lamas. In 1956 the Fourteenth Dalai Lama finished his own palace - Takten Migyur Potrang, usually called the New Summer Palace. In the past, each spring a grand procession of lamas would follow the Dalai Lama to move into the park.
Yak Hotel Lhasa
8 Reviews and 61 Opinions This is a supposedly 3 star hotel but why remains a mystery. We stayed there for 2 days on our...
Gyantse Hotel Gyangze
2 Reviews and 29 Opinions The hotel's official rating is ***, which did mean it was pretty basic - and so it was (it would not...
Kyichu Hotel (Jiqu Fandian) Lhasa
1 Review and 65 Opinions I stayed at this hotel in February 2007. The beds were hard, but that's normal in China. They had...
Reviews and photos of Tibet attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Tibet sightseeing.
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Q: I am planning a trip of a life time and have two years to do so… so first I want to get some ideas from seasoned travelers and...
A: If you want to hike or bike, Tibet (which is stunning, by the way) is probably not going to work out. The Chinese government will only issue permits for people to enter...
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