So it is official...Tibet (Lhasa) is open again to foreign tourists.
Here is what the Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) told us this afternoon how travel for foreigners to Lhasa needs to be arranged:
1. Everyone must be part of a group tour.
We asked how may people makes a "group" and the TTB wasn't 100% sure, but thought that 2 people would be enough to make a "group". This minimum number could be changed to 3 or 4, but today we were told 2.
2. Everyone in the group must carry the same nationality passport.
This means that if you are a Canadian passport holder, everyone in your group must also carry a Canadian passport. If you hold a Canadian passport, you cannot meet up with a person holding a Swiss passport and form a group to travel to Lhasa.
If you are looking for other travellers to buddy up with to fulfill conditions #1 and #2 above, you can post on this thread.
3. All tours to Lhasa and the TAR must be guided and arranged before arriving in Lhasa.
A tour guide will accompany you everywhere you go during your stay. Also, in the past you could show up in Lhasa and put together a trip to Everest Base Camp at a travel agency. Now, all travel plans will have to be arranged BEFORE you arrive in Lhasa.
4. All hotels must be arranged in advance.
As Chris Jones mentioned earlier, not all hotels in Lhasa have the right permits to allow foreign travelers. All hotel reservations must be made at hotels that officially allow foreigners. Most of the popular hotels in Lhasa will probably be okay, but there may be some that are not.
5. All foreigners must have all of the proper permits before departing to Lhasa.
This is nothing new, but you can be certain that all train stations and airports will be checking everyone's permits.
6. Travel to Lhasa must be arranged at least 10 days in advance.
We have been told that an official itinerary must be given to the TTB 10 days before the customer plans to arrive in Lhasa. The TTB will be doing at least some sort of a background check before a permit is issued to travel to Lhasa. Before you could get a permit in 2 or 3 days. Now it will take at least 10 days to process...maybe even longer.
I wouldn't be surprised if the rules change slightly over the next few days, but this is the latest that the TTB is saying. I think there is no chance of individual travel to Lhasa for quite a while. Group travel is the ONLY way to get to Lhasa. If anything major does change, I will post an update.
If you have any other questions or need any help, please mail to me.
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