Travel in Tibet Aug 2008

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I've been in Xining for 2 weeks trying to figure out my itinerary for Tibet. It appears at this point in time that although the Chinese say Tibet is open, in fact, the only way to visit any part of what used to be Tibet, is to have a group tour, but everyone in the group must be from the same country, having the same passport. This means, hooking up at a hostel with other travelers to create a tour is nearly impossible. A group used to be 2 and now is 4. Besides that you can only go to Lhasa, or if you can go anywhere else it is only WITH A GUIDE AND DRIVER. In other words, there is no roaming, no busing, no trains available to foreigners in most of the Tibetan areas. The exception in Qinghai, but there is very little to see here. Xining is a city, nice archetecture, but just a city. A couple hours away is Qinghai Lake which indeed is beautiful and good for a day or two, with stops at the princess statue making this much more interesting. There are dunes to slide on, on one side of the lake. DO NOT eat in the city, the good is outrageous and uneatable! Perhaps going into the "tourist trap" area right on the lake would be the best answer, but our driver said it was too expensive, like 150 to get in, maybe per person, but we spent 120 y on food we couldn't eat, so I would suggest you pay to get into the tourist trap. It couldn't be worse food. Seeing the Tibetans along the way was the highlight for me, dressed in their traditional gard, they sell their photographs on yaks, and sell horse riding on the beach. Also near Xining is Kumbum Monestary (30 minutes) and well worth a visit. There is also a vast national wilderness reserve about 3 hours away near a reservoir, and if you go deep in, follow the road all the way to the bottom, then up again, there is a nunnery and a monestary and a great temple worth the maybe 500 steps strewn with prayer flags. If you can find a nun, they will take you up to the top free of charge. Sleep at the restruant on the river in the nearby city, not the hotel, to avoid checkpoints. Sorry, don't recall the name of this famous resevoir, but it must be on the map, it's a big Chinese tourist destination, and it is magnificient. We bused it from Xining.

So, no Tibet is not open, in reality, nor Amdo or anywhere you'd want to go. Try Lijiang, way south for a taste of Tibet, and Kunming (a Chinese ancient city in that area is worth a see). Yushu is open, but the only thing to see is the "horse racing festival" which was cancelled this year...we can guess why.

So that's about it. I'll update when I can.
Morningstar

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