Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Agree a price and send a deposit, normally through PayPal or a bank transfer (check the
transfer charges).
Send a scan of your passport information pages and China visa.
Arrange an address in China (hotel, guesthouse or local agency) to receive your posted
TTB permit, if flying to Lhasa.
What your tour actually involves depends on the agency. Some offer all-inclusive tours,
while others will arrange transport, a guide and permits but leave accommodation, food
and entry fees up to you. You can book your own train or air ticket to Lhasa or have the
agency arrange this. Some airline offices and online booking agencies will sell flights to
Lhasa to foreigners, but others won't unless you can show you have a TTB permit. Some
agencies require you to have a prebooked ticket out of Tibet, but most are happy for you to
arrange this in Lhasa. Treks fall under the same permit requirements as normal tours.
You need to have the original permit in your hands in order to board a flight to Lhasa, so
most agencies arrange to post the permit through an agency or hostel. This can cost any-
thing from ¥25 for normal post (four working days) to ¥180/280/380 for 36-/24-/18-hour
express post. A photocopy or scan of an original TTB permit is currently all that is re-
quired to board a train to Tibet, which saves on postage fees. The permit is actually free,
though most agencies charge a few hundred yuán per person for the bureaucratic run-
around.
Agencies can only apply for permits 15 days before departure, so there is invariably a
last-minute rush to get permits posted to you in time. Travel restrictions and closures occur
without warning, as with the closure of western Tibet for several months in summer 2014.
Note that official regulations change particularly quickly if there are any political disturb-
ances. In 2012 temporary regulations were introduced requiring that groups have a minim-
um of five persons, all of the same nationality. A few months later Tibet was closed to for-
eigners completely for a short time, after two cases of self-immolation in Lhasa.
TTB permits are generally not issued in March due to the anniversary of several politic-
ally sensitive dates. Assuming the political situation is calm, permits normally start to be
reissued in the last week of March and agencies only know the new season's permit regula-
tions for sure by the end of March. The last-minute nature and uncertainty that comes with
this obviously complicates booking train and flight tickets; we recommend booking a fully
refundable ticket if possible and taking out trip-cancellation insurance in case your permits
fail to materialise.
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