Hi there,

Does anyone know if it is possible to travel from Nepal to Tibet overland. I've heard that you have to get on a tour, but can you do it alone? Also, what is the visa situation for Tibet? Do I have to organise it before I leave home (I'm a UK citizen) or can I organise it in Kathmandu?

Finally, how much do these tours from Kathmandu cost and do they bring you back to Nepal or are they one-way.

Confused,

Jonny.

Hi JonCamdenTown,

I planned to do something similar, my limited research has come up with the following:
1. I too have been told you need to be part of a tour to get to Tibet primarily to get a visa $50 - £80 dollars depending on who quotes you.
2. You can quite easily get one way trips to Lhasa overland - $410 - $480 dollars including accommodation. You can of course get return trips too.
My problem is I have to go in August and cannot get a clear answer about likelihood of delays due to roads getting washed away by monsoon rains and if so how long the delays might be!

Best regards

Steve

You don't really have to be on a tour to be granted a visa to Tibet, but you DO need to be part of a group. However, a group is just defined as "at least two people", so I'm sure there's some kind of set-up in Katmandu that will put together groups of visa-needy people and help you with the paperwork for getting this done.

If you just want to enter Tibet, look around in Lhasa and then return to Nepal, maybe a tour is your best option. If you want to explore more and you don't want to go back, I suppose you'll be able to work out something cheaper and better on your own. As long as you find at least one other person to be a "group" with. #8D)

Good luck!

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

Just did KTM - Lhasa trip & you need to be part of a group however from Lhasa on into China you can travel as a group of one.

Bewarw the police at the Nepal/Tibet border have a thing about Lobnely Planet China guide books & get a kick out of confiscating (stealing) them!

I have not traveled from Nepal to Tibet but from China to Tibet. You will need a Chinese Visa, a permit for Tibet and a permit to go to the Mt. Everest area. In China there are travel agencies that can arrange all this. I don't know about getting these in Nepal but I suspect a tour operator can do it. In my experience booking things like this in China is less expensive than booking outside of the country.

As for the roads, the "Friendship Highway" which runs from Llhasa to Nepal is mostly unpaved and very dusty and bumpy. There is very little traffic. We had a Chinese driver and a Landcruiser. Our car broke down and we sat on the road for two hours until another car passed us and took us all to the next town, several hours away.

Gee Ira guess they did a fast paving job as 2 weeks ago the highway was paved except for the first 3 hrs where it is under construction, the rest of the way to Lhasa was fine except for a couple short areas where slides had occured.

Now to get the visa thing straight, when entering Tibet from Nepal you MUST purchase a visa for Tibet/China from a Nepal travel agent, if you already have a visa for China it IS CANCELLED & a new one given.

If you are going to give advise make sure it is up to date & correct!!