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Tibet Travel FAQ |
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A. General Information: 1. When is the best time to visit Tibet? B. Travel Document: 1. What documents do I need if I am planning to travel to Tibet? C. Tour Booking: 1. Do you offer join-in tour or can I join a group? D. Lodging and Eating: 1. What are the hotels like in Tibet? E. Transportation: 1. What are the baggage regulations when flying inside China? Tibetplus Answers:A. General Information:1. When is the best time to visit Tibet? The best time to visit Tibet is from early May to late October. Because first of all the Tibet weather would be not harsh, and secondly it is best time to visit Mt. Everest Base Camp (if you have plan to get there). 2. What’s the weather like in Tibet? Lhasa - Shigatse - Lhatse - Tingri - Nylam: Along the Friendship highway is basically in good conditions year around. But from December to February, the thawed road could make some trouble. Try to avoid August - landslide could happen in the rainy season. Mt.Everest Area: Early May and early October are the best time to visitMt. Everest. Due to the clear weather, you have great chance to seeMt. Everest's true face (if you are lucky). From December to February, you'd better not to go to this area because it is too cold - except you are real Great Adventure People. Ali (Mt.Kailash): Even without climate restrictions, this area is already inhospitable. Big rain and snow could make the journey worse. However, for those determined tourists, the appropriate time is May, June, July, September and October. Eastern Tibet: Don't go to this area in July or August (the rainy season) because the rain could ruin the road, and make terrible landslides. In winter, the road could be frozen. Northern Tibet: With the average altitude of 4,500m, this area offers very limited time for tourists. Summer (July to August) is the prime time to enjoy the great plain in northern Tibet. 3. What do you suggest we bring with us if we travel to Tibet? For the clothing, we suggest casual attire style and layered clothing. In day time you may need only a T-shirt or at most a jacket, but at night you may need a coat. Down coat is necessary if you go beyond Lhasa and Shigatse to remote areas, the Everest Camp or further to Mt.Kailash. Sun glasses, sun blocking cream, moisture scream are very necessary to be in your packing list. 4. What is high season? What is the definition for high season, shoulder season and low season? High season marks the most popular times of the year for travel in Tibet, due to the weather, holiday periods or other reasons. Therefore hotels, airlines and travel agencies are heavily booked, and prices are higher than at other times. The seasons are usually defined as follows: Travelers should also be aware that the peak holiday periods: first week in May, first week in October, and Chinese Spring Festival (often takes place in late January or early February) are particularly busy. Prices and bookings will be even higher than usual. Access Tibet Tour reserves the right to vary prices as a result of seasonal charges being imposed. 5. What currency do I have to use in Tibet? The legal tender in Tibet is Renminbi (RMB). Foreign currencies can not be used directly. Foreign currencies may be converted into RMB at all banks, bank branches or hotels at the exchange rate quoted on the foreign exchange marker on the day. The Bank of China in Tibet is the bank which specializes in handing money exchange. 6. Is it easy to find an ATM in Tibet? You won't have any problems finding an ATM in Lhasa and Shigatse, although you probably won't be able to find one in remote areas or the smaller towns. However, this situation is changing, and ATMs are gradually spreading out across the land. 7. What credit cards are accepted in Tibet? Actually it is often accepted in big cities in Tibet, like Lhasa and Shigatse. Most of the internationally accepted credit cards are usable in Lhasa. They include: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diner's club, and the JCB card of Japan. Credit cards are accepted only in large shopping stores. Credit card symbols are displayed in the visible place in shops and hotels indicating credit cards are accepted. B. Travel Document:1. What documents do I need if I am planning to travel to Tibet? You need to have a valid passport, a valid China visa and a Tibet travel permit (sometimes people call it Entry permit or TTB, or Tibet visa). All visitors traveling to mainland China, whether for business or pleasure, require a visa. No Visa is required prior to enter Hong Kong, a Visa will be issued upon arrival. If you travel beyond Hong Kong, even for a few hours, you will need a China visa to enter China. 3. What should I be aware of when apply for the China Visa? Access Tibet Tour recommends that you obtain your visa before leaving the country where you live. When you are applying for the China visa, ATT advises you try not to mention Tibet or to write anything about Tibet on the application form. It is advisable to refer to other places in China like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, etc. otherwise, visa officer may reject your application and you won’t get the visa to China. 4. How can I get China visa in Hong Kong? It is usually very easy to apply for a China visa in Hong Kong. You can get a visa yourself at: Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China 5th Floor, Lower Block Please Note: 1) You need to go there Monday to Friday during business hours. Requirements to obtain a Visa in Hong Kong A. One recent passport photo. 5. Do I need double/multi-entry visa if I come to Tibet from China mainland and return China mainland after the trip? No, because Tibet is a part of China, if enter Tibet from other cities in China mainland and after the trip in Tibet, get back to China mainland again, only a single entry visa is required. For example: BeijingàTibetàShanghai For this, a single entry visa is okay. 6. If I travel via Nepal to Tibet, are there any special requirements on China visa? Before you are coming to Lhasa from Katmandu, you must get China visa from Katmandu because no matter you've already got the visa in your country or not, you must get a visa in Katmandu, which is regulated in an official memo between China and Nepal. The fastest way is that we send the Invitation Letter to Katmandu at least one day prior to your arrival in Katmandu, then you can apply for China Visa in the second day easily, which will cost around 1-2 days. Chinese Visa fees: US$ 50.00 payable in cash upon arrival in Katmandu [US$ 70.00 for US Citizens]. The Chinese embassy in Katmandu only opens for visa application on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00am to 11:30am. The application will take at least one working day, please confirm your schedule to fit the visa application. 7. What’s the procedure to get China visa in Katmandu? Step 1: After you book the tour from us, provide me your copy passport information and copies of your passport Step 2: We will apply the ‘Visa Invitation Letter’ from Tibet Tourism Bureau, after we get, we will fax it to our Nepal business partner before you arrive in Katmandu Step 3: After your arrival in Katmandu, our Nepal business partner will try to find you in your hotel, then go to the Chinese Embassy together to apply the Chinese Visa. With the ‘Visa Invitation Letter’, you can get your Chinese Visa very easily. 8. What is Tibet Travel Permit? Tibet Travel Permit is the official document that allow foreign traveler to enter Tibet. It is granted by the Tibet Tourism Bureau. Tibet Travel Permit sometimes is also called Tibet Entry Permit or TTB permit. >>> More about Tibet travel permit 9. What do I need to do to obtain the Tibet Travel Permit? You need provide us with the high quality scanned copies of your passport and China visa, and the following information as well. Then we can hold these things to help you get the Tibet Travel Permit. 1) Full name 10. Can I get the Tibet Travel Permit easily? Travelers can get the Tibet Travel Permit easily through a travel agency except diplomats, journalists, and government officials who should travel to Tibet under the arrangement by the Foreign Affairs Office of Tibet Government. 11. When do I need to apply for the Tibet travel Permit? You need to apply for the travel permit at least 10 days prior to your entry date, which means you should prepare all the information and documents in hand before this period of time. 12. With this Tibet Travel Permit, where can I go in Tibet? Tibet Travel Permit (or TTB) only endorses you to enter Tibet, to stay in Lhasa area and two another major towns of Tibet like Gyantse and Shigatse. If you are planning to travel beyond and farther, you are required to prepare the PSB Permit for which Access Tibet Tour could help you to apply. 13. How can you send the Permit to me, or how can I receive it? a. If your last stop before entering Tibet is in China mainland, we can mail express the travel permit to the place you will be staying, e.g. your home address, postal code if you work and live in China, or the hotel name, address, postal code if you are travel in China. You will be receiving an EMS (Express Mail Service) envelope in which the permit is put. b. If you only have a flight connection in one certain city, we have some one come to the airport to pass you the permit in person. C. Tour Booking:1. Do you offer join-in tour or can I join a group? Right now we only operate private tours in Tibet. There is no group to join in. You may check our website in the near future. If you do not wan to travel alone, you may invite people to join you by posting messages on some travel forums. Private tour means that you will have a tailor-made tour itinerary, a private vehicle, a driver and a guide. During the tour, there will be no other tourists with you, but only your family members, or close friends. 3. How can I make a tour itinerary? You can choose the pre-made Tibet tour itinerary from our website and send your requirement to us. We will have our travel advisor help you with the further discussion. You can also pop up your own itinerary but have to consult our advisor to see if your proposition is feasible and doable. Tour cost varies because tour itinerary might be different, group size might be different, and also many other aspects might affect the tour cost, like travel time, hotel standard. 5. I want an independent/private tour, but I do not want to do shopping, can you manage it? Yes, we can manage that. We offer high quality of the ground service including shopping. But if you do not like shopping, we assure you that you are not led to any shops. But it is our guides' responsibility to show you the essence of local product (specialties). If you are not interested in any products at all, please specify this point with your travel advisor when making a reservation. 6. Besides your sightseeing tours, do you have any other special tours like trekking, hiking, rafting, horse riding, etc? Yes, we do provide all the above special tours you mentioned, and the mixture of different kinds. We offer the trekking tour, long time adventure tour, hiking during the sightseeing tour, and even rafting. As for the rafting, we have two kinds, one is mild for elder people and you can see the view that you cannot see in the sightseeing tour. The other kind is the exciting rafting which will cost a few hours covering 30 km. By the way, if you want to do trekking tour, it needs at least 8 days plus the sightseeing tour in cities or monasteries. During the trekking, you will have yaks and yak man, a chef to serve you besides our guide. 7. What methods of payment do you accept? We accept major three ways of payment, 1). Wire transfer [we will send you our company bank account info via email]; You can pay the balance either by cash or by credit card upon your arrival in Lhasa. 9. Why is the money you charged to my credit card more than that you claimed to me? The rules of Tibet (China) Government do not allow us to charge in foreign currencies. Credit card payments charged in CNY (RMB) are based upon the prevailing rates in China. Your card issuing bank will debit you in local currency and Access Tibet Tour will have no control on the rate of conversion used by your card company. The result is that the amount charged from your credit card might be slightly different from the amount on the credit card authorization form. 10. What is your cancellation policy? Please refer to http://www.tibetplus.com/term_conditions.html D. Lodging and Eating:1. What are the hotels like in Tibet? Tourism is Tibet is in its infancy and the number of 4 Star hotels is quite limited. The newer hotels have been built away from the city center in order to protect the city history and environment. These hotels have central heating which is used in winter but no cooling is available in summer. We would still warn that the facilities and service standard may not be as you would expect from a hotel with this rating in other parts of the world. Older hotels located in the city have a good location but will not provide the level of comfort of the newer hotels and may not have any central heating. The level of service and facilities may be quite basic. Staff will probably not speak much English. Hotels in small cities and the Everest Base camp are very basic. They will usually have a public bathroom with squat toilet. 2. Can explain what the budget guesthouse, comfortable hotel and best available hotel are? One thing you should bury in mind is that hotels in Tibet concerning its facility and service are not what you imagine. Not like hotels in big cities in China and other cities abroad. Budget guesthouse has a few kinds. One is the twin room with or without the bathroom in it. The other is triple, four-bed rooms, and more beds rooms named dormitory which all have no private bathroom in them. Former one can be easily found in Lhasa and Shigatse, while later one is often the choice in remote area in Tibet. Comfortable hotels on our website refer to middle class hotels, or standard hotels regarding to its location, or price, or comprehensive service ability. They are usually three star hotels, or comparatively good 2 star hotels. The best available hotels are the 4 star hotels. 4 star hotels can only be reached in Lhasa. The best available hotels in the region out of Lhasa are generally 3 star hotels, and in some places hotels with no star, but comparatively of good condition. 3. What are the hotel rooms like in hotels in Tibet? Often, in a room, there are two beds which we call twin-sharing room. Some hotels have queen bed room and some even have triple room. But the number of queen bed room and triple is very limited. Twin-sharing room with two beds inside is commonly used in Tibet. 4. Does the hotel room have access to internet? Some hotel rooms, not all, in Lhasa have access to internet, so you should inquiry your travel advisor for accurate information before making decision. But some hotel has business center where you can use internet service. 5. Is there 24-hour hot water running? Due to basic condition in Tibet, sometimes with the poor pressure, the water flow may small and water sometime is not hot but just warm. In remote area, the condition can be even worse. In Lhasa, you can choose Chinese food, western food, Nepali food and Tibetan food as well. But in remote towns and areas, choice is limited, Chinese food or Sichuan cuisine is the best choice. E. Transportation: 1. What are the baggage regulations when flying inside China? Carry-on baggage: The maximum carry-on baggage allowance for each economy class passenger is 5kg. First class passengers can have 2 pieces of carry on luggage. All other passengers can carry on only one piece. The size may not exceed 20x40x55cm. Carry-on baggage in excess of the limit is subject to an excess baggage fee and must be carried as checked baggage. Check-in Baggage: Adult and children are entitled to a free checked baggage allowance of 40kg, for first class, 30kg, for business class, and 20kg, for economy class while traveling on domestic airlines in China. No free baggage allowance is granted to infants. Groups traveling together are able to combine their baggage allowance if they check in together Prohibited Items: The following items are prohibited and cannot be carried in checked or carry-on luggage: Flammable, explosive, corrosive, poisonous, radioactive, polymerizable and magnetized materials. Passengers are forbidden to carry arms, sharp or lethal weapons during flight. 2. Can you help buy the domestic flight ticket in China？ Yes, we can help buy all domestic flight tickets within China. >>> A Full Flight Timetable in and out of Lhasa 3. Can you buy e-ticket for me? Yes. Right now, many air companies in China are selling e-ticket for travelers. It is very convenient to use. Your travel advisor could help you buy the ticket from the ticket office but you do not need to hold the paper ticket, all you have to do is to bear your passport and remember the flight number which will be told after your travel advisor bought the e-ticket. 4. Is it easy to purchase a train ticket to Tibet now? The popularity of train travel to Tibet has resulted in the huge demand for Tibet train tickets among visitors. It's very difficult for individual travelers to get a ticket on their own. Reliable travel agencies can NOT guarantee successful booking. Access Tibet Tour recommends you fly into Tibet and return by a train. 5. Do I need a heath report when I travel by train to Tibet? All travelers are required to complete a heath report on the train to Tibet. >> Timetable and Ticket Prices for Trains of Qinghai-Tibet Railway 6. What vehicle do you use in Tibet? If the tour is mainly around Lhasa, you are suggested to use minivan as the road condition around Lhasa is pretty good, and the minivan cost less as well. If the tour is covering some places with bad road condition and long distance to reach, we are offering 4WD off road vehicles. Back to Top |
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