GETTING TIBET

Getting Tibet From Nepal

By Surface
Nepal is the best transit point to go to Tibet. The nearest Tibetan border town Zhangmu is 113 km from Kathmandu and is accessible by mere 4 hours drive. On continueing along the friendship highway for 5 days, you will reach Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.The involves crossing of several high altitude passes and rewards you with pectacular views of Himalayas including Mt. Everest. You will encounter with numerous nomadic yak herders en route. Tashilunbo monastery-the principal seat of Panchen Lama in Xiagtse, Kumbum Stupa in Gyantse and Yamdrok Tso( Lake) are the highlights of this overland adventures.

Zhangmu is also the entry and exit point of Tibet for those who are taking a 15 days Mount Kailash and Manasarovara trip.

Sher is another point of entry in Western Tibet which is accessible after 6 days trekking from Simikot of Nepal. The route is also used by Mount Kailash visitors.

By Air
Kathmandu is connected with Lhasa by Air also. China Airlines operates flights between Kathmandu and Lhasa every Saturday and Tuesday. Depending on the tourist season, additional flight is operated on Thursday as well.

From mainland China

By Air
There are regular flights to Lhasa from Beijing, Chengdu and Xi'an.

By Surface
Golmud is connected with Lhasa by Qinghai-Tibet Highway. Lhasa has also surface connection with Sichuan and Yunan provinces in the east and by Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in the west.

CLIMATE
You can travel to Tibet throughout the year but mid July through to the end of September is the best period. 

The temperature varies sharply from the south grassland to north plateau. The south is warm and rainy. Most rain falls during May to September. It is warm from June to August. The coldest months are from December to February and crossing over the passes becomes almost impossible. Below given is a table of average temperature, rainfall and sunshine hours in Tibet.

Month Temperature Rainfall Sunshine hours Jan -13 to 9 0.2 251 Feb -12 to 10 0.5 226 March -5 to 13 2 241 April 1 to 16 5 244 May 5 to 20 25 284 June 9 to 25 77 227 July 10 to 26 129 224 Aug 9 to 27 138 221 Sep 8 to 21 56 238 Oct 1 to 17 8 285 Nov -7 to 12 2 271 Dec -13 to 8 0.5 268

PASSPORT:-

A traveler should bear with him a passport with validity remaining no less than six months. Make sure that it has plenty of blank pages for visas, entry and reentry stamps and extensions. Besides, holding other ID's like student card or driving license will be an advantage. Loosing passport in Tibet is very bad, as you have to go to Beijing to get new one.

VISA TRAVEL PPERMIT:-

Entering Tibet from Nepal
People travelling to Tibet from Nepal must be in group visa which can be issued for organized group tours of any no of participants. The group visa will be on a paper-format and not on your passport.

We will require your passport details including your residence address and profession details along with confirmation of your trip at least two weeks prior to your trip date.

For smooth processing, your original passport should be available in Kathmandu at least one week prior your trip date. There after emmergency charge comes into effect.

Chinese embassy in Kathmandu accepts visa application on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays From 0930 am to 11 am only.

Entering Tibet from mainland China
People traveling to Tibet via mainland China also can travel to Tibet with individual visa on their passport but they must be bearing the Tibet Travel Permit.

With prior arrangement, we can fax the travel permit to your address or you can collect the same from our branch offices in Chengdu or Xian or Beijing.