Tibet : Border Crossings Today & Tomorrow

vistet

Thought I´d summarize the keypoints on crossing the borders to Tibet from the south, with link to the relevant threads , instead of making another thread from todays (vague ) news. I´ll try to keep info current mainly by editing this post - if that´s okay with the mods)

FROM NEPAL : TWO OPEN CROSSINGS

Friendship Highway : [color=Black]the route of 99 % of everyone who travels from Kathmandu to Lhasa.
By Jeep : typically 7-10 days , with stops in Nyalam, Gyantse , Shigatse , Lhasa and back to Kathmandu. Often combined with a side track to Everest Base Camp, which is best to do on the return leg after having gained more altitude acclimatisation. Jeeps come in varying conditions , the second jeep in our group would always arrive at least an hour later.You don´t get a chance to see them until you have crossed the border at Kodari/Zhangmu, which is also the first time you´ll meet your guide & driver. Guides speak excellent English , and have sometimes an amazing knowledge of Tibetan culture & history. Drivers generally seem to speak Tibetan fluently, which makes it a good idea to have the number to your guide or travel agent at hand when you ride in separate cars.
Bus : the Kathmandu-Lhasa bus has achieved a somewhat mytological status , but it did run in ´05. And disappeared. Please let us know if you find it again . Search terms : Sajha Yatayat (the Nepali bus company) , chinese bureaucracy.

On foot : some trekking agencies offers treks from Simikot in western Nepal , up to the border, where a guided tour much like on the Friendship Highway starts to Taklakot.

Permits etc. : formally you can only travel in a group , and go back to Kathmandu. Chinese logic dictates that a group , at different times means anything down to .. one person, which seems to be the current norm. Returning to Kathmandu is not ironclad either , many break off and continue to Golmud , Chengdu etc and start the the sometimes painful process of transforming a group visa in to a individual tourist visa.Breaking up the group can also mean problem for the remainder of the group , so get a group-of-one permit from the beginning if you have this in mind. Stay is limited to 14-21 days.

Costs : the jeep option , often around 500 USD for the whole package. Try to get a get a itinerary that details accomodation and more importantly the state of the jeep.

Many thought the bus would break new ground with prices , a price around 70 USD was often mentioned (ground breaking for westerners, that is) , but in the end the price with hefty tariffs from the Embassy etc had hiked up to a lot higher.

Simikot .. tagged as really exclusive, probably priced likewise.

Highly speculative : Chinese trucks now regularly cross the Nepalese border past Lo Manthang in Mustang down the Kali Gandaki valley , at the same time road is being built northwards by Nepal. Massive trade here could change the restrictions for Mustang.

Relevant threads :

INDIA : NO OPEN CROSSING TODAY

Nathu La, Sikkim

Opened for trade in ´06 , closed till June ´07 for the winter. Sikkimese traders got access to a trade mart (Renqingang) 16 km´s inside Tibet , Tibetan traders got similar access to a trade mart in Sikkim. Impressive ceremonies , but major parts of the road will remain single lane even after 2007.

Ladakh

J&K Government has lobbied for renewing the classic trade ties with Lhasa ever since the Nathu La negotiations started in earnest, using the yatra pilgrimage as a bargaining lever.

Uttaranchal

(Upcoming edits : link to original threads and credits, some historical background , Stilwell road, health /i.e. AMS/ issues. ). getting too tired for spelling right..

Nick-H

Good resource. Thanks.

I'll make the thread sticky,

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mridula

Excellent writeup.

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mridula

http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

sirensongs

Great post! Is that 500USD per person (!)?

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Swiswede

How difficult id it to get the 'group of 1' visa, how much does it cost and what is needed?

Great Thread

10zing

Is there any Cross Border Road in Arunachal? Need to know how to reach Hidden Falls and Tasngpo Gorge.
Lookig for Partner. May 2008.

vistet

There are no open border crossings between India and China. The only exceptions , afaik, are the winners in the yatra lottery (I kid you not ) for passage to Kailash from Ladakh, and the Sikkimese traders at Nathu La.

kolobar

May I correct you: there are no yatris from Ladakh to Kailash but from Kumaon: Darchula along Kali Ganga valley over Lipu Lekh pass.
Also border in Kumaon is "open" for trading chinese goods ((but not for tourists of course).

vistet

Thanks , that was a slopy inference from my side : I knew about yatras and their goal and assumed it was via Ladakh. Should have picked up on it when I saw pictures from a Lipu Lekh border crossing afterwards.

accentius

Excellent piece of information. I've been planning a road-trip from India to China in August 2007 (this of course, after reading various threads, can't happen before 2012). Would be great if I could get some more information on the Nepal option. Most importantly I want to do a one-way road-trip (ie by road into China and then fly back into India from China). Is that possible?

vistet

All the buzz about the Nathu La has perhaps dimmed the vision a bit in all who speak of great trade , instad of great travelling : the road in Sikkim is a narrow one-and-a-half lane , and it looks about the same on the other side.

Meanwhile China has been pushing for the Stillwell Road for a number of years , leaving a six lane road more or less hanging in the air on the Burma border.


What is lacking is less than a hundred kilometers of road thru Assam & Burma. Perhaps there will be a historical window coming up , after the test case of Nathu La , when the roads open politically - and it still will be a great travel experience.

There is a good article from Himal Magazine , two years old , here

aadil

That's a lovely piece of information for travellers to Tibet from India and Nepal. I was there in June and it was an eye opener for me!!! It sure was one of the best trips of my lifetime and wish I could go there again pretty soon. The roads are in a terrible condition from the Nepal border till Tingri where you may get to see Everest from the roadside if the weather is clear!!! After that most of the roads are in a good condition but small stretches inbetween may be bad as there is repair work going on and some new bridges being built across streams so there are minor diversions so expect some delays too.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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sirensongs

Hi Aadil, it's great to see you back.

wonderwomanusa

There's a good article about Lhasa and Tibetans in today's San Francisco Chronicle. John Flinn is one of my favorite travelwriters.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../TRRCRPCHP.DTL