Our itinerary for Tibet is the following:
D1：Arrival to Lhasa KYI-SHOL HOTEL
D2：Drepung Monastery，Sera Monastery KYI-SHOL HOTEL
D3：The Potala Palace，The Jokhang Temple KYI-SHOL HOTEL
D4：Lhasa > Lake Namtso TENT
D5：Lake Namtso> Yambajan> Lhasa KYI-SHOL HOTEL
D6：Lhasa> Lake Yamdrok > Gyantse（Palkor Monastery）（Zongshan Ruins） > Shigatse GANG-GYAN ORCHARD HOTEL
D7： Shigatse > Everest GUEST HOUSE
D8：Everest >BBC.> Shigatse GANG-GYAN ORCHARD HOTEL
D9：Shigatse > Tashilumpo > Lhasa KYI-SHOL HOTEL
D10：Departure from Lhasa
Let me explain a bit, how Tibet trips are working for foreigners. To get into Tibet you need a special permit, which you can get only through tourist agency. Besides the permit, you need to buy a tour and have a guide for each day of your stay in Tibet.
It is not possible to get permit, if you don’t have a contracted tour and defined itinerary for the whole trip. Besides all this, you need to hire a car (jeep or van) with a driver, in case you want to go outside of Tibet capital, Lhasa. All this is required by law, otherwise you can’t go to Tibet. However the Tibet entrance conditions are changing constantly and you never know what else will come up within couple of months or even days.
Before going to China, we wrote to different tourist agencies in Lhasa (Tibet capital) and China asking about price for the tour. Majority of them told us it will be around 400 euros/person for the group of 5, including car with driver but no accommodation.
Our friend from Singapore, Tommy, has a friend who went to Tibet last year. He contacted same agency his friend used, and they gave us the better price for 10 days trip to Tibet, including van with driver, all permits and accommodation with breakfast. Since the guy from the agency was Chinese, Tommy was communicating with him in Chinese and I think this is what made this price better :D
We arrived to Lhasa at 5pm, the guy from the agency met us and took to a 4 stars hotel, which was really nice (especially after 2 days on the train without shower haha)
Due to high altitude of Lhasa location, many people could feel altitude sickness, due to the lack of oxygen. Me, Juli, Luciano and Sera were generally ok, if not counting light headaches and dizziness, but Tommy felt really bad. He was dizzy, weak; vomiting…we were hoping next day he would feel better.
The guy from the agency told we should sleep enough tomorrow and we agreed to meet at 12.00 and go to some monastery.
Another thing about Lhasa and Tibet in general – it seems to be really pricy. Besides all kinds of permits you need to get here, all the entrances for temples and monasteries are quite expensive. For example the entrance to Dalai Lama ex residency – Potala Palace is 180 Yuan (100 entrance and 80 booking, total 18 euro)!!! And every monastery is like 50 – 100 Yuan (5-10 euro). I hope this trip worth it, because it is costing us a lot, this is for sure!!!
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