Cost Includes
- Accommodation on double occupancy basis.
- Daily Breakfast at your hotel.
- All transfers and sightseeing by a private van or bus.
- Sightseeing admission fees.
- English speaking local Tibet guide.
- Tibet Travel Permit.
Cost Does Not Include
- International and internal airfare.
- Airport Taxes.
- Chinese visa fee.
- Lunch and dinner except as indicated.
- Drinks, tips, and other expenses of personal nature.
- Travel & Health Insurance.
- All extra expenses caused due to nature or unforeseen events.
- Excess baggage charges.
- Optional tipping to local staff, guides, drivers, etc.
- Items of a personal nature (beverages, laundry, telephone, etc.).
Chinese visa and permits
The remaining validity of your passport must be a minimum of six months after your trip. Make sure you have enough blank visa pages for visa sticker, entry and departure seals.
Traveling via mainland China
Apply for a Chinese visa in your country and provide us a copy of the visa and photo page of the passport a minimum of 45 days before your trip date. For some good reason, DO NOT disclose your Tibet intention; otherwise, the visa procedure becomes tedious. We will obtain your Tibet entry permit at Lhasa and will ship it to your address (e.g., hotel) at the gateway city in China. Tibetan tourism does not allow shipping permits to the foreign address. You will need to present the original permit to get on the flight to Lhasa. Besides Entry Permit, there will be a few other permits that your Guide will be holding for you.
Traveling via Kathmandu, Nepal
If you are going to Tibet via Kathmandu, Nepal, you don’t need to do anything at your end. In this case, the Tibet Tourism regulation requires that we apply for your Chinese visa in Kathmandu. We will obtain the Visa Invitation Letter for you from the Tibetan Tourism Bureau at Lhasa and submit this document with your passport and completed visa application forms at the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu. Chinese embassy accepts visa applications only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Regular processing takes three business days. While this sounds complicated, we will take care of all these processes, leaving you free for sightseeing. Please bring one passport size photo.
Accommodations and facilities
There are all kinds of accommodations in Lhasa but limited choices in other places. We use the best hotels in each category. We offer hotels in three variations. Variation A hotels are usually 3-star hotels by local standards. Wherever possible, we provide 4-star and 5-star hotels in variation B and C, respectively, and the best available where choices are limited. All hotels offer en suite bathroom with running hot and cold water. The hospitality industry in Tibet is still underway, and so Tibetan hotels do not meet the western standard. A power outage is a common problem in Tibet, and if that happens, it may disrupt the supply of hot water.
While variation B & C hotels (4-5 star) provide the most modern amenities such as heating, cooling, phone, WiFi, toilet supplies, hairdryer, iron and ironing board, etc. There is friendly local staff in the hotels, but except receptionists and wait for staff, others may speak little or no English.
Food
Tour cost includes breakfast only. Hotel restaurants offer Chinese, Tibetan, Indian, Nepali, and western-style breakfasts. There is no lunch and dinners added. So you should allow US$ 8-9 per meal in regular tourist standard restaurants and a few dollars more if you eat in your hotels. We can arrange set meals for groups on your request. Restaurants in town offer wide ranges of Chinese, Tibetan, Nepali, and Indian and Western dishes. You may want to bring some extra foods like dry fruits, chocolates, energy bars, vitamin supplements, etc.
Transportation
Tibetan roads are now much improved, and so there is no need for 4WD vehicles anymore for most of the trips in central Tibet. We provide air-conditioned van and buses for all transfers and tours. Drivers speak little or no English.
Guide
You will be accompanied by experienced and knowledgeable English speaking local Tibetan guides throughout the tour. Besides leading you on sightseeing excursions, your guide helps you check in the hotel and buy admission tickets in the monasteries and deals with check posts and bureaucracies. Guide and driver are different persons.
Health Issues
There is no mandatory vaccination required to travel to Tibet. But you may consider vaccination against rabies, and Hep A. Travelers with cardiac-pulmonary issues or any other medical conditions are recommended to consult their physician. The primary health consideration in Tibet is altitude-related illness or Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). You may experience some mild symptoms initially, such as headache, lethargy, nausea, and sleeplessness, but these should lessen within a few days. Doctors will also be available on call.
We strongly recommend that you start some physical exercises like jogging, swimming, cycling, hiking, and aerobics about several weeks ahead of the trip. It will help you keep fit and lessen the chance of getting altitude sickness. You should have a good sleep the night before you fly into Lhasa and take complete rest on the first day. It's also advisable to drink 3-4 liters of water daily and consume liquid food.
Clothing/Checklist
During the day, a light shirt or jumper and lightweight pants will be suitable, but we recommend a warm fleece or sweater for the evenings and mornings. Night temperatures can fall below freezing point even in summer.
- Warm fleece top.
- Thermal underwear (top and bottom).
- Cotton shirts (short and long-sleeved).
- Warm and cotton trousers.
- Sun polarized sunglasses.
- Beanie or warm woolen hat and gloves.
- Scarf (to keep out dust as well as cold).
- Sandals (flip-flops).
- Towel.
- Rain and windproof jacket.
- Potent sun cream and lip protector.
- Moisturizer.
- Water bottle.
- Camera (and plenty of films and spare batteries).
Note on Itinerary
Although we will do our very best to adhere to the itinerary schedule as listed, it is subject to change for numerous reasons beyond our control.
Booking and Cancellation
When you are sure you are traveling, please don't delay in booking. The internal flights are the key factor in determining whether your trip can be realized or not. We request you a deposit of US$300 on land plus the cost of domestic airfares along with the complete trip application form and passport copies.
Balance Payment
Balance payment is due 90 days before your departure. Depending on the number of applicants, we may set an early payment date.
Cancellations
- Ninety days prior departure: Administrative fee US$ 150 per person.
- Sixty-Eighty-nine day's prior departure: US$ 250 or 25% of the land cost whichever is higher.
- Forty-five days to Fifty-nine days prior departure: US$ 450 or 50% of the land cost whichever is higher.
- Thirty days to Forty-four days prior departure: US$ 600 or 75% of the land cost whichever is higher.
- Less than Thirty days: 100%.
Travel Protection Plan
We plan and do our best to make your trip smooth and seamless. But there still may be chances of unforeseen events and conditions such as illness, accident, inclement weather, and flight cancellation or missed connection or loss of baggage, etc. It may cause interruption or delay or total cancellation of your trip, putting your hard-earned travel investment in jeopardy. It’s also possible that you may need medical assistance, emergency evacuation, or medical transportation when you are traveling in remote areas. Far & High’s Tour cost does not cover any of these expenses or losses. So we strongly recommend you that you should protect yourself and your travel investment against those unfavorable conditions.