Cost Includes
- Accommodation on twin sharing basis in a mid-range hotel.
- Daily breakfast.
- Airport arrival and departure assistance and all sightseeing by private vehicle.
- English speaking local Guide.
- Tibet entry permit.
- Sightseeing admission fees.
- Service of internal airfare reservation.
Cost Does Not Include
- Lunch and dinner (Please allow $10-15 per meal approximately).
- Expenses of personal nature such as drinks, tipping, laundry, etc.
- Extra expenses caused due to nature and unforeseen events such as flight cancellation, road blockade, illness, accident, etc.
- Travel health insurance.
- International and international airfare.
Chinese visa and permits
Passport should be valid six months or more at the time of travel.
Traveling via China:
You should apply for a Chinese visa in your country itself. For some good reason, DO NOT disclose your Tibet intention; otherwise, the visa procedure becomes tedious and complicated. Once you have a Chinese visa done, we need a copy of it, and we will take care of the rest of the formalities. Passport and Chinese visa copy should reach us a minimum a month before your travel date.
You will collect Tibet Entry Permits at our contact offices in gateway cities: Beijing or Chengdu before your flight to Lhasa. Your Guide will be holding all other necessary permits required for this trip.
Traveling via Kathmandu, Nepal
If you are going to Tibet via Kathmandu, Nepal, you don’t have to obtain a Chinese visa in advance. We will apply the Tibet permit and Chinese visa for you in advance, but as for final visa work, we will do it once you are in Kathmandu. So, you should allow one full business day in Kathmandu for visa works before you depart for Lhasa. Bring a passport size photo with you when you come to Kathmandu.
Accommodation
In Lhasa, we offer your choice of standard, first-class, or deluxe properties. Our preferred standard hotel is Dekhang Hotel that lies in the Barkhor area. All rooms have a private bathroom with running hot and cold water, but at times, the hot water supply may be disrupted due to an electric outage. We use Four Points By Sheraton in the first-class category and Shangrila or St. Regis. Toiletry supplies are limited, and your rooms may not have hair dryers or iron and ironing board. There is friendly local staff in the hotels, but except receptionists and wait staff, others may speak little or no English. Our hotels have restaurants serving Tibetan, Chinese, and Western foods.
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
We provide you with 4500 model Toyota Land Cruiser, or Japanese made micro or minibusses for all tours and transportation, depending on your group size. Drivers do speak little or no English, but they are experienced and know the roads in Tibet.
Guide
You will be accompanied by an experienced and knowledgeable English speaking Tibetan Guide throughout the tour. Besides guiding you on tour, your guide helps you check in the hotel and buy admission tickets in the monasteries and deals with check posts and bureaucracies. The guide and driver are not the same people.
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. You should start some physical exercises like jogging, swimming, cycling, hiking, and aerobics about several weeks before the trip. It helps 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, Payment, 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 a deposit of US$300 on land plus the cost of domestic airfares along with the complete trip application form and passport copies.
Balance payment is due 90 days before your departure. Depending on the number of applicants, we may set an early payment date.
Cancellation fee
- Ninety days prior departure: Administrative fee US$ 150 per person.
- Sixty-Eighty nine days 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 before 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.