One of the ways that the Chinese government manages to restrict travel in Tibet without seeming to is by changing the rules often enough so that by the time you have figured out the new ones you’ve run out of time or money or patience. (What they want is for you to go on a guided tour where they can keep track of you and where they get a cut of every dollar you spend.) As reported in the China Daily recently, it has come to the attention of the authorities that certain elements in Tibet, while pretending allegience to the Motherland, are actually supporters of the splittist Dalai Lama clique. Therefore, there has been a crackdown on senior figures in the monasteries and also on tourists’ freedom to travel. This, they say, is for the tourists’ own protection.

This is the position as of December 1997. The good news is that independent travel is still possible in Tibet. But it’s more restricted than ever. You can enter through either China or Nepal; there are advantages and disadvantages to each.

Nepal: You must be with a group tour in order to cross the border. This is easy to book in Kathmandu for between $350 and $450 per person. The difference in price reflects a difference in service on the Nepal side only. For instance, a more expensive agency could book the trip directly from the US, reserve a hotel in Kathmandu, pick you up at the airport. But, everyone who has booked for a certain date, through whatever agency, meets pre-dawn in a central place and you all leave on the same bus for the Tibet border.

The down side of going to Tibet from Nepal is that you don’t get your own visa. I arrived in Kathmandu with a month’s Chinese visa issued from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. This was cancelled by the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu with a large red stamp as soon as I applied for a Tibet permit. And you thought Tibet was a part of China! The Tibet permit is a group permit for everyone on the bus. The tours are for eight days and the permits are for exactly that long. The understanding is that when you arrive in Lhasa you will be able to split from your group and apply for a Chinese visa. There is no guarantee. My friend and I were able to get a 2 week visa through the Tibetan end of our tour company. It cost a completely unexpected $100. Some other Americans went directly to the Public Security Bureau themselves, thinking they would avoid the charge, but were denied a visa. We met some Dutch people in Shigatze on the way to Lhasa who said that the PSB in Shigatze was much more accomodating.

China: The good part is that you can enter Tibet from China using your month-long Chinese visa—and probably get an extension in Lhasa too. The bad part is that you have to go through China. Actually, that’s not fair. Fly to Bangkok (cheap from the US), fly from there to Kunming in Yunnan Province in China, stay a few days to visit the hilltribe areas, fly to Chengdu, fly to Lhasa. From Bangkok, less than $450. Or from Kunming, take a train to Xining, visit the monasteries in what was until 1950 Amdo province, take a train to Golmud and from there a bus 2 days to Lhasa. This last is the cheapest way although, when you get to Golmud the bus that costs everyone else $10 is going to cost you $160.

Tibet: You used to be able to travel to wherever you could get a ride to. Now there’s a lot more cars and a lot more roads and a lot more restrictions. You are not supposed to take any public buses at all, you must be accompanied by a certified guide anywhere outside the Lhasa area, and you need a permit to go anywhere. In fact, since there are no police checkpoints on the roads immediately around Lhasa you can still take the pilgrimage buses to Tsurpu, Ganden, and other sites.

In December it was still possible to take the public bus further--to Samye, Shigatze, Sakya , etc., keep your head down and risk paying a fine if you were discovered. The problem with that was that often the Chinese would punish the bus driver as well if they did find you.

So it’s probably best to go ahead and organize your own tour according to regulations and then be creative. We ran into three different scenarios:

People organized a tour through an officially recommended agency. Expensive—we were quoted $600 for 4 people for 5 days—land rover, guide, driver, permits. The advantage is that things probably go as planned. That’s the disadvantage as well.

Organize a trip through one of the small agencies around old Lhasa. You get the same guide, driver, permit--$300, 4 people, 5 days—only in our case the land rover broke down, we sent the driver home and the guide, a very pleasant, well informed young Tibetan, and we had a very nice 5 days taking local buses, meeting people, hiking and we ended up only paying the amount of the initial down payment of $150. I gather almost all of the small agencies can pretty much guarantee a problem with their vehicles and then you’re golden.

Organize a few short trips through an agency. Get permit, for instance for a few day’s trek, a trip to Samye, another to Sakya. Go on the trek, cancel the rest of the trip (never pay the full amount in advance—see above), retain permit and take public transportation to remaining sights. When stopped by Public Security show permit. PSB will assume you have a guide back at the hotel, on the next bus, back there with the land rover, whatever.