Pre-trip: Final Travel Plan

The departure date was approaching and we were still waiting for the Tibet permit so we could book our return flight. We were getting really anxious.

Meanwhile, I was researching for the trip and finally planned our route. Jeff left the mission to me as I told him that I liked planning the trip beforehand. He, on the contrary, usually traveled without planning and just went with his feelings instead. I tried that once and failed horribly, so here what our trip was supposed to look like...

6 Sep: Hangzhou - Xining (plane) >> booked
7 Sep: Xining - Chaka Salt Lake - Heimahe (bus/minivan)
8 Sep: Qinghai Lake - Xining - Kanbula Park (bus)
9 Sep: Kanbula Park - Xining (bus)
10 Sep: Xining - Lhasa (train) >> booked
11 - 23 Sep: Tibet Tour [Lhasa - Mount Kailash - Everest Base Camp - Namtso Lake] (4WD) >> booked
24 Sep: Lhasa - Xining (train/plane)
25 Sep: Xining - Huashixia (bus)
26 Sep: Huashixia - Xia Dawu (minivan)
27 Sep - 1 Oct: Amnye Machen Kora (trekking)
2 Oct: Huashixia - Yushu (sleeper bus)
3 Oct: Yushu - Manigango (bus)
4 Oct: Manigango - Yihun Lhatso - Ganzi (minivan)
5 Oct: Ganzi - Kangding (bus)
6 Oct: Kangding - Chengdu (bus)
           Chengdu - Hangzhou (plane)

Many people suggested to have a rest day after 10 days of traveling or so, but that would never gonna happen to me, not before, and not in a million years. I thought I was tough enough for this 31-day trip. Mostly we would be in the bus anyway. And normally on the bus, I would be sleeping. I had been running (30 mins) and cycling (10-30 km) almost every day. I should be fine, I hoped.

Pre-trip: Cost

What concerned me the most was still about money. I was hoping that this trip would not cost me more than 20,000 RMB. If it was more, I would be feeding my dog some pieces of my flesh for sure when I got back. I had to carefully calculate the total cost of this trip.

Based on the useful information from Spinn Cafe, we should be very clear with the travel agency about the cost included in the tour package. Spinn Cafe suggested below:

In your email, you should state very clearly the followings:

1. Your choice of transportation, both inward and outward. >> Excluded from the tour package meaning we had to pay for our own flight/train ticket in and out from Lhasa.
2. Permit price. >> Already included. No need to pay separately.
3. All entrance fees, ask them to list all. If you decide not to go to one single place, you should be able to get back the entrance fee you paid. >> All listed in the trip details.
4. Hotel price of each place and each single night of your stay in the bigger towns (e.g. Lhasa and Shigatse), or small places (e.g. Namtso Lake and Everest Base Camp). >> Excluded from the tour package meaning we had to pay from our own choice of accommodation. The guide would help us find the hotel/guesthouse for us.
5. Type of rented vehicle (e.g. Ruifeng Business Van or Toyota 4500 land cruiser) for your itinerary. >> Toyota Land Cruiser
6. Salaries, accommodations and meals of driver and tour guide for the whole trip (not just for one single day). >> Already included. No need to pay separately.
7. Transportation from / to the airport / train station and your hotel (first day and last day of your trip). >> Pickup service included.
8. Meals may or may not be included. >> Not included. No problem.
9. Service and tippings. >> We should tip the driver and the guide separately based on their performances.
10. Ask them if it's a all-included package, are there anything missing, etc? >> Aye, should be fine.

The travel agency also included the conditions in the itinerary details.

The agency said the cost for food would be around 100 RMB per day (3 meals), and the cost for the accommodation would be around 100 - 200 RMB per day. 

I am quite picky about what I eat, but luckily I don't mind where I sleep. I thought my accommodation spending would not cost more than 100 RMB per day (hopefully).

So, the breakdown of the cost for 15-day trip (excluding flight/train ticket) would go something like...

Tour Package = USD 1,200 - 1,300 >> around 8,000 RMB
Food = 100 x 15 = 1,500 RMB
Accommodation = 100 x 15 = 1,500 RMB
Entrance fee and tips = 2,000 RMB
Other spending = 1,000 RMB 

TOTAL = 14,000 RMB

Somehow I was still worried that it would cost more than this. If it was more, then I would be doomed >_<

Pre-Trip: Itinerary

After getting rejected from the dream team, I got back to my only option with the Latvia couple. At first, their trip only included Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. I asked them whether it was possible to add Everest Base Camp in our itinerary. It would be quite a shame not to go there if we would go to Tibet already. The cost might be higher, but I was willing to pay it once rather than paying for another trip just to go to EBC.

As I was just tagging along with the couple later, I didn't communicate directly to the travel agency. The Latvia guy was the direct contact with the agency. We managed to add EBC into our itinerary and everything was looking all right.

Later, I also asked them whether they could add Namtso Lake on the last day. It is quite a popular lake and not far from Lhasa. The trip could be made in one day or so. The agency agreed to add Namtso Lake at the end of the trip (WOOHOO!!).

I didn't have time to do a research on other towns like Gyantse, Shigatse or Saga. I thought they were just middle towns on the way so there shouldn't be anything interesting. I think it might have been better if if read something about these towns before we went.

I didn't care much about the monasteries and temples. As long as we would to Potala Palace in Lhasa, that would be enough for me.

So here was our final itinerary (at that time).

Day 1: Pick up from airport and transfer to hotel
Day 2: Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor Circuit and Drepung monastery
Day 3: Potala Palace and Sera Monastery
Day 4: Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Gyantse 260kms, 5.5 hours
Day 5: Gyantse- Shigatse ---Saga 540 kms, 9 hours
Day 6: Saga --   Paryang -  Lake Manasarovar 480kms
Day 7: Lake Manasarovar-Darchen 35kms, 1 hour
Day 8: Trek from Darchen-Dira Phug 18kms, 5 to 6 hours
Day 9: Trek from Dira Phug-Dolma La Pass 22kms, 8 hours
Day 10: Trek from Dolma La Pass- Darchen –Saga
Day 11: Saga-Phikutso lake-  Old Tingri- Rongbuk monastery- Everest base camp
Day 12: Everest base camp - Rongbuk monastery –Shigatse  (350km) 7-8hours
Day 13: Shigatse- Namtso lake -7hours
Day 14: Namtso lake –Lhasa -4-5hours
Day 15: Depart from Lhasa

[click to enlarge]

You can customize the trip as you want depending on your negotiation skill with the travel agency. The agency might not include all the important places in your itinerary. Make sure that you do a thorough research on the places you will be visiting before booking the trip. You wouldn't want to come back home and realize later that you should have stopped here or visited there. Tibet is not cheap, folks!!

Pre-trip: Documents

The young Aussie guy was traveling in China at the time, so I called him and had a chat about all the details. He said that their group were waiting for confirmation from another girl in UK who contacted them before (damn it!!). They had to wait for her confirmation first. If that girl said yes, so I couldn't join them. He would let me know later whether the girl said yes or not. In the mean time, I should prepare the following documents and send it to him as soon as possible.

Document List

1. Scan/photo of signed Travel Disclaimer Form
2. Scan/photo of passport
3. Scan/photo of Chinese visa (if you're entering from China)
4. Scan/photo of letter of confirmed employment IF you are in China on an F or Z visa (visiting or working visas). If you are on an L visa (tourist) then you don't need this.
5. Scan/photo of receipt of 30% deposit transfer to Snow Lions, can be done by bank transfer, western union, or PayPal

I think other travel agencies would also require similar documents to confirm the booking. The guy was waiting for the Travel Disclaimer Form from the travel agency. I could get a photo of my passport and Chinese visa (type Z) in an instant. The money transfer could be done on the next day, no problem. My only concern was the employment letter. I had to get it from HR department which I didn't know how long it would take them to issue me one (since I was causing some troubles to HR previously about many things). It might take two days or so. I wasn't sure. I rushed to HR and told them that I needed the employment letter for my trip. Luckily, it only took them less than 10 minutes to issue to letter for me (YAY!!!).

So all the docs that I could prepare from my side were complete. I sent email to the guy and waited for his response impatiently. I was getting really anxious about the whole situation. I hate being in the situation where I wouldn't know the outcome. I checked my phone every few minutes to see whether the guy sent me any message. I cursed at the other girl and wished that she wouldn't join the group so I could take her place (I knew it wasn't her fault, but come on I wanted to join this group so badly). I barely worked that day or if I did, I couldn't really remember what I did. I was shaking my legs which I normally wouldn't do. Hate it!!

Later that evening, I got a message from the guy. He said that the travel agency would not let them add more people as the bank payment was already done. If they wanted to add more people, they would need to change the departure date. But one of their members could not change the departure date, so they wouldn't accept me. I called the guy and talked to him. I even asked whether it was possible for me to call the agency directly and negotiate with them to count me in. He said that I shouldn't do that. So from what we talked and based on my personal assumption, I believed that they were afraid that the departure date would be shifted so they didn't want to change anything. It was not really that the agency said that they couldn't add anyone more.

It was as if my prayer was responded. "Babe, you want it. You will not get it! MUAHAHAHA!!". I was really disappointed. I confirmed back to them within like an hour and sent them all the docs within that day. If they didn't want to add anyone in the first place, perhaps they shouldn't have asked me to send them all the docs. I remembered feeling down that night. I complained with my flatmates and decided to go walk my dog to get my mind of this thing.


"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."


Luckily, I still had the other open door. 

Pre-trip: Choosing Travel Companions

Choosing the right travel companions is as important as choosing the right travel agency. You're going to get stuck with them for a period of time whether you like them or not and vice versa. If you are completely strangers, it is difficult to determine your get-along rate. Traveling with your close friends is the best option. They know you well and they could bear with your unbearable behaviours. Unfortunately, It didn't happen in my case. My close friends decided to skip this year for our next epic trip to Everest Base Camp in Nepal next year. I could not wait that long. I was turning 30. I wanted to make it BIG and memorable. 

Time

Initially, I was planning to go before my birthday (4 Aug), but things got pushed back (due to the insane price from all the travel agencies). Also, I received a piece of useful information from one travel agency about the best time to visit Tibet.

Best Travel Time

The best time to travel Tibet is between April and October.
The peak touring season is from May to September.
The best months are May, June, September and October.
July and August are the rainy months, so hikers should try to avoid the rainy season. 

Better late than never. At least, I wanted to go within this year. September or October would do. And better go no later than October coz I wasn't born with the genes that could tolerate the cold weather. November would be too cold for me.

The departure time from the Latvia couple group seemed to fit my condition the most. Depart in early Sep, so my trip would finish in middle Sep. The LP group would depart at the end of August which was also fine for me, but I had to confirm back to them within a day or two. It was quite rushing as I didn't prepare any documents for the permit yet.

Cost

Money-wise. The price from the Latvia couple group was excluding the accommodation, while the LP group already included the accommodation. The price for the accommodation would cost around 100 RMB per day. So, after adding up, the prices from the two groups were about the same at around USD 1,600 for 15-17 days.


Travel Agency

SnowLion Tours from the LP group seemed to be more popular than Tibet Highland Tours from the Latvia couple group.


Itinerary

At that time, I didn't know about all the places to visit yet (lakes, monasteries, towns, etc). It didn't matter much to me as long as they included Kailash and Lhasa in the program. 


Trip Confirmation Progress

The Latvia couple group didn't confirm with TBT yet. They were still under negotiation about the trip details. They might accept more people to make the 4-pax group to save cost. The LP group already concluded the trip details with SL. They wanted to add one more person to make the 4-pax group also to save cost.


Get-along Rate

The Latvia couple group VS the mixed race backpacker group. I wouldn't want to travel with any couple for I knew the nature of every couple. There would be good times and there would be bad times. During good times, I might feel a bit jealous at them, but during bad times, I would surely want to get the hell away from them. The other group. One guy seemed like the funny and outgoing type. Plus, his Aussie accent sounded sexy on the phone (OK I know he is a lot younger than me, but you can't blame a single 30-year-old woman, alright? Harry Style 1D y'know?). The other two in the group seemed like those fun backpacker type as well based on the email communication they forwarded to me.


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I didn't want to be an ass by saying yes to both sides, and turned one of them down at the end. With the limited time that I had to confirm with the LP group, I had to decide quickly. The Latvia couple group could still wait for a few days I guess. If things went wrong with the LP group, I still could go with the Latvia group. So, I said yes to the LP group.

Pre-trip: Travel Agencies and Travel Companions

Finding Travel Agencies

In May, I started sending out emails to several travel agencies and asked them about the price - the matter that concerned me the most. I already spent a lot for my Japan trip last year so my budget was very limited. At first, I wanted to travel in June or July, but the quote I received from the travel agencies (if they ever replied back) was insane. The price per person would be around USD 2,500 - 3,000 excluding the flight tickets. The one-way flight ticket from Hangzhou to Lhasa itself would cost already around 2,000 - 2,500 RMB. Mount Kailash seemed to be way out of reach for me.

Still, I didn't give up. When anyone asked where I would go next, I would reply "Tibet. Hopefully". May had gone. June had passed. July was ending. The price wasn't getting any cheaper. Despite my busy days at work, I somehow managed to find new travel agencies from either Nepal, India, or Tibet. and send out 2-3 emails per day to them. Most of them didn't reply back. The price they quoted me was too expensive for me. Traveling alone to Tibet was really not the best option.

Finding Travel Companions

After several months of googling, I had contacted nearly all the travel agencies in top 500 search results. Finally, the lady luck managed to lay upon my shoulders. I found a thread in TripAdvisor forum. There were someone else looking for travel companions to share the tour cost. What an awesome way!! I really never thought of it before. I read through the thread, searched for more threads. I also looked in LonelyPlanet forum as well.I started contacting several persons from the threads I found. Some replied back. Some didn't.

At the end of July, here were the options I found from both forums.

1) A Malaysian girl in a group of three would travel from Lhasa- Based camp- Lingzhi during 4th Sept - 17th Sept. Cost estimation for car rental, tour guide fees is 5,500 RMB per pax. including Tibet permit and other permits,  excluding meal, accommodation & all entrance tickets. They were also on a tight budget and planned to stay in cheap guesthouses. The price they got was pretty cheap, but they wouldn't go to Mount Kailash, so their group was out of the picture.

2) A couple from Latvia would be arriving in Chengdu on 5 Sep and planning to take a train to Lhasa on 7 Sep and start tour from Lhasa on 9 Sep. They got the best offer I got so far from Tibet Highland Tours. They were going to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar for 15 days. They said the agency got a very good feedback on TripAdvisor and other forums. I didn't really care much about the travel agency's reputation as long as the price was cheap, I would go. They said the price would be around USD 1,200 - 1,300 per person for 3 pax. Actually I wouldn't wish to travel with a couple if I could choose, but everything seemed fit with my plan. Time was right. Price was okay, so I kept contacting with them for further details.

3) Another couple from UK from LP would take the train from Xining on 6th Oct. They were going to Lhasa, EBC and Kailash for 16 - 17 days. They would exit through Nepal. They were contacting with SnowLion Tours. They would be going to Mongolia for a month before heading back into China and then into Tibet. They didn't tell me the price. Their departure date was a bit too late for me. It would be during Chinese National holiday week which I would avoid at all cost, so I declined their kind offer. They seemed like a nice couple though.

4) A group of three (2 Aussies and 1 British) formed in LP were going to Lhasa, Kailash, EBC and exit via Nepal for 15 days. They were aiming to start on either 27 or 29 Aug. The price per person was USD 1,630 incl accommodation for 3 pax. For 4 pax, it would get down to 9,695 RMB. They were finalizing everything in a day or two so I had to make up my mind quickly if I wanted to join them. Their price was the best and their plan fit mine the most. I wanted to exit through Nepal coz the flight ticket with AirAsia was a lot cheaper even though I had to make a stopover in KL first. Plus, these lads sounded awesome and fun to travel with.

Four choices got down to two. So which one to choose?

Pre-trip: Inspiration

After my Japan trip in 2012, I hadn't really been to anywhere outside Hangzhou (apart from flying back home for two weeks in December 2012 and renewing my work permit in Shanghai for 3 days in July 2013. I got plenty of vacation leave in my account, but didn't know where to spend it. The stress from going nowhere started creeping on me. I became more and more moody and grumpy each day. Nothing seemed to make me happy (except playing around with my dog - Giant, a male chow-chow which I rescued from the street in November 2012). I missed the roads. I missed the mountains. I missed getting lost and getting found. Though there were many trees in Hangzhou, I felt so far away from nature somehow. I needed to travel again. I MUST travel again.

Hitting 30 this year, I wanted to make this trip EPIC! I was still in a blank mode after coming back from Japan. I already went to the place where I always and most wanted to go. "Then, what's next?", I asked myself. I really had no idea. There was one place stood out among all - Mount Kailash. Mount Kailash is known as the most sacred mountain for many religions. I wasn't even close to being somewhat religious. Calling myself a Buddhist, but throughout my life, I purposefully went to the temple less than 10 times. I was more like an atheist actually. Still, I wanted to go there for some unknown reasons. Actually, there was a reason behind it.

The reason was in fact from one piece of cardboard paper. I was out shopping for my new trekking pants for my one-day canoe trip on Iriomote Island in Okinawa back in October 2012. I bought a pair of trekking pants, a pair of gloves and a pair of trekking socks from the clothing brand - Kailas. I came back home untagging my pants and found a paper tag with the brand name and a white drawing of a mountain on it. I recalled that there was a mountain with this similar name. The mountain is called "ไกรลาศ" in Thai, but it was mentioned in Ramayana (Hindu mythology). Actually, I heard Mount Kailash name a few years ago while I was researching for my Tiger Leaping Gorge trip back in 2010 and remembered vaguely that it got 100/100 from Walkopedia. Later, I googled all about it. Mount Kailash had become my deep dream destination which I wanted to once visit there, but wasn't sure whether it would be possible moneywise and other-things-wise.

Since I didn't really make up my mind about the place to go this year yet, I was browsing on random places - Australia, New Zealand, India, and many more. Whenever my friend asked me where I would go this year, I answered "Probably Tibet. I wanted to do Kailash Kora". Still, I had no concrete information about the trip, and didn't prepare anything at all.