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.
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.
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?
