Pre-trip: Transportation

The Latvia couple would fly from Europe to Chengdu and spend a couple of days traveling near Chengdu (which I recommended them to go to Emei Shan and Leshan). Then they would take a train from Chengdu on 8 Sep and arrive in Lhasa on 10 Sep. It would take them 2 days on the train ride. Then, they would fly out from Lhasa to Chengdu on 24 Sep and fly back to Europe on 25 Sep.

If you choose to fly in to Lhasa, the original Tibet permit is required. If you go in by train, a copy of the permit is fine. It takes 15-20 days to issue the permit. In case we chose to fly in, we would have to pay another 180 RMB for the agency to mail us the original Tibet permit before our departure date. I didn't know why it was so expensive. Perhaps they had to send it via express service.

I discussed with Jeff about the train. He was actually planning to take the train from Beijing to Lhasa which would take 3 days. According to Yowangdu website, the elevation in Beijing and even in Chengdu would be too low for us to acclimatize. I suggested that we should fly to Xining a few days earlier and travel around Xining before taking a train from Xining on 9 Sep and then arrive in Lhasa on 10 Sep. 

I was concerned about the train ticket. From what I read, it was difficult to get one and in some cases, the price was really expensive. The couple asked us whether we wanted the travel agency to buy the train ticket for us. Jeff said that we should be able to book the train ticket from the website on our own and it would be a lot cheaper.

The travel agency asked us for the dates that we were going to enter and leave Lhasa and also the transportation mode (train or plane). They had to put the information in the permit. We decided to arrive in Lhasa by train (from Xining) on 10 Sep and leave Lhasa on 24 Sep by plane. 

At first, I even thought about flying from Lhasa to Xi'an, going to the Terracotta Army site and hiking to Huashan and then taking the train back to Hangzhou. While Jeff was planning to fly from Lhasa to Chengdu perhaps on the same flight with the couple and then travel around Chengdu. He was thinking about going to Emei Shan or Jiuzhaigou (which I already went to both places and they were awesome!). After discussing with Jeff, we thought about spending a couple of days traveling in Qinghai before coming back home on 29 Sep. So, our rough plan went like this...

6 Sep (evening): arrive in Xining 
7-9 Sep: travel around Xining
9 Sep (evening): take train to Lhasa
10 Sep: arrive in Lhasa
11-23 Sep: go with the tour in Tibet
24 Sep: fly out of Lhasa to somewhere
25-29 Sep: travel around Qinghai
29 Sep (evening): fly back to Hangzhou

Qinghai was never in my to-go list. My main destinations in China were Yunnan (went there twice), Sichuan (went there twice), and Xinjiang (never been there). I never heard anything about Qinghai before. "Where could we go in Qinghai?", I asked myself.

Pre-trip: Adding Travel Companion

While waiting for the itinerary confirmation from the travel agency, I managed to contact another guy who I saw his post in LP forum. Coincidentally, he was also from Thailand. His name is Jeff. I told him that we were looking for another person to join our group of three. If he was interested, he had to make a decision quickly coz we had to finalize everything and book the tour with the travel agency within a day or two, otherwise the permit might not be completed in time. He said that he was also contacting with another travel agency, but the trip would be 22 days which didn't fit with the Latvia couple's plan. They had a fix departure date for 15-day trip in Tibet.

Our trip would start on 10 Sep and finish on 24 Sep. The couple would like to do the Kailash Kora during the full moon for religious reason. The full moon would be on 19 Sep which was also a Chinese Holiday (Mid-Autumn Day). I just thought that it would also be nice to see Kailash with full moon in the background, that's all. 

Jeff said that he really wanted to go to Kailash this year and agreed to join our group almost right away. In fact, he was about to go there last year, but suddenly China decided to close Tibet, so his trip was cancelled without a doubt. I was really happy to know that he decided to go with us. To find someone from the same country who was heading to the same destination on the internet in such a short period of time was like winning a lottery (which I never won any in my life). I told the couple about this great news. They also agreed to add in another person.

The couple talked with the agency. They sent us a new quote for 4 persons. I checked the trip details and saw that they changed the vehicle from SUV to van. I asked the couple about this (they didn't check this part). ALWAYS check the itinerary and trip details carefully, especially after there is any modification.

The agency said that for 4 persons, they had to change the vehicle from SUV to van. The couple didn't want to take the van. They said that it was not very cost efficient and would be less comfortable. They checked many reviews and everyone recommended to have the SUV instead of the van (I read the same). They said that we would have to spend many hours in the car  and the road quality was not good. Plus there were quite a few curves on the mountain roads that could make us all have sea sick. 

They understood that it would be better for me to have 4th person in the group especially with the same nationality but it would have quite some impact on the comfort and quality of the trip, so they suggested that we went with the original plan and booked the tour based on 3 persons only. Also, the price for 4 persons would be slightly cheaper.

I just won the lottery. No hell way I would be giving it up!!

I told the couple that I agreed that the land cruiser would be more comfortable. I went through hell in Yunnan before in a super small van on the endless construction roads so I truly understood their concern.

About the cost, I could use the price difference between 3 and 4 persons to cover the flight ticket back from Lhasa. Also, with another person, I could share the accommodation cost for the double room in case there was no cheap dorm bed. The cost was the point that I was most worried about. I told them that I had quite a limited budget so if I could save a few hundred bucks, then I wouldn't hesitate to grab the chance.

Apart from the cost, it would be very helpful to have another person from the same nationality traveling with me as they said. Plus, it would also be more enjoyable for us all.

I found that actually we could fit 4 pax in land cruiser. Many agencies also made this offer. I asked them to negotiate with the travel agency about this. Also, probably we all would bring our big backpacks, so we could save up some space in the back and tie the backpacks on the car roof instead.

The couple talked to the agency again. The agency agreed to use the SUV, but someone would need to sit in the back and take turn with the guide. Jeff said no problem. The couple then accepted it.

At first, I was thinking about abandoning this couple group if they didn't accept the fourth person. I would rather go with Jeff and try to find another two new persons to share the cost later on the internet. We could go probably 2 weeks later with no problem at all.

I saw the cloudy sky, but I didn't imagine that it was a sign of a big storm approaching.

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?