Travelling to Tibet

cousin_borat

Hello there,

I'm looking for some advice on traveling through China. Basically I want to get the train to Tibet from China and I heard it has to be booked well in advance.

Was suggested to get the train from Cheng Du (approx 26 hours). We're flying into Hong Kong initially.

Any info or suggestions would be great as well as other places to visit

Thanks!

Glowing

I was in Cheng Du before the train line opened but the whole place is geared for travellers to head to Tibet. You should have no problems at least joining a gang of travellers heading that way in a Jeep, but i'm not sure about the train.

If you want a recommendation for accommodation, Sims Cozy Guesthouse is the way to go, Sim is a dead nice, trustworthy guy and should be able to help you with your planning. http://www.gogosc.com/house_en.asp
Actually i've just seen from the website that they organise train tickets to Lhasa!

If you're into hiking, Emei Shan is a pilgrimage mountain worth spending a day or two on, theres a monastry about 5/6 hours up from the starting point where you can stay over night (Elephant Bathing pool). Also, Lijiang and Dali are worth a visit but are quite touristy.

PM me if you have any more questions - China is fantastic by the way, you'll love it!

Glowing

By the way, for more specific, up to date advice, try the Thorntree forums ... thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

cousin_borat

Glowing, thanks very much. I just checked out the site. Also good to know that possible jeep could be arranged as an alternative to the train.

cousin_borat

Awaiting on word from travel from Chengdu to Tibet. Bit of a bump this! But anyone else out there Can't wait to get outta Boston to Tibet and then back to the oul sod!!!!!!

cousin_borat

Further question. Sims got back to me about arranging the train journey. They asked for passport, copy of payment receipt and Visa.

When do you get the visa, if I'm booking the travel well in advance I dont have a visa yet?

Glowing

As far as I'm aware you can get Tibeten permits issued by most guesthouses and travel agencies over in China. Well I presume they were talking about the permit for Tibet and not your visa from china?

Edit: In case you're wondering about the chinese visa, you can pick these up dead easily in HK - there are a couple of visa-shops just off Nathan Road and can organise a chinese visa for you in hours or days, depending on how much you're willing to pay.

cousin_borat

Just wondering whats the best way to travel from HK to Chengdu. Is there a direct way or would have to go through some of the major cities like Shanghai or Beijing?

Glowing

God no! China has a very very good transport network.

I wouldn't recommend travelling from HK long distance into China because its classed as international and therefore more expensive. You should walk over the border into Shenzhen, and then from there, you should be able to book train tickets directly into Chengdu (you may have to change, your guidebook will tell you about routes from Shenzhen to Chengdu). Alternatively, flights are very reasonable, once you're inside the country, you can book through www.elong.com (you need to have a mobile or access to a phone so they can call u back to confirm booking).

http://seat61.com/China.htm#Train times
http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/

Get yourself a hostel in Shenzhen and they can organise everything for you for a small commision fee (maybe 3 euro).

kraggy

Is China cheap?

Glowing

I spent 7 weeks in China, stayed in nice guesthouses/hotels, flew and took soft-sleeper trains, ate out 3 times a day, shopped a lot, and spent 1000 euro.

So yes, I guess. Although you could probably half that if you were willing to rough it more.

kraggy

Wow. That's even cheaper than Thailand which i found to be ridiculously cheap.

How long ago was that?

Glowing

May/June 2006
http://www.ballofdirt.com/journeys/9772.html

kraggy

Excellent link Glowing.

If you had to name 3 places that stand out, what would they be?

Glowing

Thanks!

Thats a tough question -if you're referring to China, then it would have to be

- Tiger Leaping Gorge hike
- Great wall (10k hike from Jinshangling to Simitai)
- Chengu, just because we saw the pandas and had a fantastic time in Sims Cozy Guesthouse.

For the whole trip, Borneo was a real surprise (we saw a wild orangutan!), Fiji has the most amazing people I've ever met, but I'd say all in all, Malaysia was the best all round country. China gave us the best experiences though ....!

kraggy

Borneo? Lucky things. Want to go there also. Expedition after the next one hopefully.

Have tried to research it and was wondering what part of the island would you recommend. North, South? Malaysian? Indonesian?

All questions, sorry!

Glowing

Hi - oops i hope we're not hijacking this thread!

We went to both Sabah in the north east and Sarawak in the north west, both provinces are Malaysian (a culture we absolutely loved!) Can't comment on the Indonesian part since we didn't go there, but it does take up more than 2/3rds of the island!

What were you interested in doing? Hiking/Wildlife/beaches? One of the coolest things we did there was to dive Sipidan off the east coast of Sabah. Turtles everywhere! It was amazing.

Whats your next expedition? PM if you have any more questions .....

kraggy

yeah sorry for taking over the thread!

Heading to South America in few weeks for a couple of months. Taking in Argentina and Bolivia mainly.

A mixture of wildlife and beaches would be my idea for Borneo. Particularly Orang Utans. Just love them fellas...

Thanks for the info.

K.