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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2014 12:09:34 GMT
Has anyone here been to Tibet? I would like to know how you got around. I am planning to fly to Lhasa then after a 8 day tour take the train to Xining and fly home from there. Has anyone done the train trip? I hope to go mid May, but health issues may intervene. Anything I should know? I have done 2 long train trips in China - Mongolia to Beijing then train down the east coast to Hong Kong, and Urumqi in the far west to Shanghai. This new train sounds terrific. Any suggestions?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2014 19:47:32 GMT
I am not as hardy a traveller as you, Questa. And since I haven't even visited China yet, Tibet will remain on the back burner for a while.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2014 19:55:11 GMT
No suggestions or any experience, questa, but I have a friend who has been climbing mountains in Tibet for a while and he has grown an amazingly bushy beard. I would caution you about that.
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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2014 21:44:12 GMT
Dear lizzy, thank you for your input (note to self...take razor!) I have enough trouble controlling my "old lady" whiskers and moustache as it is!
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Post by htmb on Feb 23, 2014 21:51:10 GMT
Questa, it sounds like you are planning quite an ambitious trip, but with past experiences under your belt I'm sure you know how to properly prepare.
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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2014 22:00:21 GMT
First step in 'proper preparing' is to ask for advice from people who have been there. Compared to other trips, this one is relatively easy. All the paperwork is being done for me, bookings etc. I just have to show up and someone will guide me along. Sure beats going from place to place in the pouring rain trying to find accommodation in Sumatra.
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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2014 22:12:26 GMT
K2...for 'hardy' read 'decrepit'...I'm no longer the bright young 60 year old who would jump on the back of a motor bike and go off to see the world. It is just my latest passport cost 4 times the price of my first and I resent all those empty pages. Gotta get a few more stick-ins and stamps!
And YOU gotta get to China and neighbours...away from big cities and preferably out far west, where the old Silk Road went. Kashgar...Samarkand...Tashkent...Don't those names have magic in them?
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Post by bjd on Feb 24, 2014 8:15:01 GMT
I agree that those places you mention sound the most interesting, questa. All organized China trips seem to limit themselves to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu (for the pandas) and Xian for the terracotta army.
One of my sons has been to China twice. The first time he went with some friends, I had found a post on TT from a young woman teaching English in Yunnan province. She was Chinese but looking for English-speaking tourists so she could practice. My son and his friends got in touch with her, went to the small village where she lived and stayed with locals for a few days. They also went on a horse-riding camping trip in the Himalayan foothills, but did not get into Tibet. It was complicated and expensive, at the time that high-speed train line was being built.
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Post by questa on Feb 24, 2014 11:26:48 GMT
What a marvellous time they must have had, such adventures. I could get some contacts in Tibet from my Tibetan friends here, but I won't as having contact with Westerners causes problems from the army or police for the people.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2014 21:20:38 GMT
Anyway, your upcoming trip is excellent news since it means that you will post extraordinary photos that none of the rest of us are able to do at the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 17:32:22 GMT
It all sounds fabulous and exciting Questa. Good luck with your health issues and looking forward to hearing about your plans and then the actual trip.
I'm curious as to what the issues are with getting advice etc.from your Tibetan friends. I did not realize and profess my ignorance in that the political issues run that far.
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Post by questa on Mar 1, 2014 13:39:08 GMT
Casimira...sorry, I missed out answering your question. As you know, there are sections of the Tibetan people agitating for independence from China. There is also very strong support from Tibetans and westerners who are engaged in the Buddhist ways of the Dalai Lama. These outside supporters are more organised and cashed up than most expat support groups. The Chinese Govt has banned westerners from encouraging political activities in Tibet. This includes taking photos of the Dalai Lama to give to Tibetan people or even speaking to any Tibetans without the guide being there. I have several Tibetan friends and I would love to carry small gifts from them to their families while on my trip, but this would lead to police harassment, questioning and possibly worse if the family appeared to have western contacts.
I will ask my friends here for advice re travelling in Tibet, but I will not compromise their families with any contact.
BTW ...my Tibetan name, given to me by a very senior Lama, is Jampa Khachoy...Jampa means compassion and Khachoy is 'space dweller' their word for the 'dakini' or sky dancing angel creatures in their stories
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2014 16:14:29 GMT
Thanks for the reply Questa. I was aware that there were still tensions but, had no idea it was that far reaching. Awful.
How simply lovely your Tibetan name is. I would even consider legally changing my real name to a name like that.
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Post by questa on Mar 1, 2014 21:33:54 GMT
Oh Casimira, it is not the name I use, that is a boring everyday item. I did some study with the Lama who was a professor in a Tibetan Buddhist university. As his student I received the name...the first name is always the same as his and the second how he 'sees' me.
I have also been given a Chinese Buddhist name from a Pure Land teacher. That is (roughly) Fa Lien which means Lotus of the Law. Very appropriate as I am a Justice of the Peace and I have a small pink lotus tattooed on my heel.
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Post by htmb on Mar 1, 2014 22:55:40 GMT
Questa, you never cease to amaze!!!!
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Post by questa on Mar 2, 2014 1:18:02 GMT
Why, Thank you htmb! I think I posted early in my time here that I was a tad eccentric. I blame my constant curiosity. Like Ricky-Ticky-Tavi, the mongoose in Kipling's story, I "have to run and find out".
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Post by mossie on Mar 2, 2014 8:17:30 GMT
Questa, I wish I had 10% of your get up and go spirit. If someone had told me a week ago that I was going to Tibet, I would still be running. The other way!
Go for it, cannot wait to see the photos, and good luck.
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Post by lugg on Mar 2, 2014 17:13:13 GMT
No unfortunately no help from me. Like others am willing you to go so that I selfishly get to see your photos and learn about your travels.
Did Spindrift go - or was that Nepal ? I seem to remember reading some posts from her but I cannot find them now
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Post by questa on Mar 3, 2014 2:52:11 GMT
This trip I am really living dangerously! In the past I have written out my proposed journeys and itineraries, suggested flights I have found, and accommodations from LP and other's suggestions. I then gave the lot to my travel agent who has been marvellous for the last 20 years. She would wave a magic wand and it would be all set up with cheaper flights and better hotels, guest houses, and my passport all ready with visas etc.
Now she has retired...I know there are thousands of smart young women and men who could help me, but I had a rush of blood to the head and contacted the Chinese company running the basic tour to do the arrangements and I would do the paperwork and logistics. (How hard can it be? what could possibly go wrong?)
Getting a visa is as dramatic as a Chinese opera. I have to list where I'll be going, but the company told me not to list T***t or I won't get a visa. Then I have to get a permit to enter T***t, then another permit to travel around out of Lhasa. The last 2 I can get from the company, but the first has to sent to me before I arrive there so they will send me a copy to use on the train. Just as well I am not flying into Lhasa because you can't use a copy on the plane, only the original.
As my itinerary (Will post it later) is basically all Tibet with internal flights, it will be difficult to convince them I have come to China to fly between a couple of far-flung cities. I will have to ask Daniel (my travel agent in China) how to fill in the several forms.
I'll keep you posted...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2014 6:23:02 GMT
Do you have a Plan B in case the Lhasa permit is not obtained?
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Post by questa on Mar 3, 2014 7:07:24 GMT
Lhasa permit is obtained by local company...no problems with it. If China visa not granted I might go to India again. I was too sick to do much last time. In this case I will just alter flight to Delhi and nick up to Agra on a local tour. I have 2 China visas in my old passport so I don't see much problem getting in. If I can't get into Tibet I'll divert to the south and see the gorgeous scenery there.
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Post by questa on Mar 3, 2014 8:13:11 GMT
I might as well show you my tentative program...hasn't reached itinerary stage yet, just my outline
Date From Carrier Flight # Depart Destination Arrive Comments
May 8 Adelaide Singapore Air SQ278 1040 Singapore 1635 4:35pm Layover SIN 1h10m 9 Singapore Silk Air MI138 5:45pm 1745 Chengdu 10:20pm 2220 *****book cheap hotel near airport 9 Chengdu ?? Sichuan 3U8987 0815 Xining 0950 9/10 Xining Train K917 3:05pm 1505 Lhasa 2:35pm 1435 +1 Day 1 of 8 day tour
17 Lhasa ??China Eastern ? 1250 Chengdu 2:40pm 1440
Chengdu Silk Air MI320 6:10pm 1810 Singapore 2310 11:10pm Layover SIN 9+hrs 18 Singapore Singapore Air SQ277 0830 Adelaide 4:50pm 1650 + 1
I will need to catch up on some sleep along the way!
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Post by questa on May 19, 2014 10:44:40 GMT
OK...(*draws a deep breath*) I got home from the Tibet trip this morning. Famous last words...it was tough, fast and you were having to deal with little oxygen and exhausting conditions.
You could buy spray-cans of oxygen like fly spray, and give an occasional burst into the mouth when things got too much...I didn't know this until the last day! I didn't get altitude problems but the dreaded "runs" made the week difficult
My new whiz-bang camera seized up in the cold and I had to use my old one, mislaid spare batteries so photography more limited than usual. In fact I think my form of O2 deprivation manifested as losing, mislaying, putting in the wrong luggage and generally missing out on the trip because I was scrabbling in my pack.
Anyway...battered and bruised, I shall transfer the chosen pics and share them and commentary with you ASAP
Never again, I'm getting too old for this...where I would have gone to the night market and eaten there, my companions pulled out smart phones and checked the restaurants in town before selecting where to dine.
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Post by bjd on May 19, 2014 11:13:20 GMT
Never again, I'm getting too old for this...where I would have gone to the night market and eaten there, my companions pulled out smart phones and checked the restaurants in town before selecting where to dine.
You're not too old, questa -- those travelling companions were too boring.
Glad to hear you are back and we are all looking forward to your photographs and anecdotes.
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Post by mossie on May 19, 2014 13:53:42 GMT
What bjd says. Can't wait to see your photos.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2014 14:30:05 GMT
I'll go to the night market with you if nobody else will!
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2014 14:51:11 GMT
I'll join you both! I'm looking forward to this one.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2014 15:07:10 GMT
I'll join you both! I'm looking forward to this one. I am too. My most desirous time to go though, would most certainly be during the Christmas season, as I loathe it and my husband and I every year, as the height of it comes upon us, always say, "that's it!!!! Next year we're going to Tibet"
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2014 14:34:25 GMT
I promised myself that next time I am in India, I will make the time to hop over to Tibet as well.
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Post by questa on May 21, 2014 23:59:00 GMT
Warning deyana...you don't just walk into Mordor; you don't just "hop over to Tibet"
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