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Tibet

1 byte removed, 20:45, 1 July 2010
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'''The Chinese side:'''
Similarly, up until recently the situation from the Chinese side was limited to a flight into Lhasa under supervision of a tour group. All road access into the region was and still is well out of bounds for foreign travellers and roads are constantly dotted with checkpoints, as well as military police carrying out random stop and search.
 
This seems more than a minor glitch in any plans of travelling in the region. However, it was not impossible to find one of many of the 'tour' companies selling guided tours, consisting of nothing more than a permit stamp in the passport and a taxi to the airport. Once on the plane it was up to you to talk your way off the other side.
 These days the Chinese are slightly more relaxed with people visiting the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The Xinghua railway provides access to the area yet visitors are still supposed to be under the supervision of tour operators and still require permits to enter. Permits can often be purchased from 'tour' operators with no interest in actually providing a tour. Don't be fooled the Chinese government are aware of this but remain happy with visitors being contained to Lhasa. Food, accommodation, and attractions are easy to find in the capital and it has become very much a tourist hub.
The next and hardest problem of Tibet is getting out of Lhasa itself. It is here the clamp has come down, there are few local buses running out of the city and travel on these is illegal, most will refuse you the ticket! Travel by private car is very limited, checkpoints out of the city put hold to any unsupervised travel.
The best option is the 'pilgrim buses' often free of charge. These buses that trek out of the capital at ridiculous hours of the morning towards the surrounding monasteries with hoards of local monks, pilgrims and traders.  It is here you meet the real people of Tibet, often the Tibetans are happy to see you exploring their country and welcome you with open arms, getting off these buses at one of the monasteries is often the start of a great adventure. It is from these places, or from being dropped at your request in a passing hamlet, that you can find tractors travelling up to mountain top monasteries rarely visited by tourists, quarry trucks of miners heading deep into the mountains for weeks of work at a time or boats setting along the river bringing in and out fresh veg from surrounding villages. Be warned, the big monasteries all contain police outposts that DO check you out!! Keep your head down and think about where you're heading. Once on the road it becomes a glorious freedom... you begin to depend on the one truck a day/s that drives the routes between hamlets. Time becomes a concept of light and dark and you find yourself living the life of a sworn monk in the remotest of temples high in the mountains.
[[Category:China]]

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