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 Tibet-
General information |
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Tibet is a most unusual and beautiful land.
The majority of this land rests above 4000
meters (13,000 feet) and is partially
surrounded by mountain ranges. The
awe-inspiring Himalayas are the highest in
the world, as is the never ending Tibetan
plateau. Tibet is a place for the rugged
adventurer as well as the spiritual
wanderer. A land that is held back in time
and houses many secrets. Nomads remain much
the same as they did one hundred years ago.
Then, there are the monasteries which are
striving to find a place in a country that's
crashing into the twentieth century.
The Tibetan people and their religion have
been inseparable. Even in their earliest
myths one finds references to the Tibetan's
religious beliefs. Originally, the Bon
religion dominated Tibet. After the
introduction of Buddhist statues and later
sanskrit documents from India, Buddhism
crept increasingly into the Tibetan culture.
Tibetan Buddhism is the culmination of some
early Bon beliefs, Indian Buddhist texts and
several great lamas. Buddhism and politics
had been interwoven since King Songsten
Gampo married a Chinese and a Nepali
princess, who were both intergral in the
emergence of Buddhism. It was the Fifth
Dalai Lama who actually built the Potala
Palace as the government seat and a
religious center. A theocracy had prevailed
until 1951.
After centuries of virtual isolation Tibet
is cautiously opening up to the western
world. Officially, China has only opened the
doors for travelers these past few years. A
visit to Tibet is a marvelous experience,
although it is not for the faint-hearted.
The traveling is difficult, adventurous, and
unpredictable. The infrastructure is poor to
non-existent, making a simple road trip a
complete adventure. Traveling in Tibet is
not a simple trip but an experience of a
lifetime which we invite you to take with
us.
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Visa Information to Tibet
Passport
A traveler should bear with him a passport with
validity remaining no less than six months. Make
sure that it has plenty of blank pages for
visas, entry and reentry stamps and extensions.
Besides, holding other ID's like student card or
driving license will be an advantage. Loosing
passport in Tibet is very bad, as you have to go
to Beijing to get new one.
Visa-Travel Permit
Travelers to Tibet requires to obtain special
Group Visa/Permit. The visa processing is
initiated only after you book a trip with a
qualified travel agency. Original passport has
to be submitted along with the Visa Application
Letter ( Invitation Letter) of Tibetan Tourism
Authority to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal or
abroad. We are eligible to process your
visa/permit and can fax you the Visa Application
Letter ( Invitation Letter) if you wish to apply
the visa abroad. Normally, Chinese embassy of
Kathmandu works on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays between 09 30 am to 11 am. The regular
visa fee is USD 26 and you can collect the
passport on the third working day. For emergency
processing, there will be an extra fee. |
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We, a married couple from Canada completed the
Annapurna Circuit 11 April to 29 April. We
booked the services of a guide and a porter
through MR. Shekhar Bahadur Thapa at Alpine
Asian Treks have nothing but good things to say
regarding our experience with MR. Shekhar and
the guide and Porter which we hired through
Alpine. 
