| The way getting to Tibet |
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Air
Air travel is complicated by the fact that there are no direct long-haul flights to Tibet. It is currently possible to fly from Kathmandu but you must temporarily join a group in order to get a ticket.
The only aieline which flies into Tibet is China Southwest airlines, based in ChengDu. There are flights to Lhasa twice daily from ChengDu, twice weekly from Chongqing and once weekly from Xi'an. Flights to/from Beijing operate once a week via Xi'an and once a week via ChengDu. There is also a twice weekly flight from ChengDu to Chamdo in eastern Tibet though foreigen travellers may have troubles getting on this flight.
Land In many ways, land travel to Tibet is the best way to go, not only for the scenery enroute but also besause it can help spread the altitude gain over a few days. In theory there are a number of land routes into Tibet. In practice, however, most travellers only use one of two officially sanctioned routes: Kathmandu to Lhasa via the Friendship Highway or Golmud to Lhasa via the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. Other possible routes are the Sichuan-Tibet Highway the Yunnan-tibet Highway and the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway.
Nepal to Tibet The 920km stretch of road between Kathmandu and Lhasa is known as the Friendship Highway. The journey is without a doubt one of the most spectacular in the world.
From Kathmandu the road travels gently up to Kodari (1873 m), before leaving Nepal to make a steep switch-back ascent to Zhangmu (2300 m), the Tibetan border town.From here the road climbs and climbs, past Nyalam (3750 m) to the top of the Tong-la pass (5120 m), where travellers from Kathmandu are likely to feel decidedly weak and wobbly due to the altitude. Tingri (4390 m) provides fabulous views of Mt. Everest and the Himalaya Range and is where many travellers spend the night before travelling on. It is essential to wacth out for the effects of altitude sickness during the early stages of this trip.
Qinghai-Tibet Highway The Qinghai-Tibet Highway is cold and bleak and almost devoid of interesting sights. Before setting off you should stock up on munchies and drinks and, if you have not already done so, buy some warm clothing. Xining is a better place to buy the latter than Golmud. The trip itself takes anywhere between 30 and 50 hours, longer if there is a serious breakdown. Even in summer it can get bitterly cold, especiallyup on the high passes, the highest of which is Tanggu-la (5180 m). It is one of those once in a lifetime trips.
Sichuan-Tibet Highway The road betwewen ChengDu and Lhasa is either around 2400 km or around 2100 km, depending on whether you take the northern route or the southern route.Food and accommodation is of a better standard and more widely available than on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway or in Western Tibet. On the first day, usually drive to Kangding, which is the last real town before the road divides into northern and southern routes.
Yunnan-Tibet Highway This Highway would be a wonderful way to approach Tibet. From Dali a road heads up to Zhongdian, an open town, and from Zhongdian a road continues north to Deqin. From here north across the Tibetan border 112 km to Yanjing and on another 111 km to Markam on the Sichuan southern route.
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