Me at Ranwu Lake
It’s nice when you leave a message when you have visited my website.
I love to hear if you have visited Tibet or if you’re planning to visit Tibet.
And I hope my website will inspire you to travel to Tibet. Because I can ensure you it will be a life time experience.
If you want information on travelling in Tibet, you also can leave a message here. I will answer / contact you as soon as possible.
Hi,
I am planning a trip to Amdo region, next year, once Covid 19 situation settles down.
My trip will be to explore through the Amdo region by public transport. I have gone through your blogs about your travel in 2018.
I could not think of a more informative person than you as you can share me your first hand knowledge.
Hiring a personal car +guide is out of my budget.
I will have about a month to explore, so time is not a factor.
Hope, you can share whatever information you wish to share / make suggestions.
Hello Rakesh,
Great you want to travel in Amdo next year. It’s very beautiful there and lots to see and explore. I understand you read my blog about my travel there in 2018. At that time I didn’t only travel in Amdo but also in Kham. I don’t know if you also want to travel in Kham. You want to use public transport. I can’t give you any tips on that because I always travel with a private car with guide and driver. Public transport isn’t very easy in Amdo and Kham. But I believe you can travel by public bus from Xining to Rebkong, Xiahe, Zoige, Langmusi and Songpan, ending in Chengdu. So maybe this is a route for you to look at. Success with planning your trip!
Greetings, Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Your website is great, I love how detailed every post is.
I’m planning on a trip with my partner. We will drive around North/West Sichuan. We did this previously in Qinghai and Gansu, and we had no problems, but now I’m reading that there are some places where we’re not allowed to enter (we’re foreigners).
I was wondering, where do you find reliable official information about where foreigners are not allowed to visit?
Thank you so much!
Noelia
Hello Noelia,
Thank you for the compliment on my website.
To answer your question, no there is no official information on which places in Tibetan areas in provinces like Sichuan are closed for foreign travelers. You have to search for information like that on the internet. Also you can look for that information on travel fora like TripAdvisor or you can put your question on information there. As far as I know (only) Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar in Sichuan province are still closed for foreign travelers.
Have a great trip in Western Sichuan (as soon it’s possible to travel there again because of the Corona virus).
Ellen
I am an american living and retired in chengdu
I dont have a car or driver license ,so am sort of stuck.
I want to go to the TAR region one day as I am
Interested in all things Buddhist .
Perhaps Garze or amdo?
The tour packages are very expensive for me.
Is anyone out here an expat in chengdu?
Email me if possible ,especially if older and Buddhist . I live here with my chinese wife, Not as a temporary english teacher.
Chinadoug77@yahoo.com
Dont know if the recent “crackdown” on foreigners will pass but hopefully after virus subsides.can travel
Hello Doug,
For TAR you need as a foreigner an organised travel. And yeas, that’s expensive. But in Kham and Amdo you can travel on your own. And you can do this by public transport (bus or shared minivan). As you are living in Chengdu, you probably speak (some) Chinese. From Chengdu it’s relatively not far travelling to Kham and Amdo. So it’s a travel that should be easy to do for you.
Good luck!
Hi Ellen,
Je hebt gisteren op mijn ‘overland’-vraag (Chengdu-Lhasa) op Tripadvisor gereageerd.
Aangezien je (getuige je mooie site !) al meerdere malen in Tibet bent geweest, en in diverse delen, zou ik graag
mijn ideeën/wensen en dilemma’s tav mijn volgende Tibet-reis voorleggen. Zou je mij in dat kader een mail toe kunnen sturen: wim_lafeber@hotmail.com , opdat ik deze met je kan delen.
Alvast dank voor je reactie, Wim
Okay Wim,
Ik stuur je een mailtje.
Groet, Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Since you’re Dutch, like me, you will be able reading my website. In our language…
See: http://www.icarussolutions.nl/nl/tibet.html
In the past I’ve been in China several times, for business. Some pictures can be found here: http://www.icarussolutions.nl/nl/china.html
Your experiences will be valuable for my preparations!
Your pictures are great…
Thanks,
Rob
Hallo Rob,
Succes met de voorbereiding van je reis door West Sichuan. Heb je vragen, stel ze me. Wellicht kan ik ze beantwoorden.
Groet, Ellen
Hi Ellen,
I believe my question may be basic, but I would like to plan a trip next month to Tibet. I have the necessary documents, and I feel the starter trip and a desirable trip for me is to EBC. I’m very used to solo travel, and have solo’ed Nepal trekking, and was wondering if the guided components would make it very night and day in difference. I don’t want to make it so destination based, so hopefully the drive along the way given such a mainstream trip, would not be too mundane/claustrophobic?
Thanks for your guidance,
Kang
Hello Kang,
It’s true you can only visit Tibet on an organised trip with guide and driver with car. I can only answer from my own experiences. And that is that having a Tibetan guide and driver can be very informative and fun. From them I learned a lot on Tibet, it’s people and it’s culture. You say you want to go to Tibet next month. I don’t uderstand from your post if you have already booked a tour. If not, you need to this very soon because the travel agency in Tibet has to apply for your Tibet permit and this takes time. Next month (January) is low season which means there won’t be a lot of tourists in Tibet. So it’s a good time to experience Tibet.
Good luck with planning your trip.
Ellen
Thank you for the good information Ellen. I will keep you posted as to this journey. I appreciate your time and expertise.
Okay. Have a great trip Kang!
Beautiful, breathtaking photographs, thank you. Which is the second Buddha statute (your photo) at Mindrolling Monastery (black).
Hello Rohmana,
First, thank you for your compliment on my photos. The statue is the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. It’s the four armed version. He holds in one hand a a rosary, in the other hand a lotus (although the hand and the lotus aren’t showing in this picture because they are hidden behind the red flower) and clutches in front of him a jewel that fulfils all wishes.
Greetings, Ellen
Beste Ellen,
Bedankt voor de reactie, erg handig om allemaal te weten en ook voor de aanpassing!
Met vriendelijke groet,
Mark Batenburg
Beste Ellen,
Van verschillende fora weet ik dat je veel kennis hebt over reizen in TIbet. Regelmatig komen mensen naar mij met vragen over reizen in Tibet en dan zeg ik altijd dat ik weinig kennis daarover hebt.
Zou jij een paar punten kunnen uitleggen:
1. Reizen in Tibet kan niet op eigen gelegenheid
2. Tibet visum of hoe heet dit ding, hoe krijg je deze, wat is de prijs ongeveer en kan je deze digitaal krijgen of sturen ze deze op naar je hotel.
3. Wat zijn goede reisorganisaties voor Tibet?
4. Welke periode is Tibet meestal gesloten voor buitenlanders is dit met Chinees Nieuwjaar?
5. Wat is de prijs ongeveer voor een chauffeur en gids per persoon per dag
6. Andere punten die handig zijn voor mensen die hun zoektocht moeten beginnen, met het organiseren voor een reis naar Tibet
Bedankt voor je reactie!
Met vriendelijke groet,
Mark Batenburg
http://www.treinkaartjeschina.nl
Hallo Mark,
Ik ben momenteel zelf aan het rondreizen in Tibet. Zodra ik weer thuis ben reageer ik inhoudelijk op je bericht. Okay?
Groet, Ellen
Beste Ellen,
Oke, geen probleem. Veel plezier met je reis in Tibet!
Ik had trouwens gehoord dat Tibet ‘gesloten’ is van eind januari tot 31 maart, is deze informatie correct?
In mijn vorige bericht had ik de link naar mijn website verkeerd geschreven, er moet nog een ‘s’ tussen (zou je deze kunnen toevoegen/aanpassen)…
Met vriendelijke groet,
Mark Batenburg
Hallo Mark,
Ik heb net per e-mail een uitgebreide reactie op je vragen naar je toegezonden. Ook heb ik de schrijfwijze van je website aangepast.
Groet, Ellen