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Practical Tibet Travel Information Tibet, also known as the rooftop of the world, is a truly beautiful country, offering snow white mountain tops, rugged rocky peaks and blue skies as far as the eye can see. It is also home to the yak. If you're interested in visiting Tibet, it's best to travel between May and November.You can build your own Tibet holiday using our bite-sized trips to Tibet. Alternatively, if you'd rather leave the planning to us, you can choose from our suggested holidays in Tibet. |
A Brief HistoryFor centuries, Tibet was a Buddhist state. The country's religious leaders were also the heads of state. Due to its remote location it was possible to keep foreigners at bay for quite some time. However around 1950 the Chinese annexed the country. Through a series of brutal attacks, which escalated during the Cultural Revolution in the 60's and early 70's, the Chinese destroyed a large portion of ancient Tibetan culture. More than one million Tibetans lost their lives during these attacks.The spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, fled to India and has since lived their in exile. Later on the Chinese changed their policy and the original Tibetan culture became slightly less oppressed. Some the monasteries that were once destroyed were now being rebuilt. Since the mid-eighties small numbers of tourists are being allowed back in Tibet. Tibet however remains an occupied country, with all the excesses of oppression and a total lack of freedom of speech. |
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Travelling to TibetFrom China it's possible to fly to Lhasa (the capital of Tibet) to begin your Tibet trip. You can do this from the cities Beijing, Xi'an (mid-China), Chengdu, Zhongdian and Kunming (West-China). Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu are low laying areas; in order to acclimatise to the elevated areas, we advise travelling from Zhongdian. You can also travel from Nepal to Tibet; you'll fly from the capital city of Kathmandu.Between Lhasa and Kathmandu lies the 'Friendship Highway', an 800 km long road, created by Chinese to make Tibet more accessible. The road offers a spectacular view of rolling plains, deep blue lakes, monasteries, nomad tents, yaks and moon-like landscape. In other words, it may be quite an enjoyable experience to travel by land. During this trip you'll see the vegetation start to change from the empty, barren elevated plains to the green valleys of Nepal. More information on our land-based tours from Kathmandu to Lhasa is available on request. |
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If you'd rather not travel all the way through to Nepal on your Tibet holiday, you can also travel from Lhasa on our trip to the Mount Everest base camp where climbers prepare for their trek to the top of the mountain. Lhasa/Tibet and altitude sickness It's very important to remember that Lhasa lies at an altitude of 3650 metres. This is far above the normal altitude where altitude sickness can occur. Practically all travellers who fly into Lhasa on a Tibet trip have some form of altitude sickness. |
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Most people experience headaches, dizziness and tire easily. The best way to acclimatise is to take it nice and easy the first days of your holiday in Tibet. You'll most likely need at least three days at the beginning of your Tibet trip to adjust to the altitude. Since Lhasa is located on an elevated plain and at the lowest altitude of the country, this option is impossible. Therefore it is best to acclimatise to high-altitude travel while in China. By taking part in a China trek or during our rural China trip, you'll have several days to get used to the altitude. You can always call or email our China travel specialists to get personal advice on your situation. |
Click here to see our bite-sized trips to Tibet
Click here to see our suggested holidays in Tibet
Click here to see our suggested holidays in Tibet
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