Lhasa Travel Forum

Hello folks...
Im a student at HSU in N-California, and I am going to be studying this semester in China and Tibet. We fly from SFO to Beijing on Jun 4, then kick it in China proper for a couple of days before taking the train to Lhasa. We will be spending the next five weeks within the TAR or Tibetan cultural region, then we head back to Lhasa where some of the group will get back on the eastbound train, while others will continue traveling on our own. What I really want to do is head to Dharamsala, then to Kathmandu. My research topic and general personal interest is in Esoteric Tibetan Spirituality, so those two locations are very VERY appealing to me... Here's my problem... I need to get back to China to fly out of Beijing. I am not sure if this is even possible. Anybody know anything about crossing the Himalayas eastbound??? Thanks guys...

It sounds like you want to follow the ancient pilgrim route from Leh, Ladakh to Lhasa, Tibet.

Last year I saw a Michael Wood documentary "In Search of Myths and Heroes" (2005) on PBS, and there was a 1 hour piece about Shangra-La where he went to Ladakh (which is part of India not too far from Dharamsala), and then he wanted to go to Tibet, but he had to go all the way to Nepal to get into Tibet. See if you can view this fantastic video from PBS to learn about his experiences.
He may have written a companion book about the series.

When I was treking in Ladakh, I heard stories about an ancient pilgrim route from Leh to Lhasa. I believe there is a historic connection between Ladaki and Tibetian Buddhism. The route seems to have been closed for many years due to the hostilities between India and China. But there have been suggestions recently that it might be opened up again. Perhaps you can google some information on this, or by contacting Ladakh tour operators.

If you do a google search for something like "leh to lhasa" and you will find some interesting stuff like:

http://whereisnaru.blogspot.com/
- a blog by someone who is planning this trip

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/ascend/singh.html
- a PBS Frontline page about journeys there during the 1800s.

Let me know if you find a way to make this trip, because it is on my list of things to do!

Ciao,

Dave
Washington, DC

From Nepal, to Tibet, China entry is available on a group permit only. I understand individual permit are not accepted. Be careful and check this out.

Try flying from Nepal to any China province except Tibet or XinJiang. Provided you have a multiple China entry permit. If not---Good luck.