Many people ask if it is possible to cycle in Tibet. Not only is it possible to cycle in Tibet, it has become very popular over the past 10 years. The same travel regulations apply however, if you want to cycle. There is no independent travel and you still need to be part of an organized tour that includes travel permits, a tour guide and a private vehicle with a driver. There are NO exceptions to these regulations. [...]
Plateau Photo Tours, which I co-own, will be hosting a Photography Workshop in Garze Prefecture in the traditional Tibetan region of Kham from October 10 to October 19. Garze prefecture has the largest population of Tibetan people of any of the prefectures on the Tibetan Plateau. Full of Buddhist monasteries, pilgrimage sites, grasslands, yak herding communities, farming villages, snow-capped peaks, alpine [...]
The first time I arrived at the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, I couldn’t believe my eyes! I couldn’t believe that something this HUGE could exist on the Tibetan Plateau. Located in Sertar County, Garze Prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་ཁུལ་གསེར་ཐར་རྫོང་ in the traditional Tibetan region of Kham found in western Sichuan, Larung Gar is home to over 40,000 monks, [...]
The Sichuan Part of Kham is easily one of the most beautiful regions of the Tibetan Plateau. It has everything one could ask for: high snow-capped peaks, beautiful alpine grasslands filled with yaks and sheep, deep river valleys, stunning turquoise lakes and some of the best preserved Tibetan culture remaining. You can explore small farming villages as well as traditional nomad communities throughout the area. The [...]
UPDATED 13 April 2013 Each year I do my best to keep up-to-date on the various travel regulations and restrictions across the Tibetan Plateau. Tibet, including the regions of Amdo and Kham, can sometimes be politically unstable. When areas and regions are unstable, the government (not travel agencies) either closes specific areas or imposes travel regulations, such as group travel. It is important to remember [...]
If you are familiar with Tibet and the Tibetan people, you have probably heard about the different regions of their land. Ngari མངའ་རིས་ is located in the far west region of Tibet. U-Tsang དབུས་གཙང་ is located in the central region while Kham ཁམས་ is found in the southeast and Amdo ཨ༌མདོ་ is in the northeast. One area you might not be very familiar [...]
As you are probably aware of by now, Lhasa and the rest of the Tibet Autonomous Region is closed indefinitely to foreign travelers (UPDATE: The region reopened in July 2012). There is no telling at this point when the area will reopen. Does that mean you need to cancel your upcoming trip to Tibet altogether? Not necessarily! It is important to remember that Tibet consists far more than just the Tibet Autonomous [...]
Snow-capped peaks along the way from Kangding to Tagong The 1200 kilometer overland route from Chengdu to Shangri La goes through some of the most rugged and beautiful terrain the eastern Tibetan Plateau has to offer. Glaciated peaks, evergreen forests, crystal clear rivers, glacier-fed lakes and traditional Tibetan culture are all found along this route. Though this route can be done by using public transportation, [...]
UPDATED October 30, 2012 This year has been a difficult year so far for those wanting to travel to Tibet, including the regions of Amdo and Kham. All areas were closed during March and some areas in Kham didn’t reopen until late April/early May. Here is the latest update on travel regulations and closures across the Tibetan Plateau (NB: This information is current at the time of writing. It is important [...]
Kangding, known as Dartsendo དར་རྩེ་མདོ་ or Dardo དར་མདོ་ in Tibetan, is the capital town of Garnze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་ཁུལ་ located in the Sichuan part of Kham. Kangding sits at 2600m and has a population of around 100,000. Part of the traditional Tibetan region of Kham ཁམས་, Kangding has always been the gateway to [...]