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. [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
The Yading Nature Reserve is found in western Sichuan’s Ganzi Tibet Autonomous Prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ in the traditional Tibetan region of Kham ཁམས་. Ganzi, known in Tibetan as Garnze དཀར་མཛེས་, is divided into 18 counties covering an area of 151,000 square kilometers (58,300 square miles). Yading [...]
For the 5th year in a row, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) will be closed to foreign travelers during the month of March. The closure will actually begin around February 20th and most likely will last until the end of March or the beginning of April. Though China usually claims that these closures are due to “bad weather”, in reality the region is closed because March is the anniversary of several [...]