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Tibet Permits - Tibet Permit
At Tashi’s Mountain Lodge we can get you permits for the stunning road trip from Yunnan to Lhasa. Here’re a few things you should know about the Tibet permit.

What you have to understand about the Tibet permit is that those involved in it have every reason to make sure you have one and no reason to let you pass if you don’t. For sure the permit restrictions are easing-off slowly as the years go by, there once was a time when every westerner in Lhasa would be checked. Now this simply is not the case, but if you’re going to do long land routes, especially from the east then you will need to “play the game” and get a permit.
I have met countless people in Deqin who have told me that they’re off to Lhasa, some even proudly showing me their bus tickets to Yanjing or Markam. With every person I’m exactly the same, I firstly tell them that the trip is fantastic, probably the best thing they will ever do, and because of this I recommend that you get a permit so you can guarantee finishing the trip. I then tell them that I can help them get a permit and tell them how much it will cost. Without question everyone has turned me down and assured me that they will be the person that can get through. On this, I always give them my email address and tell them if you get to Lhasa then drop me a mail. No one has ever emailed me. Maybe they thought I was a conceited fart or maybe, just maybe they didn’t make it. Who’s to tell?
The best way to help get rid of the permits is to behave and work within the permits. One of the principal functions of the Tibet permit is to keep backpackers out. This is not official policy, and you wont see it written anywhere, but in the Chinese government’s eyes there’s only a finite amount of tourism available in Tibet and it is happy to fill the relatively small window with internal tourism and top-end international tourism. They’re not interested in having a bunch of broke backpackers kicking around Lhasa full of impractical ideas for Tibet. Unfurling free-Tibet flags at base-camp or anywhere in Tibet, does not help the Tibetans or the backpacker’s cause and is a really dumb thing to do!
Tibet is part of China, whether you like it or not. If you have really strong opinions on this, that you would probably find hard to keep to yourself, then you’re best off staying home and petitioning your government. Trying to sneak into Tibet by not paying the permit because you think it’s politically incorrect helps no one.

As an independent backpacker, your chances of getting from Yunnan to Lhasa are practically zero if you’re not prepared to pay. ( If you’re an independent cyclist with the right equipment then it is possible)
Another common situation is meeting backpackers who ask me whether I know anyone who can “sneak them in.” This I find really comical and always answer in the same way:
“So, you want to pay nothing, yet find someone who is willing to risk everything? Do you see a problem in that?”
For sure there are people who will smuggle you into Tibet, there are people all over the world who will do anything you want if you pay them. I’ve met people in Lhasa who have been smuggled in and they still had to pay. Being smuggled in is very stressful and for the small amount of money they saved I’m not entirely sure it was worth it. Plus, you always face the obstacle of getting back out, which usually involves a fine, so you didn’t save any money in the long run. It just added a heap of stress to what is an amazing trip of a lifetime. There are those puritans that will say, “well at least we didn’t pay the Chinese government for the permit!” Well you paid them for your China visa, and entry fees to every attraction you visit in China, what’s so different about a Tibet Permit? Which inevitably gets the quip back, “the Chinese government persecutes the Tibetan culture.” Well, this is a whole different rant which I’ll get onto another time.

So, back to the permits.
Tibet permits are easy and relatively inexpensive to get and well worth the money. My advice is to drop the baggage that goes along with them, swallow the pill and go and visit, legitimately, one of the most spectacular places on earth.
Let’s say for a minute that Tibet was a free country, just like Bhutan, it would need to impose a heavy levy to restrict tourist numbers. This is the function of the Tibet permit. However, people, and especially backpackers have problems in that it is imposed by the Chinese government. There are two simple replies to this view.
1) As Tibet is now part of China, the government has a legal right to impose a levy, in the same way as the Bhutanese government does over its country
2) If you don’t agree with the policies of a country, stay home.

What are the current state of permits?
It’s no secret that the permits exist in a constant state of flux and it is conceivable that one day they will disappear, but don’t hold your breath on this, as I’ve mentioned before, the permits serve many functions for Chinese government and the TAR.
After all the troubles at the Horse festival Lithang and the unfurling of the Free Tibet flag by some backpackers in 07, the Chinese government became pretty jittery and their response was to freeze permits and then bring them back at a higher price. Right now, as of 29.01.08 I’m told you can’t get a Tibet permit to take you from Yunnan to Lhasa for approx 1500RMB. The price will probably come down to 1000RMB in the spring, or maybe they wont. Added on to this is the time it takes to get a road permit. The shortest period I’ve ever known has been about 4 working days. Currently officials are quoting 10-14 days, which is a significant hurdle for most travellers, but that’s the point.

If you think back to why most of us want to go to Tibet it’s because we have that desire to go somewhere that is different and unattainable, a place that, in the past, needed a monumental effort to reach. Well, look at it like this, even though it’s now much easier to physically get to Tibet, the Chinese government are still asking a huge commitment from those who wish to travel to the Land of The Snows. Don’t think for a second that if Tibet were free the Tibetan government wouldn’t put on a “chunky” visa fee too, so…. As travellers you should just accept the permits and visit Tibet, it will be the pinnacle of your trip and in years ahead, you want think about the extra couple of grand it cost you.

Another common question is, "why do the road permits cost so much" Well basically you're getting a number of police districts to agree to let you pass. (I'm told it is four) All these areas need to be informed and paid, which increases the price. When you buy a plane ticket to Lhasa, you just get the Lhasa permit only. Therefore, it's cheaper. If you want to go to other places in Tibet once you arrive by plane in Lhasa then the travel agents will add-on other permit charges to your trip price.

For those people who think they can sneak their way in from Yunnan to Lhasa, then there are at least six possible places where you can be stopped and asked to produce a permit on the road. As most Tibetans agree, you can probably sneak through a couple, but all six is very difficult - YOU FEELIN LUCKY?

One last thing on permits.
A lot of people ask me if I can organize cars for them to take them to Lhasa, which I can, with just a small commitment of money and time from them. Per person a week-long trip to Lhasa will cost less than 4000RMB. Most people balk at the price, which I find amazing, and instead choose to back-track down into Yunnan, spending more time doing the same old stuff, and by the time they’ve reached a beach in Thailand they’ve spent well over 4000RMB.
You will spend almost as much backtracking as you will going forward to Lhasa, but the benefits of going forward fast outstrip anything you could do by doubling-back on yourself.
My advice is….. that once you’re in Deqin the road to Lhasa is open to everyone who wants to go, you’ve just got to want it enough, and all those who turn back, go not because of the price or the time, but because they didn’t really want it enough.

In the past, only travellers with strong determination reached Lhasa by road, and in a way it’s not changed a bit!