I believe what you are saying is probably possible but know that it would be VERY illegal to do this sort of thing. The Chinese government does not take these kind of things lightly and you would have to be a bit crazy to do this. Unfortunately there is no real “cheap” way of entering the TAR but if the permit/tour fees are not your thing then look at traveling around Gansu and Sichuan provinces. They are ethnically Tibetan with more tibetans living there than in the TAR itself but allow you to travel independantly and by local transport.Enjoy.

Me & my wife are about to go to Tibet by train from Beijing for about 2 weeks in mid-May. To get the Tibet permit, is it possible to just get a cheap tour into Tibet and maybe for 1 day or something and then do things ourselves from then, or do we have to book a tour for our entire trip? We’re from Philippines so we’re trying to do it cheaply.

Tibet is a little different than traveling other places and at the moment you cannot travel independently unless you are chinese. You have to organize a “tour” before you even enter Tibet from either Xining or Chengdu. It may seem a little expensive but you can cut costs by joining up with other travelers in Xining or Chengdu who want to do something similar. Going to the Nepalese border is VERY popular so I have no doubt that you could find people to go with. Try http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree and browse around the Tibet forum for people looking to join up.

There are a few options for which company to take but I took Tibetan Connections which is out of Xining and they were great. They let us choose our own budget guesthouses and budgets places to eat although we still had to have a guide and driver like everyone else.

If the cost still seem too high keep in mind that areas of Gansu Province and Sichuan Province are actually more Tibetan than most of the TAR. They used to be Amdo and Kham provinces when Tibet was a separate country and are still where most Tibetans live and the culture is very much alive. They also have a fraction of the tourists and dont require the permits and fees like the TAR ( Tibet Autonomous Region). Let me know if you have more questions..I hope that helped.

Im currently in Yunnan province and have been browsing your blogs on Tibet. It looks like you had an incredible time! I have a few questions though… Firstly, did you pay for just one tour which took you to all these places or did you get a ticket to Lhasa and then book other tours from there? Secondly how much did these tours cost and is Tibet generally quite expensive?
I am trying my best to find a way into Tibet for a reasonable price, perhaps just by heading to Lhasa from Yunnan Province and then making my own way to Nepal. Any advice from you guys would be great as I havent found anyone who has been to Tibet so far… Please drop me an email if you can help : smorthwaite252@hotmail.com
Thanks a lot!
James
xxx