K Y asked:
Hi everybody, I’ve just found out that to travel independently to Tibet is impossible ( at the moment ), I was wondering if travelling to see the great Kunlun mountains is possible? I’m just a poor student who loved nature and and adventure ( plan to sneak in, yes. going to sneak in? No, I am still sane ).
Since the Qinghai – Tibet railways is up and going, I was wondering if I could “still” travel independently? If not, what can I do?
The Kunlun mountain range (Simplified Chinese: ???; Traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: K?nlún Sh?n) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.
The Kunlun runs eastwards along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet. It stretches along the southern edge what is now called the Tarim Basin, the infamous Takla Makan or “sand-buried houses” desert, and the Gobi desert. A number of important rivers flow from it including the Karakash River (‘Black Jade River’) and the Yurungkash River (‘White Jade River’), which flow through the Khotan Oasis into the Taklamakan Desert.
Comment by Friend — March 21, 2008 @ 6:45 am
You might have to get a permit to go to Tibet which costs around 300 quid if you are not a Chinese native. But you might try to go to places lik Sichuan Province or Yunnan Province there might be some ppl offer a private tour to Tibet, thus you might not need to pay the permit thing.
Comment by Jamie J — March 22, 2008 @ 12:45 am
You should have no problem traveling ALONE to Tibet these days. Not sure what’s current policy to control foreigner in other area by PRC. However, if these Gerry could bike from Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang) to Tibet through old PLA entry route (mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Tibet/tibet_info.html), you should have no problem doing the same long as you have the same physical strength. You may do some research with Lonely Planet’s publications (China, Tibet, etc.) (shop.lonelyplanet.com/search_products.cfm?affil=lpgn-sps&searchfor=tibet)
Comment by John S — March 23, 2008 @ 6:11 pm