--- Sim's Cozy reveal the truth ---

The present situation about arranging trip to Tibet

Click here for "Lhasa News June 2008" to know the present situation .

After the demonstr ation on April 26 th 2007, there were restrictions for foreigners wanting to travel in the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region). At that time none of the travel agencies could issue the Entry Permit for independent travelers. At the same time, we also had troubles such as our customers could not travel around in Tibet. Since the incident happened, we ha ve been discuss ing how best to arrange the trip to Tibet for our customers. Now we have decided t o explain the real situation and let the customer choose how to travel in Tibet.

Explanation about how does the travel arrangement work out in Tibet

Actually we are also confused by the unclear policy of the Tibet Tourism Bureau. The official line is: “It doesn't matter if you are travelling alone or as a group, the itinerary has to be fixed and organised in the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region)”. Also: ”The travel agencies have to be responsible for foreign travellers and take care of them until they leave the TAR”. Every foreign visitor should be accompanied by a tour guide who will keep your permit.

That means you have to have a specified itinerary from the day you enter the TAR un til you exit the TAR. Once you decide the specified itinerary, you can arrange your trip through a travel agency and enter the TAR legally with a proper Entry Permit. Once you enter the TAR, the travel agency in Lhasa that helped to arrange the Entry Permit has a responsibility to carry out and complete the whole trip. You have to employ a guide to take care of you all the way. This is not only entertain you, but also to make sure that the purpose you came to Tibet is for sightseeing, and not for collecting information for foreign media, demonstration , etc. The guide will accompany you until you have left the TAR.

Traveller	1. Apply for Entry Permit and travel arrangements	Sim's Cozy Travel


	6. Set up the tour and hand oer the Enter Permi
7. After the trip has been set up, the travel agency in Lhasa who helped arrange the Entry Permit ha s a responsib ility to assist and carry out your whole trip in TAR.		5.	2.

Tibet Tourism Bureau	4. Pass inspection and issue Enter Permit	A travel agency in Lhasa


	3. Apply for Enter Permit = Resister your entry to Tibet

This means that all f oreign trave l lers need to be on an organized tour to travel in the TAR , and are not allowed to travel individually. But as many travellers know, it has been possible to travel in Tibet independently for many years. Even now there are still many travel agencies that can arrange one-way air/train ticket for individual travellers. T his is because the Tibet Tourism Bureau is not enforcing the rule, since more visitors means more money spent in the region , and normally independent travellers do not cause much trouble. This is why all the travel agencies send travel l ers to Lhasa with a false itinerary Entry Permit, and they don't care where the trave l lers go once they reach Tibet . The travel agencies in Lhasa also don't follow the rule which say s th at travellers have to have an Entry Permit to arrange a trip from Lhasa to elsewhere in the TAR . T his is how it has been possible to travel in Tibet independently .

However, when the situation in Tibet is unstable (such as during and after the demonstrations in April), the Tibet Tourism Bureau does enforce the rules. During these times, the travel l ers who did not enter Tibet in the proper way would have trouble travel l ing in Tibet, and the travel agencies who are not arranging proper permit s would be criticized. A fter some time they will stop enforcing the rules and we will be able to issue the false itinerary Entry Permits again.

The f ollowing is an explanation of how we arrange a trip to Tibet. Please understand the situation and select how you wish to travel in Tibet.

How we help you to arrange a trip to Tibet
Option1: Follow the rule s and arrange the trip the official way ( 98% guaranteed )
1.	Conditions
	a.	You have to decide on an itinerary from the day you enter the TAR un til the day you exit the TAR, and arrange an Entry Permit before getting into Tibet. This is normally a private tour.
	b.	You have to employ a guide during your entire time in Tibet .
	c.	It is possible to change the itinerary, but only through the travel agency in Lhasa which helped you to obtain the Entry Permit.
	d.	You have to si gn the agreement.
	e.	The guide will carry and keep your permit.
2.	Advantages
	a.	This method ensures you will complete your trip in Tibet, even if the Tibet Tourism Bureau start s to enforce the rules.
	b.	You will have a permit issued properly by the Tibet Tourism Bureau.
	c.	The travel agency will take care of you and support you to during your trip in the TAR.
3.	Disadvantages & Risks
	a.	More expensive.
	b.	You have to decide the itinerary before you enter TAR, so everything must be planned and organised before you reach Tibet.
	c.	After the demonstration, Tibet is still sensitive and the authorities are worried something might happen again. If any very serious incident happened, it is possible that even this kind of arrangement could be affected.
4.	How to Book
	a.	Give us a specified itinerary with dates and the exact places you will visit. The itinerary has to include Lhasa.
	b.	We will give you a quotation.
	c.	After you decide to take the tour, send us the documents and pay the d eposit. We will start the procedure.

Option2: Almost legal, semi-official way ( 80% guaranteed )
1.	Conditions
	a.	You have to decide the itinerary and it has to include trips out of Lhasa to "unopened places", and arrange it with the Entry Permit before getting into Tibet. This is a private tour, but doesn't entirely follow the official rules.
		1)	Mainly you have to decide the schedule, which days you will be in Lhasa and when and where you will go outside of Lhasa. Then, you have to book the trips outside of Lhasa to the "unopened places" (such as Everest Base Camp).
		2)	If you have booked a trip out of Lhasa to an "unopened place ", you don't have to employ a guide or hire a car when you are in Lhasa.
		3)	If you don't go to an "unopened place", you have to choose option 1 or 3.
	b.	You have to sign the agreement.
	c.	It is possible to change the itinerary, but only through the travel agency in Lhasa which helped you to obtain the Entry Permit . It is possible only when they agree to help you.
	d.	You are not able to carry the Permit yourself; the guide carries and keeps it.
	e.	If you are planning to stay at a hotel which is higher than 3 star class in Tibet, please ask us to arrange for booking. If you book and check in a hotel by yourself, they might ask you to show the original permit and we won't be ready to come to help you immidiately.
	f.	You might not able to apply for visa extention in Lhasa, and we can not hold any responsible for the problems caused by this reason.
2.	Advantages
	a.	This method ensures you will complete your trip in Tibet, even if the Tibet Tourism Bureau start s to enforce the rule s , but only when you follow the itinerary.
	b.	You will have a permit issued properly by the Tibet Tourism Bureau.
	c.	You don't have to employ a guide and hire a car for the whole trip, so you have some free days.
	d.	You don't have to employ a guide and hire a car for the whole trip, so you can save some money.
3.	Disadvantages & Risks
	a.	It is still more expensive than arranging a tour in Lhasa and you will need to find some more people before you apply if you wish to share the costs.
	b.	You have to decide the rough itinera ry (and specify TAR entry and exit dates) before applying for the tour, so you have to make plans and be organised.
	c.	You're following the itinerary you planned when applying for the (legal) Entry Permit, but sometimes you will not be following the rules exactly (not employing a guide for the whole trip, for instance), so there is a chance this could cause problems.
	d.	After the demonstration, Tibet is still sensitive and the authorities are worried something might happen again. If any very serious incident happened, even this kind of arrangement could be affected . But when TAR enforces the rules, if the agency that helped you to obtain the Entry Permit arranges a trip for you, you are still permitted to be in Tibet.
4.	How to Book
	a.	Give us a specified itinerary with date and the exact places you will visit, including some “unopened places”.
	b.	According to your itinerary, we will ask the agency in Lhasa if the places you are visiting are “Unopened areas” or “Opened areas”. If all the places you are planning to visit are “Opened Areas”, then we are not able to arrange your trip by Option 2, so please choose Option 1 or 3.
	c.	We will give you a quotation.
	d.	After you decide to take the tour, send us the documents and pay a deposit. We will start the procedure.

Option3: Unofficial way; no organised tour ( 50% guaranteed )
1.	Conditions
	a.	You don't have to decide on an itinerary. As long as you decide the date you leave for Lhasa, we can issue a “false itinerary permit” and arrange the transport between Chengdu and Lhasa.
	b.	You have to sign the agreement.
	c.	We cannot give you the Entry Permit you have paid for.
	d.	If you go outside of Lhasa, you will have to arrange it through the travel agency in Lhasa that helped you to obtain the Entry Permit.
	e.	If you try to arrange a trip to out of Lhasa through another travel agency, or if you have any trouble (e.g. you may be asked to show your permit), we cannot help you.
	f.	If you are planning to stay at a hotel which is higher than 3 star class in Tibet, please ask us to arrange for booking. If you book and check in a hotel by yourself, they might ask you to show the original permit and we won't be ready to come to help you immidiately.
	g.	You might not able to apply for visa extention in Lhasa, and we can not hold any responsible for the problems caused by this reason.
2.	Advantages
	a.	You are very free and flexible.
	b.	It is easier to find other travellers to share the cost for travel arrangements, and also you don't have to employ a guide for your trip in opened places, so you can save money.
3.	Disadvantages & Risks
	a.	This is not the proper way to go to Tibet because you don't follow the rules which force you to decide the itinerary, and make a fake itinerary to apply for the Entry Permit.
	b.	Even if you apply for this kind of arrangement in advance, if the Tibet Tourism Bureau suddenly starts to enforce the rules, we are not able to continue with the arrangement.
	c.	If any incident happened, this kind of travel would be affected and you would have difficulties travelling around the TAR.
	d.	Some of these Entry Permits may have other problems we do not know about, besides the false itinerary.
	e.	We are not able to take any responsibility if you have any trouble arranging a trip when you try to go through any travel agency other than the one that obtained your Entry Permit.

All the comments / notices are written by Sim's Cozy Travel and this is NOT OFFICAL.
We will not be held any responsible for actions you take based on the above comments / notices. Although we are trying hard to understand the situation, and this information is correct to the best of our knowledge, there are probably many more issues involved
and our understanding is not guaranteed to be entirely correct.