My Chinese friends think there were visa and permit problems in going to Tibet via Kunming or Chengdu. Is this over? Has anybody taken the high speed train lately?
Interested any experience.

John Duffield wrote:My Chinese friends think there were visa and permit problems in going to Tibet via Kunming or Chengdu. Is this over? Has anybody taken the high speed train lately?
Interested any experience.

You can now get the TTP from various agents. When you have one, you can either fly in or go by the train. If you mean overland from Chengdu or Kunming it's still tricky. You can do it, but it has be with an organized tour.
Keep in mind that even if you reach Lhasa, the rules about traveling around are still very strict.

Thank you Corax! Glad to hear from you. in fact, it was your "Lhasa Trekking Peaks" I had in mind. I'm going to contact the Panda people again. Maybe Silk Road. I was leaning against that because they took me up too fast and I got sooo.. sick last time. What has to be has to be. Thanks again. I'm a huge fan of yours!!! I could really ID with "Idiots in the Middle East" when I read it.

John

John Duffield wrote:Thank you Corax! Glad to hear from you. in fact, it was your "Lhasa Trekking Peaks" I had in mind. I'm going to contact the Panda people again. Maybe Silk Road. I was leaning against that because they took me up too fast and I got sooo.. sick last time. What has to be has to be. Thanks again. I'm a huge fan of yours!!! I could really ID with "Idiots in the Middle East" when I read it.

Thanks!
If you only plan to go for the trekking peaks around Lhasa I think you should be OK. Perhaps you can also go to the Noijin Kangsang area and the Yanbaijan Valley without too much hassle, but that's probably it. This agent is usually very up to date with all the regulations:
http://www.tibettravel.org
Send the mail to Catherine.

Thank you very much! I will do that!
Cheers

John