Tengboche Trek tour recommendation
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Great tour, breathtaking scenery, amazing people.....a magical experience! If Tibet is on your list of places to go and you plan on making it happen some time soon then I suggest you really do do your homework before you leave home.... Information on Tibet changes all the time so I hope what I have to say is of some help to you. It's as current as current can be. I organised my Tibet tour with a really good company called EcoTrek International based in the heart of Nepal's backpacking capital in Kathmandu, 'Thamel'. I must have emailed a good dozen companies prior to arriving in Nepal and only a handful even bothered to email me back. EcoTrek Intl provided me with accurate and honest information. It can be daunting arriving in Kathmandu not having committed to a tour as yet ...there are so many tour companies (touts!) trying to get your business; it's crazy and it can be a bit intimidating! I was thinking to myself as I walked through Thamel, ' 'Well if you didn't bother to email me back there is no way you're getting my business now Buddy!' Customer Service is still important to me as a skanky backpacker. But if you are seriously thinking of taking a tour into Tibet – here is some inside information for you. No matter what company you book with, whether you pay for a budget backpackers tour or a mid to high range tour, all the tour companies are grouped together and you travel as one group as soon as you cross the border into Tibet (China). You travel in the same vehicles and you stay in the same accommodation. I really felt for some of my new friends on my tour. Of course we all got talking as to how much we had individually paid (as you do). I was horrified to hear some of them had paid over twice as much as me.....some even more. AND they were told they had been given discounts as they had partaken in trekking or other activities with their Nepalese operator and were valued customers! I paid $290 USD for a 7 day tour (I was originally getting quotes in at $960 USD) with EcoTreks. We were handed over to Tibet International Tours as soon as we crossed the border. A good sized group that gelled really well, (14 of us in total). We were extremely lucky to have a great guide called 'Tashi', a knowledgeable fun and friendly Tibetan. Brilliant bloke, he certainly made the tour for me. Apparently if you get a Tibetan Guide that's a bonus. If you get one that speaks English, that's an even bigger bonus. Tashi ticked all those boxes – and more. My Visa cost me $58 USD (as a New Zealander). I opted for the 7 day processing time (being the cheapest option of course). You can pay more and have it processed quicker if you wish (like $120 USD same day). If you are travelling onto mainland China after the tour DO NOT bother to get a Chinese Visa – it will be null and void as soon as you are issued with your Chinese Group Visa. I got scammed in my train ticket. Chinese Government Regulations ...you need to prove you have transport LEAVING the Tibetan Autonomous Region. So a flight or a train ticket out of the zone. I needed to continue my journey overland with 'Tankini' (my faithful bicycle) but Chinese Government Regulations would not allow this. I also couldn't purchase a train ticket online - it had to be done through an agency. Grrrrr. So I got the cheapest ticket I could from Lhasa to a town that Lonely Planet China describes as 'for escaped convicts and people leaving Tibet'...Golmud (Chinese name is 'Geermu'). A hard seat, I was charged 560 yuan for the privileged....that's about $80 USD. Face value, the ticket was 143 yuan - a little less than $20 USD! And to think I bargained it down from $120 USD. Hmmmmm. This aside it was an awesome train trip....another travel dream fulfilled. 'Rooftop of the World', it IS the highest train on the planet and it IS fitted with oxygen masks (luckily we didn't need to use). Tibet may be a nightmare to get into but it is well worth the hassle. It's colourful and vibrant people, temples and monasteries, lakes and rivers, snow capped mountains (it has more than 50 peaks over 7,000 metres....I even saw Mt Everest!)....Tibet is just breathtaking (sometimes quite literally). I'm more of an independent traveller these days but I really enjoyed this tour. In fact I loved every minute of it! I'm giving it a big thumbs up and I 'highly' recommend (excuse the pun)! |
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Viewed: 95 times
Written: 16 Dec 2009 Approx travel date: 05 Dec 2009 Operator: Eco Trek Nepal Tour Name: Tengboche Trek |
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