Tibet, little Tibet Comments

Little Tibet tour

Thank you for all you did to help arrange everything that we experienced on the little Tibet tour. Speaking for myself, I was very satisfied and felt as if the whole experience was very worthwhile. Both our guide and driver were very competent and we enjoyed their company and efforts to make our trip as enjoyable as possible. I am back to school and have many slides and experiences to share with my students.

Sincerely,
Sue E. Robinson, USA
Aug 28, 2004

About Tibet/Nepal trip

some feedback about our trip: We have very nice time in Tibet after first problem with flight there.
The guide was very nice and explain us a lot of things. Some comments: You mentioned that food is not available in Tibet. So we brought some food with us. However supply was sufficient. We regularly ate in local restaurants and we brought our food back to Shanghai. You also mentioned that breakfast in hotels are very simple. Anyway the worst breakfast during our trip was the breakfast in Chengdu, chinese breakfast - rice, cooked vegetables, no bread, no coffee. They served eggs, toasts, coffee in Tibet even in very small villages.

We were not so happy in Nepal. The land is beautiful, the architecture is interesting but people were not very nice. They bother us every few seconds, try to sell us anything (souvenirs, even drugs). Everyone try to cheat us - on streets, in restaurants, in travel agency, Royal Nepal airlines, ... We were there 3 days and 2 days were general strike - nobody worked. It was forbidden to drive any vehicle including private one. So we use bicycles to explore city and we had to walk on airport. Fortunately the airport is near the city (6 km). The way back was a nightmare. The plane was finally delayed 28 hours. They didn't allow us to fly with their plane to Hong Kong and forced us
to spent night in so called 5 star hotel (Annapurna). I had stinky room with water dropping from a ceiling. When we checked out we realized that we had to pay all drinks and all phone calls. We spent several hours arguing in Royal Nepal Airlines office next day. They told us that according Nepal law we have no right for any compensation. Finally they agreed to pay us 6 minutes of phone calls and we had to pay the rest. When we saw the office of RNA we do not wonder about their service. There were smell like in toilet. There were a bird flying around and finally we saw a mouse walking in manager's office. I recommend you to not use Royal Nepal Airlines if possible. I do not know if any other airlines flight to Kathmandu but I saw Dragon Airline office in Kathmandu. Maybe there is connection through Hong Kong. This should be much better even if it is more expensive.

Kind regards,
Dusan Privoznik
May 21, 2004

Tibet trip

I think we did not reply until now. I can tell you we enjoyed the trip, even though it was very tough. Wonderful country, wonderful people, wonderful places. Also the accomodation in Nepal was good.

Things that need improvement: - crossing the border and support on that. Nobody really available to mange
that. Lots of people trying to make use of that - next time I would take a newer, more convenient, faster and certainly safer car. At one moment our brakes refused to work. We ran into the car of the Lindsays. It would have been even worse if the brakes would not have worked going downhill. We would not have lived anymore, I guess.

Kind Regards,

Eric Dirven
Nov 19, 2003

Touring Tibet with our 3 Children

Family Rosling is from United Kingdom, and recently living in Guangzhou, China. They started in Lhasa at the
end of Sep, 2002, and drove to Gyangtse, Shigatse, Everest Base Camp, Tingri and total duration is 12 days.
We asked them to share their experiences.

We loved Tibet: lovely people, not too crowded, stunning scenery, mountains, monasteries, clear air, etc.
The weather at this time of year is just perfect - blue skies, brilliant mountain visibility, no rain, and
comfortable temperature. We took hundreds of photos and we now have a beautiful album of memories.

As you may have heard, we made it to Everest Base Camp. This was a real adventure and we were all
over-awed by the sight of the north face of Mt Everest towering above us. There was a bit of confusion
because in one of your phone calls to me you had said that we could visit Everest Base Camp without
needing an extra day so I assumed it would be a simple diversion from the route to Tingri. As it happened,
it impacted on three nights accommodation and cost us extra money

…The driver (Janwei?) and guide (E-Dawa?) were fantastic and worked very hard. E-Dawa's English was
a bit difficult to understand at times but we tuned in after a day or so, and he was great with the children.

The Mandala Hotel in Lhasa was fine and the restaurant ladies were terrific with the children. On the first
night we were put into rooms on the ground floor, which I would not recommend because they smell.
The ones upstairs are much better - no smell, brighter, and those at the front of the hotel have a great
view of the market.

Finally, an answer to your question about travelling with children: our three boys were fine, although the
8 year old (who can't talk yet due to a disability) felt the altitude every time we went above 5,000m - not
altitude sickness but probably headaches and stuffy nose. We had to make sure they drank lots of fluids.
Our children are used to very long car journeys from previous holidays so they cope well. So, if other
families have well travelled children and ensure they drink regularly they will probably be fine, but they
need to accept that there is a risk - if altitude sickness develops and you're a day's drive from an airport
it's difficult to reach a lower altitude quickly. Staying in Lhasa is much easier and the altitude is only 3500m.

Please also warn tourists not to buy camera film at street stalls in Lhasa - as in the rest of China, some is
fake.

Hope the above helps and thanks once again for all your arrangements.

Mark, Oct 2002