Dear Mr Ollie Jones,
Greetings from Kathmandu and Lhasa.
Thank you for your interest in the 8-Day Kathmandu to Lhasa overland tour.
We have budget tour that start every Saturday from Kathmandu from March to November. From December to February tours are available on request. Please note that you have to book in advance and arrive in Kathmandu two days before tour date.
Please find the details of the 8-day Kathmandu-Lhasa tour in a file attached with this message (in PDF format). Do let us know if you have difficulty opening, saving or printing the document.
We are happy to offer the following special price list for the 8-day tour as listed below.
Prices shown below will apply for you – not the ones listed in the attached pdf document.
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08-Day KATHMANDU-LHASA Overland Tour - 2010
BUDGET GROUP TOUR (Group Tour with Budget Hotels):
Every Saturday Departure Ex Kathmandu (March to November, 2010)
Transport by comfortable 10 to 20-seat bus depending on group size.
Minimum 8 persons required for Group Tour to operate.
Budget Tour Cost: US$ 460 per person (share basis).
Single Room Supplement: US$ 150 per person
Single rooms are available in Shigatse, Gyantse and Lhasa only.
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China/Tibet Group Visa:
USA National: US$ 200 per person
Other Nationals: US$ 120 per person
For those who want to continue travel in China:
Surcharge for 15-day Individual Visa good for Mainland China: US$ 50 per person
(15 days total for Tibet and Mainland China)
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Note: All passengers need to have confirmed plane/train tickets to travel out of Lhasa on the last day of the tour.
Airfare Extra (as applicable):
We can arrange a flight out of Lhasa for you at the end of the tour.
- Lhasa/Kathmandu: US$ 380 (subject to change)
- Lhasa/Chengdu: US$ 250 (subject to change)
- Lhasa/Beijing: US$ 420 (subject to change)
Train Fare (includes booking agent's fees):
We can arrange train tickets out of Lhasa for you at the end of the tour.
- Lhasa-Beijing soft sleeper (48 hours): US$ 290 per person
- Lhasa-Chengdu soft sleeper (48 hours): US$ 290 per person
- Lhasa-Xian soft sleeper (40 hours): US$ 250 per person
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We will arrange the China Visa, Tibet Permit and Lhasa-Kathmandu flight. You will have to arrange the flights up to Kathmandu and back to your country once the tour ends.
We require an advance deposit of US$ 100 per person (plus Lhasa airfare), in order to confirm a place on the tour. As soon as you are ready to confirm your place/s we will email you instruction to send in your advance deposit. The balance to be paid on your arrival in Kathmandu.
We can assist you with hotel accommodation and other services you may require in Nepal. Our trekking groups stay at 3 star hotel with all amenities located centrally in Kathmandu called Nirvana Garden Hotel. Special offer: US$ 50 per night. Complementary airport pickup is included in this cost. Many other luxury to budget accommodation is available in Kathmandu. Please let us know your preference.
Hope that this is of interest to you and as soon as we hear from you again we will be happy to e-mail further details and answer your questions. We look forward to hear from you again soon.
'Namaste' and best wishes.
Devendra Basnet
for Getaway! Himalayan Eco-Trekking
3:49? It's almost midday?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I'm not sure their prices are going to be the best, anyhow, they seem to be adding $100 onto the train fare Lhasa- Xian!
Yeah, I agree. Doesn't say we HAVE to book with them, and $100 will be well-saved, I think.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea though - I'll happily deal with going the conventional way, because making your own way over the Himalayas is, I suspect, only a romantically exotic idea until you do it. Nice one. So all-in if we go with these guys, get a visa to travel onwards, get a Lhasa-Xian train ticket ourselves (assuming a $100 saving therefore), we're looking at $780 US, or £488ish at today's prices, to get from Kathmandu to Xian via the Himalayas and Tibet. No idea what prices will be like for cost-of living stuff (accomodation and food in Kathmandu+Lhasa), but the rest seems to be all in. So two, two and a half weeks for somewhere in between £480 and £550 or so.
Done and done. What's next?
That's what we call in the business AN ABSOLUTE GOER.
Actually, if you look at http://www.chinatibettrain.com/xianlhasa.htm the train prices go between £26 for a hard seat and £94 for a soft sleeper, with a midrange £55 hard sleeper.
ReplyDeleteMy guidebook - Wilson, Paul (2007) *The Silk Roads: A Route & Planning Guide*. Hindhead: Trailblazer Publications [hey, Hindhead is like, 10 mins from home...] - says the hard sleepers are more than ample, and if you're lucky you can even get a hard seat and get a cheap upgrade at night...
I think that unless things change in the next few years we'll have to take an organised tour - it seems to be the law in China. Anyhow, think the accommodation is usually a twin room, so no need to pay the single supplement.
Anyhow, that's a saving of $50-110... prob $50, cos it's a 40 hour train and dude, I want to sleep!
So, $730. £452. That's 30 squids. that'll feed us for a month. (though I've never been that partial to calamari.)
Travel is going to be the biggest expense, I think, but if we travel shorter distances we can do it on seats and save $$$s