dinks

Hi.
My wife and I would like to visit the above 3 countries this year (May or October) for the first time. We will have about 3 weeks (20 nights) to spend.

1) Anyone know of any tour operators which are licensed to do business in all 3 countries?
2) Our thoughts are to start the journey by flying into Nepal and ending in Tibet. Sound OK?
3) Any suggestions on how to allocate the 3 weeks between the countries? We are not super-conditioned so only mild trekking anticipated. The most important things to us when traveling are experiences with culture, cuisine and interacting with locals. We also try to minimize the number of 1-2 night stays when possible.

Any other input is welcome and appreciated. Thank you.

seeyalater

Roads Scholar has a trip with multiple dates in may and October that visits those three destinations.

CanadaChinaTraveller

Tibet is not a country, it is in China. You will need a Chinese visa plus the special Tibet permit. You should hire a Tibetan tour company for this portion.

tomboy

To me, Tibet is, and always will be, a country.
Similarly, the East China Sea is, and always will be, part of the ocean, not a Chinese inland lake.

thursdaysd

Whether or not Tibet is a country is irrelevant when it comes to the current requirements for visiting. In addition to a Chinese visa you need additional permission and probably a tour guide.

See: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/t...3086a44/356122

tomboy

Permission? Do you mean we can't just wander from town to town as we wish, relying on our translator earbuds and Google Translate?
If so, that's like being a 3rd grade pupil, having to get parental permission to go 3 houses down the street to see my friend.

Kathie

That is correct, tomboy. And Tibet isn't the only place with such a requirement. There are other places that require a permit to travel (and often a certified guide).

thursdaysd

Not to mention some places you can pretty much forget about altogether, like Saudi Arabia. Unless you're a Muslim.

karenclang

Like the Tibetan Autonomous Region Bhutan also requires that you book your travel through an approved travel agency and travel with a guide. If you want to travel independently (and less expensively), you could consider traveling to Eastern Tibet which requires a Chinese visa but no special permit, or Ladakh . See this website for more information: The Land of Snows: Free Travel Info for Tibet