Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138

Tourist notice of Tibet Tour

Dear Customer Thank you for your trust and booking the tour with Tibet Vista, Now you officially became our clients and we would like to inform you some important issues that are needed to be taken great care of before your tour starts.

The following items are essential but not inclusive, if you have more questions concerning your tour arrangement, local situation, and other issues about food, weather, accommodation, safety etc, please contact Tibet vista travel consultant for details.

Content

1. Know your tour arrangement procedure 2. Local Payment 3. Travel Documents 4. Enter or Leave Tibet 5. Receiving Tourists in Tibet 6. Complaints and Advice 7. Travel Tips and preparation 8. Be Understanding and downplay your expectation towards Local Service

Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138

1. Know your tour arrangement procedure Tour Arrangement by Tibet Vista (Tibet Vista will arrange these items step by step after tourists booked a travel itinerary.)

1.1 Air Ticket If you book air tickets through Tibet Vista, we will approximately book and issue them one month before the departure day, or even earlier if booking is busy.

1.2 Train Ticket Train ticket will normally be booked around 60 days before the departure day. But from May to early October, the high tourist season, sometimes, the booking might not be done until few days even one day before departure, due to some reasons on Railway Company side that is beyond our control. If it happens, please be considerable and keep in touch with us to confirm the booking. If tour booking is within 60 days before tour departure, the train tickets will also not be issued until few days even one day before departure.

1.3 Tibet Visa Your Tibet Visa application will be handled approximately 20 Days before your tour starts, which is mandated by relevant officials. The issue of Tibet visa (or Tibet Travel Permit) is available between 5 and 7 days (15 days for Kailash Tour). The possibility of visa denial is fairly low, and according to our experience less than 0.1 percent of tourists might be denied. If you are unfortunately rejected, Tibet Vista will inform you in the first place. (Notice: Tibet visa refusal is given by Tibet Travel Bureau orally without explaining any reasons and providing any written documents.)

1.4 Local Service Arrangement Tour guide, vehicle, and accommodation will be arranged 2 to 4 weeks in advance. If tourists have any particular preference like a specific tour guide, hotel, etc, Tibet vista will have everything settled much earlier.

1.5 How to check follow-up tour arrangement: Currently, Tibet Vista offers no online service as to monitoring your tour arrangement. Tourists, however, may contact your travel consultant for detailed information and consultancy. If it is possible, Tibet Vista does expect tourists can get in touch with your travel consultant 2 or 4 weeks prior to your departure for detailed tour arrangement. While your Tibet Vista operation department arranges your tour, some minor changes might be made and Tibet Vista will keep you informed in the first place and discuss them with you for a better solution.

2. Local Payment As is often the case, a part of amount of payment written in the agreement is expected to be paid in travel destination upon your arrival. And this final payment shall be made on the first or second day shortly after you arrive in your destination and preferably paid in cash. ( RMB/USD/EURO/AUD). Besides, Tibet Vista also accepts payment both via credit card and payment online like Paypal. Yet, tourists have to pay 4 percent extra commission fee if the payment is made through credit card and Paypal. (Notice: local payment doesn’t include Bank Telegraphic Transfer, Western Union, Traveller’s Check.)

3. Travel Documents Being able to travel legally in Tibet, tourists need to have two separate documents: China visa and Tibet visa (also Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138 known as Tibet Travel Permit). Foreign tourists need to apply for the China visa yourself while Tibet Vista is responsible for Tibet visa. Before Tibet Vista begins to handle your Tibet visa, tourists have to successfully get your China visa. If tourist are required to show Tibet Travel Permit by Chinese embassy when they are applying for Chinese Visa, they are advised not to refer to visiting Tibet. For details, see http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-permit/tips.html If you run into any trouble, please contact travel consultant to get prompt support.

3.1 Enter Tibet from mainland China Documents needed：

Foreign Tourists： ×Scanned copies (electronic version) of passport (the photo page), the passport should be valid for at least 6 months ×Scanned copies of China visa, and it should be valid while your stay in Tibet, China × If you are a foreigner who stays in China for work, study or business, you have to provide Tibet Vista with a certificate to prove your legality and this certificate should have the stamp of relevant company, school, etc. The certificate form can be download from here. http://www.tibettravel.org/Download/tibet_permit_working certificate.pdf

Hongkong Citizen： × Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Travel Pass, we also called this pass “returning home pass.”

Taiwan Citizen： ×Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan residents and scanned copies of stamped page of this permit ×Taiwan Passport (scanned copies, electronic version)

The electronic documents above should be sent to your travel consultant through E-mail one month in advance and the scanned copies must be intact and legible with color.

3.2 Enter Tibet from Kathmandu Entering Tibet from Kathmandu, tourists need scanned copies of valid passport to apply for Tibet visa, and you don’t have to have China visa in advance.

×××Mind you: It is a must to have Tibet visa first when foreign tourists enter Tibet from Kathmandu, and then go to China embassy in Nepal to apply for China visa. Tibet Vista is responsible for handling the application of your Tibet visa while the local travel partner of Tibet Vista in Nepal will help tourists get China visa. Therefore, tourists need to pay the extra 20 USD per person for the service fee to local partner of Tibet Vista in Kathmandu.

××× Notice: Tourists shall inform your travel consultant the earliest date that you will arrive in Kathmandu, which will facilitate Tibet Vista to apply for your China visa to a great deal. The China visa application service is available on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in China embassy in Nepal. If it is on both festival of China and Nepal, the service will be suspended temporally.

It takes one to three days to issue China visa. To See Official Price at website of China embassy in Nepal. http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cenp/chn/lsfw/qz/t1162805.htm

In Nepal, Tibet Vista needs to tender China visa application one day before workdays of China embassy, except on weekends and holidays. So, please contact local business partners of Tibet Vista in Nepal as soon as possible short after your arrival and discuss with them when to tender China visa application so as to make sure how much you need to pay for it and how long the application process may take. Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138

Designated Local business partners of Tibet Vista in Nepal ：

Friendship Nepal Tours and Travels (P) Ltd. G P O box: 8974 CPC 449, Thamel Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel: 977 1 4233084, 4233085 Fax: 977 4212203 Cell: 977 98510 67637 - Mr. Ram Silwal Email: [email protected]

Mind you: Our quotation doesn’t include the service fee charged by local Nepal travel agency and China visa application fee charged by China embassy. Please pay cash for both of them to our local business partners.

3.3 Delivery of Tibet Visa

For those travelers who visit Tibet by plane, we will deliver the original Visa to you by express. Normally, Tibet Vista will not deliver Tibet Visa abroad. So please inform your travel consultant your address in detail in China (e.g. Hotel address, address of your Chinese friends or relatives, etc.)

If you don’t have an address for Tibet visa delivery or need to have your Tibet visa while you transit at the airport, Tibet Vista can send a staff to deliver your visa to you and you need to pay for the delivery fee. For details, please consult your trip consultant.

As Tibet visa is a must for your entry into Tibet, China, Tibet Vista will contact relevant personnel of hotel and consignees to check if your visa is received and meanwhile we do hope you can cooperate with us to make sure the timely delivery. If you still haven’t received Tibet visa 2 days before your departure to Tibet, please contact us immediately.

If you travel to Tibet by train, it’s unnecessary to have the original Tibet Visa and all you need is two copies of the original Tibet visa (Tibet Travel Permit). After your trip consultant gets the Tibet visa, an important e-mail that contains the scanned copies of your Tibet visa will be sent to you in the first place and make sure you get it and later mail back to confirm.

3.4 Enter Tibet and check Tibet Visa As long as you enter Tibet from Nepal or inland China, you have to have Tibet visa and China visa. You are required to show China visa and Tibet visa at the airport, train station, and road checkpoint. While if you travel by train, you are supposed to show the copies of original Tibet visa. If you travel by air, you need to have China visa and original Tibet visa.

Upon your arrival in Tibet, your Tibet visa and China visa will be checked again. When you meet your guide with Tibet Vista, please hand your original Tibet visa to your guide and your Tibet visa will be kept by your guide as your travel in Tibet, which is mandated by the Chinese government.

4. Different Ways to Enter or Leave Tibet 4.1 Airport Departure × As some cities in China have 2 or more airports, please confirm which airport and which Terminal you need to go first. Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138 × Please arrive at the airport at least 1 and half an hour before departure time, airlines will stop to check in at 30 minutes before departure time. × please take your passport and Tibet Visa together to get the boarding card and check in.

4.2 Train Station Departure a) As some cities in China have 2 or more train stations, please confirm which train station is the right one you need to go. b) Please show your copies of Tibet Visa and train ticket at the entrance and exit of train station

4.3. Train Delivery and Ticket Vending Machine Tibet Vista offers two kinds of train ticket: a. The issued ticket on which your passport No. was printed;

(Samples of issued train tickets: You may get either blue or red one) 。 b. Another is the ticket booking certificate, and you need to exchange it for an issued ticket by yourself. If travelers get the train ticket booking certificate from Tibet Vista, please go to any train station or sales window and use your passport, train ticket booking certificate and together with Tibet Travel permit to get your issued train ticket out.

(Samples of ticket booking certificate)

c. After tourists board the train, the conductor will collect your ticket in exchange for a sleeper-berth card. If you booked a whole cabin of soft sleeper, you would need to exchange all your 4 tickets for soft sleeper cards. Besides, when you find some of your friends or relatives do not stay in the same cabin, you may find the conductor to swap tickets and the conductor would be glad to help you out.

4.4 How to Get Your Train Ticket： If Tibet Vista sends the booking certificate to you via E-mail, you are supposed to print it and use it to exchange for the train ticket at the ticket office in the train station or other train ticket sales offices in the city.

Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138 If what you get is train ticket, Tibet Vista may deliver it to you through the three following ways: a. Deliver it to your address through express b. Send it to your hotel by local agent c. Under some extreme circumstances, your ticket will be delivered to you at the railway station before you board train.

4.5 Preparations before boarding the train a. Please arrive at the train station at least 1 hour before the departure time. b. double check if Tibet Visa is prepared as required. c. The train offers no shower facilities and disposable daily necessities. (please prepare your own slippers, toothbrush, towel, etc.)

4.6 Enter Nepal via Sino-Nepal Highway If you leave Tibet and enter Neap through Sino-Nepal highway, you have to apply for Nepal visa on the Sino-Nepal border. The specific procedure is listed as follows: 1） go through formalities on the china border after you part with your guide 2） cross friendship bridge on your own 3） Please prepare passport and 2 color photos with white background, 2 inch and apply for entry visa in Kodari, Nepal. The charge for Nepal visa starts from 25 USD for 15 days.

Mind you: Chinese citizens can’t exit China until they get Nepal visa in inland China or Tibet; Hong Kong citizens can’t leave China with Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents and if they do want to leave China, please contact your travel consultant and find out a legal way to leave China.

Zhangmu border: Open at 10 am - Close at 6 pm (Beijing Time)

5. Receiving Tourists in Tibet Tibet Vista will attach great importance to your stay and travel in Tibet and provide tourists with the contact information of local service personnel for any emergency or help you might need. While you stay in Tibet, do not hesitate to contact local service personnel and your travel consultant if you run into trouble or have something to complain.

Mr. Kunga Local Customer Service Manager, you will get his contact in Tibet. His duty: to perfect local service and solve client’s problem.

5.1 Meet Your Tour Guide Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138 Tibetan guide will greet you with a placard on which your name is written on border entrance, or at airport and train station , making sure you can find him or her as you enter Tibet. At the train station: some tourists often told us that they couldn’t find tour guide. The reason is that tour guides are not allowed to greet tourists on the platform in the train station. Instead, they will wait outside railway station, and you may see them as you step out of the station. At the airport: if you have booked join-in group, the guide has to receive tourists who will arrive in Tibet at different time. (some might arrive half or 2 hours later.) So be patient and wait for the rest of the tourists.

5.2 Confirm the itinerary with the tour guide Tibetan guide will give tourists a travel plan on which your daily itinerary is based. Having met your guide, tourists needed to check and confirm if your itinerary was the same one with the Tibetan guide’s, including itinerary, service, etc all of which are essential and must be done. If there is any discrepancy, please do contact your travel consultant instantly (Tibet Vista also requires Tibetan guide to report this problem.) so as to solve the problem before the tour starts.

5.3 Travelling in Tibet As there are many checkpoints in Tibet, your Tibet visa and China visa will be checked many times while you travel in Tibet. To be able to travel in places like Tsetang, Mt. Everest, and Ali etc, tourists have to apply for local travel permit and Tibet Vista will assist you to obtain these documents.

5.4 Travel Complaints and Suggestions During Your Travel If you encounter any problems related to our service quality (including suggestions and complaints about vehicle, tour guide, and hotel,etc), please do not hesitate to contact our travel consultant and local staff in Tibet. Your report will be extremely helpful as to improving your service quality and stamping out any problematic tour arrangement.

5.5 Review of Your Travel after the Itinerary Ends After the tour ends , your guide will you a service evaluation form to review your tour and our work. Tibet Vista appreciates your efforts to give your sincere comments on service quality of the travel consultant, tour guide, etc. Later, Tibet Vista is ready to take your earnest comments into serious consideration and strives to make great improvement.

6. Complaints and Advice Tibet Vista attaches vital importance to your complaints and suggestions, all of which will be the source of better service and improvement. If you run into troubles, it is highly advisable to file your complaint during your travel instead of outpouring your terrible experience after you finish your journey. Because we can make instant adjustment to make up your loss or improve the current situation immediately if you report your trouble as you travel in Tibet. If you do want to file your complaint after your trip, please send it to [email protected] within 15 days after your tour or contact your travel consultant. Tibet Vista will respond positively to your letter and be ready to conduct full investigation as to the matter and compensate you for your loss.

7. Travel Tips 7.1 Things you need to prepare for Tibet Travel Since the climate in Tibet is cool, and dry with strong ultraviolet ray, tourists are advised to buy Sunglasses, Sun cream, hat, lip balm, skin cream, long sleeved and warm Jacket, Umbrella, good walking shoes, necessary medicines for cold, diarrhea；Besides, you also need to wear down jacket to travel in winter or ascend above to places above 4000 altitude.

Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138 7.2 Tips for avoiding altitude sickness Due to the extreme altitude of Tibet, every tourists may suffer from altitude sickness in one way or another and some common symptoms like headache, insomnia, etc will be largely reduced in one or two days as your body gradually gets acclimatized to the plateau. Here are some useful tips for easing altitude sickness: a) Have a good rest, and no need to be nervous. b) Don’t do exercise too much, drink more water, eat less. c) Keep warm to avoid catching a cold. d)Don’t drink and smoke. And Don’t shower in the first two days you stay in Tibet. If severe discomfort or ill adaptation occurs, please contact your guide instantly. Tibet Vista will arrange proper medical treatment.

7.3 Whole year’s weather and clothing advice:

Altitude Spring(Apr-Jun)+ Summer Winter Autumn(Sep-Oct) (July, August) (Nov-Mar) 3000-4000 m 5 to 20℃ 12 to 25℃ -10 to 10℃ (Lhasa, Skirt + Jacket () Skirt in the day time Sweater and Down jacket Gyantse, Jacket in the morning and Shigatse) night 4000-5000 m -5 to 10℃ 5 to 20℃ -15 to 5℃ (Namtso, Shegar, Old Sweater and Down jacket Skirt + Jacket Thick Sweater and Down Tingri) jacket Over 5000 m -10 to 5℃ 0 to 10℃ -20 to -5℃ (E.B.C) Sweater and Down jacket Sweater/ thick Jacket Thick Sweater and Thick Down jacket

8. Be Understanding and downplay your expectation towards Local Service

8.1 Hotel Felicities Tourists need to understand the fact that Tibet is a remote area in China and less developed, the local tourism facilities like hotel are relatively poor, and usually can’t speak fluent English. Besides, the so-called three-star hotels are less quipped compared with the same hotels in other provinces of China and especially in far remote areas like Ali and Mt. Everest, etc, the facilities of local hostel are even worse with no independent bathroom and the bed and sheet untidy and less clean. Sometimes, three or even more tourists have to stay in the same room. Hopefully, foreign tourists travelling in Tibet can be understanding towards these issues. If tourists prefer better hotel service, Tibet Vista suggests choosing at least 4-star hotels in big cities in Tibet and the best hotel not hostel in remote areas.

8.2 Vehicles Condition Few tourist 4WDs can be found in Tibet because they are very old and gradually get retired, while the new road constructions are perfectly improved by Chinese government. Mostly the travel vehicles are mini Vans and travel buses to accommodate more passengers, but those big vehicles are not good enough as a result of thousands of miles drive frequently. And because of cool climate of Tibet all year round, most travel vehicles do not have cooling system but have heating. Tibet Vista will do it best to arrange better vehicles but given the limited number during the high season, some of the vehicles might be that satisfaction, and hopefully tourists can understand the difficulty. As to safety issue, tourists may rest assured that all the vehicles are safe to drive, which is mandated by Chinese government. Contact: [email protected] Url: www.tibettravel.org Tel： 0086-28-85552138

8.3 Speed Limit of Vehicle Tibet Travel Bureau carries out speed limit on travel bus (40m/h). Every so often, tourists may find the vehicle runs so slow, which is as a result of the speed limit, not the mechanic problems of the vehicle. While the private car is not subject to this limit.

Please keep in touch with us and work with us to make a pleasing stay in Tibet!

*As to this notice,all rights are reserved by Tibet Vista Mar,18, 2015