some new designs for the red junction flyer
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
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Something for all Travelers who search a travel notebook to write down their travel stories.
Its only in japanese, but check it out on:
http://www.midori-japan.co.jp/tr/
or for online order:
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/p-creation/c/0000000196/
The China Tibet Train Story first steps
The preparation for the China - Tibet Train is coming to an end. I finally decided what company I'm going to take for the Trip to Tibet.
The Company is called Tibetan Connections and its located in Xining. They have a office in the Lete Youth Hostel, International Village Apartments, Bldg. 5 on the 16th floor.
http://www.tibetanconnections.com
Here is one of their Itineraries (June 12th, 2009) and a Q&A for the Trip from Lhasa to the Mt. Everest Base camp along the friendship highway:
Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Shigatse-Everest
Day 1: Take the train from Xining-Lhasa
Day 2: Arrive in Lhasa in the evening
Day 3: Lhasa
Day 4: Lhasa
Day 5: Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Gyantse
Day 6: Gyantse-Sakya
Day 7: Sakya-Everest Base Camp
Day 8: Everest Base Camp-Lhatse
Day 9: Lhatse-Shigatse
Day 10: Shigatse-Lhasa
Day 11: Depart from Lhasa
Q: Tell me something about your company.
Tibetan Connections is a small Tibetan staffed and managed travel agency based in the Amdo region of Tibet in the city of Xining. We pride ourselves on being experts on Tibet travel. All of our staff are well traveled across the Tibetan Plateau. Our tours to Tibet all begin with taking the train from Xining to Lhasa. We do not begin any tours from Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai or any other city in China besides Xining. Our goals are to provide an international level of customer service, give an excellent tour of Tibet while offering the best prices possible on Tibet tours. We are sure that if you compare our prices to other travel agencies, you will find our prices to be among the lowest. We partner with many Tibetan owned hotels, guesthouses and restaurants to ensure that your tourism money stays in Tibet and goes to the Tibetan people. A percentage of our business profits go to aid projects in the rural and nomadic regions of Tibet.
Q: How much are the hotels on the trip?
Hotels along the way from Lhasa to Everest usually offer double rooms (2 people) with private bathrooms for between Y200 and Y260 per night. There are also clean dorm style rooms available for between Y40 and Y50 per night per person.]
Q: How much would I have to spend on the meals along the way?
For meals, plan on spending between Y60 and Y85 per day per person. Of course, if you plan on eating at western restaurants the entire time, it will be more.
Q: What kind of hotels would we get in Lhasa?
We partner with many Tibetan owned hotels in Tibet. In Lhasa, we put most of our customers at the Yak Hotel. The Yak Hotel is one of the best run hotels in Lhasa and is located in the heart of the Tibetan district, only a 3 minute walk from Lhasa's famous Jokhang Temple. Double rooms here are Y260 and dorm style rooms are around Y50 per night per person. If you let me know which type of room you prefer (double room with private bathroom or clean dorm style room) then I will make the reservations for you. Outside of Lhasa, each place will have 2 to 4 different choices to choose from. If you don't like a certain place, the driver can take you to another. I am quite sure you will like the Yak Hotel in Lhasa as it is one of the most famous hotels in Tibet.
Q: How much would the whole trip cost me?
Unfortunately, since I emailed you the price estimate on May 28th, the government is now requiring an additional permit for all foreigners traveling outside of Lhasa. Also, fuel prices in Tibet have gone up. With these two things I unfortunately have to slightly raise the price of your tour. The new price will be around Y325 more per person for a group of 4 than the original price I gave you. Even though I have had to slightly adjust the price, I am quite sure you will have a hard time find travel agency offering as low of prices as we do. We recently contacted the top 15 travel agencies arranging tours to Tibet and our prices were an average of Y800 per person cheaper for the route from Xining to Lhasa to Everest. Again, I am so sorry we have to change your price and I hope you understand that we do everything possible to keep our prices as low as possible. Here is the new prices for your tour to Everest:
1 person: Y8525
2 people: Y4925/per
3 people: Y3750/per
4 people: Y3125per
Prices include hard sleeper train tickets from Xining to Lhasa, all permits, guide, vehicle and driver.
Prices do not include your meals, accommodations, air or train tickets departing Lhasa, the bus from Rongbhu Monastery to Everest Base Camp or entrance tickets into monasteries, temples or the Everest Nature Preserve.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING TRAVEL IN TIBET
Travel regulations in Tibet change often and are unpredictable. Sometimes, though not often, monasteries or small towns close without any warning meaning that small changes will need to be made to your itinerary. Permit prices change, fuel prices surge, train tickets become difficult to obtain and additional taxes sometime come up which mean we may have to slightly adjust the price of your trip. All prices given are estimates and could change slightly before your departure date. Usually we have no problem getting train tickets to Lhasa, but occasionally they are sold out soon after they go on sale to the public. In that case we have ways of getting the train tickets still, but we have to pay additional surcharges and handling fees, which will add between Y50 and Y150 per person to the total price. We will always do our best to keep the price as close to the estimate as possible.
Q: What kind of train tickets should we get?
Soft sleeper tickets are extremely difficult to get. Many soft sleeper tickets are reserved for government and military officials. If we are able to get soft sleeper tickets, the price will be Y500 more per person. If we cannot get soft sleeper tickets, we will get hard sleeper tickets. Despite having an uncomfortable sounding name, hard sleeper berths are actually quite comfortable and are used by most foreign travelers to Tibet.
Q: Are there any additional fees we would have to pay?
There are 2 required tickets for the Everest Nature Preserve that the customer is responsible to pay. The first is a Y400 vehicle entrance fee. The second is a Y180 entrance fee per person. The Everest Nature Preserve is the only place where the customers will be responsible to pay for the guide’s entrance ticket. All other places for the guide will be free. Our vehicles are only permitted to go to the “Tent City” located about 4kms past Rongbhu Monastery. From this “Tent City”, the only way to travel the remaining 3kms to Everest Base Camp is to take an environmentally safe bus that costs Y25 per person. This Y25 is not included in your tour price. You will also be responsible to pay for your guides Y25 bus fare as well. Your guide will need to accompany you to Base Camp.
Entrance fees to monasteries and temples are not included in your tour price. Entrance fees usually range from Y20 per person to Y80 per person. The Potala Palace costs Y100 per person to enter.
Q: How can I get there from Shanghai, and how long does it takes by train to Xining?
There are two trains per day from Shanghai to Xining. The express train takes about 24 hours, but tickets for this train are difficult to get. The slower train takes about 32 hours.
Q: How about the payment for the trip?
I am willing to waive our required deposit, but the full balance would need to be paid in Chinese RMB when you arrive at our office in Xining.
The Company is called Tibetan Connections and its located in Xining. They have a office in the Lete Youth Hostel, International Village Apartments, Bldg. 5 on the 16th floor.
http://www.tibetanconnections.com
Here is one of their Itineraries (June 12th, 2009) and a Q&A for the Trip from Lhasa to the Mt. Everest Base camp along the friendship highway:
Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Shigatse-Everest
Day 1: Take the train from Xining-Lhasa
Day 2: Arrive in Lhasa in the evening
Day 3: Lhasa
Day 4: Lhasa
Day 5: Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Gyantse
Day 6: Gyantse-Sakya
Day 7: Sakya-Everest Base Camp
Day 8: Everest Base Camp-Lhatse
Day 9: Lhatse-Shigatse
Day 10: Shigatse-Lhasa
Day 11: Depart from Lhasa
Q: Tell me something about your company.
Tibetan Connections is a small Tibetan staffed and managed travel agency based in the Amdo region of Tibet in the city of Xining. We pride ourselves on being experts on Tibet travel. All of our staff are well traveled across the Tibetan Plateau. Our tours to Tibet all begin with taking the train from Xining to Lhasa. We do not begin any tours from Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai or any other city in China besides Xining. Our goals are to provide an international level of customer service, give an excellent tour of Tibet while offering the best prices possible on Tibet tours. We are sure that if you compare our prices to other travel agencies, you will find our prices to be among the lowest. We partner with many Tibetan owned hotels, guesthouses and restaurants to ensure that your tourism money stays in Tibet and goes to the Tibetan people. A percentage of our business profits go to aid projects in the rural and nomadic regions of Tibet.
Q: How much are the hotels on the trip?
Hotels along the way from Lhasa to Everest usually offer double rooms (2 people) with private bathrooms for between Y200 and Y260 per night. There are also clean dorm style rooms available for between Y40 and Y50 per night per person.]
Q: How much would I have to spend on the meals along the way?
For meals, plan on spending between Y60 and Y85 per day per person. Of course, if you plan on eating at western restaurants the entire time, it will be more.
Q: What kind of hotels would we get in Lhasa?
We partner with many Tibetan owned hotels in Tibet. In Lhasa, we put most of our customers at the Yak Hotel. The Yak Hotel is one of the best run hotels in Lhasa and is located in the heart of the Tibetan district, only a 3 minute walk from Lhasa's famous Jokhang Temple. Double rooms here are Y260 and dorm style rooms are around Y50 per night per person. If you let me know which type of room you prefer (double room with private bathroom or clean dorm style room) then I will make the reservations for you. Outside of Lhasa, each place will have 2 to 4 different choices to choose from. If you don't like a certain place, the driver can take you to another. I am quite sure you will like the Yak Hotel in Lhasa as it is one of the most famous hotels in Tibet.
Q: How much would the whole trip cost me?
Unfortunately, since I emailed you the price estimate on May 28th, the government is now requiring an additional permit for all foreigners traveling outside of Lhasa. Also, fuel prices in Tibet have gone up. With these two things I unfortunately have to slightly raise the price of your tour. The new price will be around Y325 more per person for a group of 4 than the original price I gave you. Even though I have had to slightly adjust the price, I am quite sure you will have a hard time find travel agency offering as low of prices as we do. We recently contacted the top 15 travel agencies arranging tours to Tibet and our prices were an average of Y800 per person cheaper for the route from Xining to Lhasa to Everest. Again, I am so sorry we have to change your price and I hope you understand that we do everything possible to keep our prices as low as possible. Here is the new prices for your tour to Everest:
1 person: Y8525
2 people: Y4925/per
3 people: Y3750/per
4 people: Y3125per
Prices include hard sleeper train tickets from Xining to Lhasa, all permits, guide, vehicle and driver.
Prices do not include your meals, accommodations, air or train tickets departing Lhasa, the bus from Rongbhu Monastery to Everest Base Camp or entrance tickets into monasteries, temples or the Everest Nature Preserve.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING TRAVEL IN TIBET
Travel regulations in Tibet change often and are unpredictable. Sometimes, though not often, monasteries or small towns close without any warning meaning that small changes will need to be made to your itinerary. Permit prices change, fuel prices surge, train tickets become difficult to obtain and additional taxes sometime come up which mean we may have to slightly adjust the price of your trip. All prices given are estimates and could change slightly before your departure date. Usually we have no problem getting train tickets to Lhasa, but occasionally they are sold out soon after they go on sale to the public. In that case we have ways of getting the train tickets still, but we have to pay additional surcharges and handling fees, which will add between Y50 and Y150 per person to the total price. We will always do our best to keep the price as close to the estimate as possible.
Q: What kind of train tickets should we get?
Soft sleeper tickets are extremely difficult to get. Many soft sleeper tickets are reserved for government and military officials. If we are able to get soft sleeper tickets, the price will be Y500 more per person. If we cannot get soft sleeper tickets, we will get hard sleeper tickets. Despite having an uncomfortable sounding name, hard sleeper berths are actually quite comfortable and are used by most foreign travelers to Tibet.
Q: Are there any additional fees we would have to pay?
There are 2 required tickets for the Everest Nature Preserve that the customer is responsible to pay. The first is a Y400 vehicle entrance fee. The second is a Y180 entrance fee per person. The Everest Nature Preserve is the only place where the customers will be responsible to pay for the guide’s entrance ticket. All other places for the guide will be free. Our vehicles are only permitted to go to the “Tent City” located about 4kms past Rongbhu Monastery. From this “Tent City”, the only way to travel the remaining 3kms to Everest Base Camp is to take an environmentally safe bus that costs Y25 per person. This Y25 is not included in your tour price. You will also be responsible to pay for your guides Y25 bus fare as well. Your guide will need to accompany you to Base Camp.
Entrance fees to monasteries and temples are not included in your tour price. Entrance fees usually range from Y20 per person to Y80 per person. The Potala Palace costs Y100 per person to enter.
Q: How can I get there from Shanghai, and how long does it takes by train to Xining?
There are two trains per day from Shanghai to Xining. The express train takes about 24 hours, but tickets for this train are difficult to get. The slower train takes about 32 hours.
Q: How about the payment for the trip?
I am willing to waive our required deposit, but the full balance would need to be paid in Chinese RMB when you arrive at our office in Xining.
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