The quest to visit a hidden kingdom of devout people of simple means, isolated for centuries behind nearly impassable mountains and centered both geographically and spiritually around a towering white castle rising steeply above fertile green valleys, sapphire lakes and endless cobalt skies, sounds like the start of an epic adventure.  And though modern technology, namely airplanes and Land Cruisers, would allow me to easily overcome the towering Himalayas, that have stunted such quests for centuries, a new, more formidable barrier has been erected: the visa form.

The Chinese invented movable type and thousands of years later, with the same fervor the ancient Chinese built the Great Wall to keep out the advancing Mongols, it seems the modern Chinese government was now using such ‘fine print type’ to keep out this advancing mongrel traveler. 

As most readers will be even peripherally aware, Tibet is a sensitive issue and the intricacies of the debate are more complicated than either side will lead you to believe.  It was this debate that led me on a quest to decode the fine print and score a ‘tourist permit’ into Tibet.  It seems the rules and regulations of travel in Tibet change daily and even after subsequent calls to the Chinese embassy and extensive Googling, the rules and regulations on Tibetan travel made about as much sense to me as a brush stroked scroll of Chinese characters.  Adding to the mess was an incident that occurred a  few months prior, in which two American travelers unfurled a ‘Free Tibet’ banner near the Mt Everest base camp, which led to their expulsion from China, a complete lock down that kept all tourists out of Tibet for weeks and a stiffening of travel regulations in the region from there on out.

As it turns out, at the time of my travels, a tourist permit was required to enter Tibet (actually to even board the plane to Tibet) and permits could only be obtained through Tibetan-based tour operators who would also require that you buy a tour package.  No independent travel was allowed anywhere in Tibet, and technically, I was not even allowed to walk around the capital city of Lhasa without a tour guide in tow (although when we landed, this regulation was not being enforced in Lhasa). 

A mess of permits was also required to travel around Tibet and unless one could decode Chinese, it was nearly impossible to distinguish what was needed for where, thus a local tour operator was required.  Police road checks were frequent and the permitting seemed to be in full force.  Part of it is the way the government controls access to sensitive parts of Tibet and part of it is an excuse to make more money from a region that has few exploitable natural resources.  Regardless, once all of the necessary permitting had been taken care of from Hong Kong via a local Tibetan travel agent, and once I landed in Lhasa, I had no problems traveling independently in Lhasa and with a tour guide/driver outside of the city.

[TRAVEL WARNING: If you are reading this seeking tips on how to score your own tourist permit for Tibet and/or how to get around while there, be warned that policies seem to change daily and you should not, under any circumstance, believe that the rules during my visit in September 2007 apply at any other time.  Do your homework or you may waste a lot of time and money.  The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree is a good place to start.]

Having overcome the formidable visa form, I landed in Tibet and found the most beautiful scenic nature I’ve ever seen, full of a kind, friendly, simple, yet very poor people,  so devout in their religion I believe it hampers their development.  I traveled amongst the people through the fertile green valleys, on the shores of the sapphire lakes and underneath the endless cobalt skies of this great empire hidden for centuries at the top of the world, an empire whose culture is flickering and may soon disappear forever.

Over the next few posts I invite you to come with me as I share some photos, stories and perspective gained from my seven day tour of Tibet (and additional seven day stay; more on that later).  I hope you’ll join me, there’s no permit required.

What you can do now:

• Leave a comment on this post below.

• Read some of my thoughts on China-US Relations in my story of Marching in a for Democracy in China.

• Read about my visit to a Cheese Factory in a Tibetan village in Yunan, China in There’s No Sesame Chicken in China

• Visit The Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Discussion Board on Tibet

• Don’t know much about Tibet?  Check out Wikipedia.