Before the 1950 entry of Chinese forces into Tibet, and their construction of airports, the only way to enter Tibet was by crossing a bor- der from another country. The 13th Dalai Lama and his councilors were worried that any in- fluence from European countries would have a negative effect on Tibetan Buddhism. In the late nineteenth century they closed their bor- ders and made all of the provincial governors responsible for keeping out intruders.
If any suspect groups are spotted, watch teams will alert the nearest authorities, who then rides back with their warriors to inspect the travelers. If it is determined that there are Europeans amongst the group, they will be detained until the governor or a direct rep- resentative can be sent for. If necessary, an escort is provided to make sure that the in- truders return to the border of Tibet and do not attempt to enter again.
Legitimate travel into Tibet is reserved for Buddhist pilgrims who have to appear at the border and present their credentials and re- ceive an entry and travel visa bearing the seal of the governor. These are issued very care- fully since the governor’s head will be on the chopping block if he fails to spot any West- erners disguised as pilgrims.
After 1950, the Chinese immediately began building highways to quickly move troops around the country. With the availability of radio communications, watch posts were built to be more permanent. Armed checkpoints were setup on most roads and caravan tracks. It was not until 1984 that tourists from oth- er countries were issued travel visas to Tibet, and in that first year only 1,500 were issued.
In present day Tibet, travelers must obtain two travel documents, the first being a Tibet Entry Permit known as a TTB and the second is an Alien’s Travel Permit. China has a num- ber of classifications for entry visas and you must declare that you are traveling under one of the following classifications:
• Tourist • Transit
• Business • Crew
• Residence • Journalist
• Employment • Diplomatic
• Study
In addition, the applicant must complete a visa form, provide one full-faced photo, and a passport with a sufficient number of blank pages. If you apply directly at a Chinese con- sulate office the turn-around time on most applications is four days. China accepts re- newals by mail but if it is the first time that somebody is applying they must do so in per- son. Renewal applications take an average of 20 days to process.
Individuals or groups traveling to Tibet must fill out an application at a Tibet Tourism Of- fice to obtain permission to enter Tibet since it is considered a controlled access area of the
Travelng to Tibet - Secrets of Tibet country, known as the Tibet Autonomous Re-
gion (TAR).
Chinese embassies and consulates do not is- sue entry permits to individual visas for tour- ists to Tibet. The person must apply through a travel agency to obtain confirmation for a group (5 or more people.) The travel agency will obtain an invitation letter from a Chinese travel agency along with an authorized group visa number. The travel agency will also re- quire the individuals to submit copies of the information pages from each tour member’s passport. The final piece of paperwork is a group visa form which can be obtained from a Chinese travel agency, the Chinese Embassy or the Chinese Consulates-General.
Entry under other classifications includes:
Journalist—Must complete a J-1 or J-2 visa
and first contact the press office of the Chinese Embassy to present their press credentials.
Crew Member—For unscheduled entries by
private aircraft or vessels, the crew must imme- diately contact the local Chinese authorities for a landing/docking permit.
Student —Permit applicant must present an enrollment letter from the university that they will be attending. The only academic institu- tion open to Westerners in Tibet is the College of Tibetan language, with their tuition set at $1,000 per year. The prospective student must also complete one of two forms (JW-201 or JW-202) provided by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.
Caravans
Until the Chinese constructed the Friendship
Highways, the normal way to travel great dis-
tances in Tibet was by caravan.
Caravans offer protection from wild animals and bandits, as well as safety from natural haz- ards. Very often a large group of people could overcome obstacles that smaller groups could not, such as landslides blocking the trails.
Tibetan horsemen who guide caravans are a tough and hearty lot, who spend most of their life traveling. They know the best and safest roads, and for investigators attempting to reach the heart of Tibet an experienced caravan guide is worth their weight in gold.
Caravan guides travel light with little more than a tinder pouch, flint and steel, dagger, spoon and wooden bowl, leather pouch with sewing supplies, and their charms to protect them against the demons that lurk everywhere.
In large caravans entire families travel to- gether and each performs specific tasks to en- sure the safety and success of the trade trip. From a western viewpoint, caravan drivers have no sense of modesty and at night men, women and children all strip off their clothes to climb amongst piles of sheepskin placed close to a fire.
Expert caravan drivers are sometimes hired to guide groups of pilgrims heading to Lha- sa or to any number of holy mountains or lakes in Tibet.
Small caravans will sometimes travel light and fast by carrying just enough food to get them between villages where they can trade for food and feed for their animals. This is dangerous if they encounter bad weather or blocked roads since this can leave them dan- gerously short on supplies.
Many Tibetan trade caravans travel in the summer to the western city of Leh in Ladakh. There is an annual bazaar with caravans from Yarkand, Russia, Chinese Turkistan, Kashmir and India. Investigators traveling by this route can use this opportunity to negotiate passage with caravans making their return trip.
The explorer Sven Hedin wrote about one caravan of pilgrims traveling from Mongo- lia along the northern Tibetan frontier. The caravan consisted of seventy-three Buddhist monks and two nuns. They had one hundred and twenty camels, forty pack horses and sev- en fine riding horses intended as a gift to the Dalai Lama. The provisions that the pilgrims had been living on consisted of dried meat, roasted wheat-flour (tsampa) and black tea.
On one three-month survey mission into the western edge of Tibet, Sven Hedin documents that his caravan consisted of twenty-five men, fifty-eight horses, thirty-six mules, ten yaks and provisions for three months, including tents, saddles, weapons, food, a folding boat and various scientific instruments.
Several weeks into the journey Hedin dis- covered that the caravan member responsi- ble for purchasing and packing the food had not brought enough and they were forced to approach other caravans and remote farms to try to purchase more food. It did not take long for the authorities to learn that a Europe- an was in the area, and a large force was sent to escort Hedin’s caravan back to the border.
The largest group to ever embark on a trip to Tibet was the 1904 Younghusband expedi- tion. Not including the Indian, Gurkha, and British troops, they required the following: • 6 camels
• 3000 ponies • 5000 yaks • 5000 bullocks • 7000 mules
• Over 10,000 coolies to carry gear and provisions A person can only marvel at how they arranged the logistics to feed and care for over 20,000 an- imals, and well over 10,000 people.