Closed To Tourists... Tibet And Timbuktu

Ever see the uncropped version of this famous picture of Tiananmen Square? (click on it to enlarge)

Roland and I were just rejoicing that we had a chance to visit Timbuktu and northern Mali before the whole area-- as much as two-thirds of the country-- was captured by savage Tuareg slavers and closed up tight. Supposedly the alliance between the militant Islamists and the slavers has been cancelled but, on the other hand, flotsam and jetsam, fanatics and jihadists from all over the Muslim world are flocking to northern Mali. There's not much there. I mean, beautiful, varied Afghanistan it will never be. And now the residents-- or what's left of them-- are fighting back against the conquerors, at least in Timbuktu.

Timbuktu was incubating a proper little tourist industry when we were there a couple years ago-- I mean beyond just for tourists who were backpacking and roughing it. That's totally over now. Everyone who invested in boutique infrastructure must be bankrupt. And the Islamists are systematically destroying whatever it was-- apart from the allure of the name itself-- that has drawn people to Timbuktu for hundreds of years.

Since seizing the city in March, Ansar Dine has targeted Timbuktu's precious Muslim heritage.

The shrine of a 15th Century sufi saint Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar has been attacked, according to Lazare Eloundou Assomo of Unesco.

"The entrance gate of the mausoleum was completely destroyed and burnt," Mr Assomo told the BBC World Service. "The curtain that protected the shrine was destroyed."

Timbuktu is known as the city of the 333 saints, says Alida Jay Boye, author of Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu.

The fundamentalist Salafi branch of Islam objects to the veneration of saints' tombs, maintaining that it amounts to saint worship.

"Salafis do not want there to be any intermediary between the believer and God. It looks like Ansar Dine is going after shrines just like other groups have done in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," she says.

Neil Whitehead, a former hotelier in Timbuktu, has fled to Morocco because of the recent unrest.

He says that conditions are deteriorating in the city.

"The Salafis are turning on the locals, raiding their homes and taking anything of value, together with any food. All shops are shut and, in the words of our friends, 'everything is broken'," he said.

"They have introduced a form of Sharia and the locals feel like prisoners in their houses."

His account is confirmed by Mari Touri, a Timbuktu resident.

"There is no food in the shops, no stocks of supplies, because everything in Timbuktu comes from Bamako in the south and it cannot get through at the moment."

Another resident, Youba Ag Moha, said that the situation in the city was "calm" but that government offices were closed and there was a problem with the electricity supply.

There are also concerns for the city's wealth of manuscripts.

Exactly a year ago, Roland and I were getting ready to visit Tibet. Unfortunately, just as we were getting ready to leave, our visas were pulled and the borders were shut. We wound up staying far longer than anyone should have to in Katmandu, the overly polluted capital of Nepal. It was for one of the periodic crackdowns-- they normally last a few weeks-- that the Chinese occupiers impose on the country for a brutal crackdown they don't want to be embarrassed by in the West. But this week ABC News is reporting, ominously, that China has shut down tourism to Tibet indefinitely.

In a matter of days, the number of expected foreign visitors to Tibet has gone from millions to zero.

Chinese authorities alerted foreign travel agencies Tuesday that they would no longer be issuing entry permits to Tibet, the latest in a series of regulations being put on travelers to Tibet. The announcement follows the self-immolation of two Tibetans last week.

Tibet is no stranger to Chinese interference in its tourism industry. Tibet’s failed rebellion in March 1959 and the event’s annual memorial on National Uprising Day has chronically put the region at odds with the People’s Republic of China. In 2008, protests after National Uprising Day turned into riots that were met with violence by PRC forces. The Chinese government temporarily closed Tibet to foreign visitors. That is a now-annual practice in March, and during other national events significant to the Chinese government.

Now, many are saying that the latest in a string of Tibetan self-immolations led to the country’s shutdown to outsiders. According to Free Tibet, a campaign promoting Tibetan independence from China, there have been more than 30 self-immolations since March 2011. Most recently, on May 27, 2012 two Tibetans were the first to set themselves on fire in Lhasa, Tibet’s tightly-controlled administrative capital. The shutdown also coincides with the Saga Dawa festival, which celebrates the Buddha’s birth and draws many Buddhists to Tibet. This year, the festival began on June 4, which is also the anniversary of the Chinese government crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests.

While many tourism agencies have learned to adapt and predict the trends on tourism bans, this closure comes as something of a shock. According to Nellie Connelly, marketing director of WildChina, a prominent travel company that regularly coordinates trips to Tibet, Chinese authorities informed the company in mid-May that travelers would only be allowed to visit Tibet in groups of five people of the same nationality. Last week, the government stopped issuing entry permits to Tibet altogether.  Connelly is in the process of rerouting customers whose Tibetan vacations are affected by the new ban. Only those Chinese nationals are allowed to enter the region.

“Tibet is a bucket-list destination for many people,” she says.

Last year, WildChina sent approximately 100 travelers to Tibet. This week, the company had to turn down approximately 10 inquiries about travel to Tibet. Four other WildChina trips are being re-routed, and five more are on indefinite hold.

The loss of income for Tibetan communities is significant. Tibet received 21.25 million domestic and foreign tourists in between 2006 and 2010, generating $3.58 billion in income for the country. Tourism is a staple of the region’s economy. Tibet set a goal to increase tourism revenue between 2011 and 2015 to more than 20 percent of its gross domestic product.

The Chinese government’s recent actions will make reaching 2012 targets difficult.

We never made it to Damascus either.

Planning A Trip To Tibet?

St. Regis, Lhasa-- guests complained when they ran out of lobster

In 1971 I trekked up near the Nepali-Tibetan border and wondered if I'd ever get across it. Back then no Americans were allowed. Now, China encourages American tourists... kind of-- and sometimes. There's even a 5-star hotel there now, as China works to turn Lhasa into a kind of Disneyland destination for the wealthy.

For decades, the hardy travellers who braved the icy roads and 2,000-kilometre drive to Lhasa from Sichuan have been greeted with austere monasteries filled with crimson-robed monks and the terrible taste of yak-butter tea.

But the Chinese government, which defends its mandate to rule over Tibet by claiming to have brought economic prosperity to the region, is determined to make life more luxurious for today's pampered tourists by opening Tibet's first five-star hotel--The St. Regis Lhasa.

Guests arriving at Lhasa airport are whisked away in Mercedes-Benz limousines to one of the 150 suites or 12 private villas. Personal butlers escort guests to their rooms and give tips on life at Lhasa's 3,600-metre altitude. Guests are told not to shower on their first day, since hot water is believed by the Chinese to open up blood vessels and suck oxygen away from the brain. Each room, meanwhile, is equipped with oxygen tanks, just in case.

Downstairs there is a spa, a swimming pool, a restaurant boasting Cantonese and Sichuan delicacies, including yak meat, and a wine bar with hundreds of bottles specially flown in, including Château Lafite-Rothschild. Any guests wanting to taste "more basic Tibetan fare, such as yak butter and boiled noodles" will have to leave the premises, the hotel's website flatly states.

Tourism is now responsible for almost 15 per cent of Tibet's economy and more than six million tourists visited last year. Four more five-star hotels, including a Shangri-La and an Intercontinental, are to open in the next four years. Beijing is planning to introduce a luxurious train service to Tibet, with tickets costing as much as $9,000 per person.

I just spent the last six months or so planning a trip to Tibet, though the St Regis wasn't on our itinerary. A trip to Tibet isn't easy, not like getting on a plane and flying to Bamako, renting a jeep with a driver and going on an excursion through Mali's Dogon country and then on to Timbuktu. China makes it a lot more difficult-- and expensive. But in the end-- after lots of hassle and lots of weighing of conflicting moral perspectives-- it was all set. Then a few weeks ago, I got an e-mail that all foreign visas were canceled for the period I was planning to be there in June and July. They don't tell you why. But we knew.

There's been some trouble in paradise; the natives are restless. And the Chinese are cracking down again. Journalists are already banned from Tibet and they don't want any tourists there to bear witness to their brutality. For one thing, Beijing's nemesis, the Dalai Lama, has formally ceded any political role. The Dalai Lama will still be Tibet's spiritual and religious leader and a symbol of national unity but the Tibetan exiles' parliament has elected a Harvard scholar, Lobsang Sangay, to be the head of government (prime minister) based in Dharamshala, India.

Although the Dalai Lama will retain the more significant role of spiritual leader and will still be influential when it comes to major policy-making decisions, the transition will make Sangay a far more prominent figure than his predecessor as prime minister.

The Dalai signed amendments to the constitution of the Tibetan government-in-exile at the weekend to formally cede his political role. ...The Dalai Lama's political successor represents a major shift from the historic dominance of Tibetan politics by older religious figures.

The spiritual leader's move is part of an effort to strengthen the Tibetan movement's democratic structure so it can guide the movement following his death.

Sangay has publicly backed the Dalai Lama's policy of seeking "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet under Chinese rule.

But his former membership of the pro-independence Tibetan Youth Congress has fueled speculation he may take a more radical stance and embolden the political strategy of Tibetan exiles toward China.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist bent on fomenting unrest in his homeland.

By late this month expect to hear more unconfirmable rumors about more oppression in Tibet.

Deregulated Flying Is Now A Classic Example Of Caveat Emptor

There's only one airline flying from Kathmandu to Lhasa, Air China. It was next to impossible to book online and every time I called I got answers that contradicted every other time I called, including one operator who so did not want to be bothered that she swore that the service had been discontinued and another that said there was no way to fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa (less than an hour) without flying through Beijing, which would add... oh, say 16 hours to the joint-- in each direction. I finally, after weeks found someone to actually help me, but only after I agreed to write a letter and fax it, stating that if for any reason China refuses to give me a visa in Kathmandu-- which they do regularly for all kinds of spurious reasons-- Air China is not responsible. And this is a full service airline! And, presumably because they have a monopoly, they're expensive.

While people who fly a lot often are aware of the hidden charges which creep into our final airplane bills, some may not be as conscious of what to look out for. British website money.co.uk suggested I share this guide on the blog in the hope that it will shed some light on the matter and that more people become aware of where the costs lie. After all, no frills airlines have sprung up all over the world and boast loudly about how much money passengers can say, but as we saw just a few months ago budget airlines are all too often unmasked as skyway robbers. Below are some of the "sneakiest tricks played by the main European budget airlines. The flights might look cheap to start with, but here-- in order of sneakiness-- is how the price can double with the errant click of a mouse.

1. Card fees

EasyJet: charge around £5.25 | $7.10 | €6.20 per person, per flight when you use a debit or credit card to book (they also add a 2.5% credit card loading charge too). If you have a Visa Electron card, however, you won't have to pay this fee.

Ryanair: impose a £5 | $7.10 | €5.60 'administration fee,' payable by anybody using a debit or credit card to book online. The charge applies both ways, so it'll add £10 | $16.45 | €11.20 per person to the cost of your flights. They don't charge if you are using a MasterCard pre-paid charge card.

Flybe: charge £4.50 | $7.40 | €5 to pay on plastic unless you're using a Visa Electron card, and it'll be £5 | €5.60 | $8.20per person, per flight if you're using a credit card.

Aer Lingus: charge £5 | $8.20 | €5.60 per person, per flight for using any credit or debit card except Visa Electron.

money.co.uk tip: Get a prepaid card so that you can avoid costly transaction charges. These work like debit cards but aren't linked to your bank account; instead you top them up with the credit you need to make your purchase. Check which type of prepaid card the airline that you plan to travel with lets you use to book fee free & apply for your card online.

Make sure that you choose your prepaid card carefully as many apply costly transaction charges and top up fees. Doing so will mean you save a significant amount by avoiding airline booking fees.

2. Check-in fees

Jet2: will charge £6 | $9.90 | €6.70 for you just to check in at the airport, although this drops to £2 | $3.30 | €2.25 if you do it online.

Ryanair: offers free online check-in on some flights, and charge a small sum on others. If you check in online and forget to bring your printed boarding pass, expect to pay £40 | $65 | €45 per person per way.

money.co.uk tip: Check-in online. Some budget airlines like bmi baby and the Eastern European Whizz Air don't charge at all for online check-in. Just remember to print out the proof!

3. Seat reservation fees

Jet2: charge a seating fee of £4 | $6.60 | €4.50 per person, and this doesn't even guarantee you seats in the same area as your travel companions.

Flybe: charge a seat reservation fee of £6 | $9.90 | €6.70 per flight or £15 | $24.70 | €16.90 for a more spacious emergency exit seat.

EasyJet: charge around £7.25 | $11.90 | €8.15 for various types of "Speedy Boarding" options to get you onto the plane quicker. We recommend deselecting these options when booking online in order to save money, since it rarely reduces waiting time by more than a few minutes and the plane won't leave any quicker regardless.

4. Changing the name on your ticket

Easyjet: If the name on your ticket isn't identical to the one on your passport, EasyJet insist you change it for £30 | $49.35 | €33.70 online or £40 | $65 | €45 at the airport.

Jet2: will charge you £27.50 | $45.20 | €30.90 if you miss out your middle name but it appears on your passport.

Ryanair: charge around £125 | $205 | €140 to amend the name on your ticket, so remember to include your full name as it appears on official documents.

money.co.uk tip: Check, check and check again. Just because your friends call you 'Hazza' doesn't mean the person at the check-in desk will.

5. Baggage limits and charges

Flybe: limit you to 10kg for hand luggage, and will charge you £11 | $18.10 | €12.40 for a mere 15kg of hold luggage.

Aer Lingus: you'll pay £12 | $19.70 | €13.50 per item of hold luggage for flights around Europe, this increases to £36 | $59.20 | €40.50 a piece on flights to the USA.

Easyjet: If you try to take more than your allotted amount of luggage (currently 20kg) onto an EasyJet flight, you have to pay £25 | $41.10 | €28.10 at check-in or £40 | $65 | €45 at the boarding gate for them to take it from you and put it in the hold.

money.co.uk tip: For short breaks, consider taking hand luggage only but make sure this meets not only weight but also dimension guidelines (Ryanair are particularly restrictive on the size of hand luggage).

6. Telephone booking premium

Ryanair: charge £20 | $32.90 | €22.50 for over-the-phone bookings.

EasyJet: lets you book by phone for "free," but the call will be charged at an extortionate rate. It is easy to rack up a hefty bill using this method.

money.co.uk tip: Book online. Even if there isn't a specific fee for booking by phone, the cost of the call will be greater than the equivalent internet use.

7. Cost per kilo of overweight bags

Ryanair: will set you back £20 | $32.90 | €22.50 for every kilo your luggage is overweight, and their rules state that 'no pooling of baggage allowance is permitted' so it's not possible to share your unused allowance with others in your party.

EasyJet: will charge you £10 | $16.45 | €11.25 per 1kg your luggage is overweight.

Flybe: charge you £12 | $19.70 | €13.50 for every additional kilo over the meagre 15kg bag limit.

money.co.uk tip: Weigh your bags carefully before you set off for the airport. Put as much in your hand luggage as possible, but remember that liquids over a small amount (usually 50ml) and certain sharp toiletries will need to go in the hold.

8. Sports equipment

Ryanair: will charge £40 | $65 | €45 online or £50 | $82.30 | €56.25 at the airport for any large sports equipment or musical instruments you want to take onto the plane.

EasyJet: will sell you extra weight at a discounted rate for sports equipment and musical instruments. This is £18.50 | $30.40 | €20.80 when you arrange it in advance, or around £30 | $49.34 | €33.70 at the airport itself.

money.co.uk tip: Buy the extra weight online in advance if you absolutely need to take this kind of luggage. Otherwise, consider renting abroad or getting there by other means (train or coach).

9. Final tips and pointers

Jet2: By default Jet2 adds extra hold luggage, a 'sit together' fee of £4 | $6.60 | €4.50 per person included on a booking, insurance for everybody and a premium meal for every leg of the journey. These expensive additions have to be manually deselected during the booking process. Also, be aware when checking out Jet2's prices that they add a 'variable fuel charge' of around £10 | $16.45 | €11.25 per person, depending on the journey.

Ryanair: counts Reus and Girona as 'Barcelona,' despite the fact they're both well over an hour away by road. Be sure to factor in airport transfer when calculating the best deals.

money.co.uk tip: Read every part of the terms and conditions, and triple check every amount and detail before pressing the 'ok' button to confirm your booking on the website.

Sometimes it doesn't cost any more-- in fact, sometimes it's even less-- to fly on the non-discount airlines. So do lots of airline price comparisons. I always check several services, like Kayak and CheapTickets.com, and the websites of the various airlines, before booking. But these airlines are pros; they're out to squeeze every cent out of you that they can and they're better at that than they are at maintaining good service. Always assume they're out to cheat you; they always are. Yes, always; it's in their DNA.

Tibet, The EuroZone, And Back Home-- Open Borders Closing? Passports Becoming Harder To Get?

We were feeling lucky. We were about the close the deal on a fantastic villa in Damascus for the summer just when the Middle East exploded in protest. We've been wanting to visit Damascus forever but we wisely decided to put it off in case the protests spread from Egypt. Did they ever! So we were proud of ourselves that we had the foresight to forego the charms of Beit Al Kamar and plan a trip around Nepal and Tibet instead. Tibet can be sketchy in the best of times and Nepal has had some troubles of it's own (and only has 16 hours a day of electricity in the capital city). But these trips have an inertia of their own and right now our bags are practically packed and we're totally ready to rock. And then, trouble in Shangri-La.

China is stepping up security measures throughout ethnic Tibetan areas following a crackdown on unrest around a monastery in Sichuan province, in a sign of growing tension in the region.

Residents of Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture reached by telephone on Sunday reported that armed patrols in the streets had been increased.

One said a truck with “troops” was standing in front of the Labrang monastery in Xiahe, a mainly Tibetan-inhabited town in the area in southern Gansu province.

A resident in another area, the Deqen Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, said local authorities has intensified pressure on Tibetan residents. “Cadres have been making more visits to the villages, and talking about harmony and patriotism,” the person said. Local residents also reported a greater presence of armed police and soldiers in nearby towns.

Beijing drastically increased troop presence in Tibet amid its crackdown on the uprisings in the area in early 2008 as it did following ethnic Uighur riots in Xinjiang the following year, so armed police patrols and deployments at strategic spots are not an unusual sight in these areas. But the residents’ descriptions suggest that those forces are staging a show of strength.

It comes amid a growing country-wide crackdown on dissent which has peaked with the detention of Ai Weiwei, the outspoken artist, as the government frets about a wide array of challenges to its grip on power.

But Tibet is seen by the political leadership as fundamental to the country’s stability and national integrity with religious minorities encouraged to stay in line. Last week’s oil price protests by striking truck drivers in Shanghai, the world’s busiest port, was a reminder of the potent threat posed by inflation.

The latest security measures come in the wake of unrest at Kirti, a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province, which could mark the biggest unrest in the region since the uprising and the subsequent crackdown in March 2008. The government says the riots back then left 22 dead but exile groups say several times that number were killed, many by security forces.

According to Tibetan rights groups, a 60-year-old Tibetan man and a 65-year-old woman died at Kirti when they, together with other local residents, tried to prevent security forces from removing hundreds of monks from the monastery last Thursday.

More than 300 monks were taken away on army trucks on Thursday night, and more monks were removed on Friday, said Free Tibet, a US-based group, citing sources in Aba prefecture, where Kirti is located.

“As the monks were being driven away in large trucks, the group of lay people – mainly in their sixties or older-- who had been standing vigil at the monastery gate were beaten “mercilessly” by police,” said the International Campaign for Tibet, citing local sources. It quoted an exiled Kirti monk as saying people had their arms and legs broken.

Meanwhile Tibetans in eastern Tibet have been staging a widespread and high-intensity boycott of Han-owned vegetable stores to protest high prices Chinese store owners are charging Tibetans. These are the kinds of conditions under which the Chinese stop issuing tourist visas. We're nervous.

It would be a lot less stable if we just went to Paris or Rome, right? Well, kind of, but even Europe is going through some serious changes right now. Other than the adoption of the Euro itself as a common currency, the biggest deal in tying the European countries together as a nascent super-state is the Schengen Agreement which allows for passport-free travel between the member states. It made it as easy to go from Germany to Portugal as from Vermont to Virginia. It looks like the exodus of thousands of North Africa refugees to Italy is upending Schengen. Sarkozy and Berlusconi have called for a "partial reintroduction of national border controls across Europe, a move that would put the brakes on European integration and curb passport-free travel for more than 400 million people in 25 countries."

Earlier this month, Berlusconi's government outraged several EU governments, including France, by offering the migrants temporary residence permits which, in principle, allowed them to travel to other member states under the Schengen agreement. An Italian junior minister said on Sunday that Rome had so far issued some 8,000 permits and expected the number would rise to 11,000.

Launched in 1995, Schengen allows passport-free travel in most of the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. But the documents issued by the Italian authorities are only valid if the holders can show they have the means to support themselves, and French police have rounded up or turned back an unknown number of migrants in recent days.

On 17 April, Paris blocked trains crossing the frontier at Ventimiglia in protest at the Italian initiative. "Rarely have the two countries seemed so far apart," said Le Monde in an editorial on Monday.

Yet, with both leaders under pressure from the far right, French and Italian officials appear to have agreed a common position on amending Schengen so that national border checks can be reintroduced in "special circumstances."

...Sarkozy, low in the polls and hoping for re-election next year, is threatened by the Front National and its leader, Marine Le Pen, who calls for the total scrapping of Schengen.

Berlusconi, whose poll ratings have also been sliding, is dependent for his majority in parliament on the xenophobic Northern League, one of whose leaders, Roberto Maroni, is Italy's interior minister.

Even before the exodus from Tunisia, gains by far-right, anti-immigrant parties in north Europe had put Schengen under strain. Centrist parties in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands have all tried to appease the far right by threatening to re-erect national border controls.

This is a big step backward for Europe, a tightening of border controls that many recognize as an early step in the rise of authoritarianism. It's a movement that the U.S. isn't exactly immune to either. In fact, this week the State Department is tightening up on the ability of Americans to get passports.

The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new  Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information.  According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

The best reporting I've seen on this so far isn't on CNN or MSNBC but at BoingBoing which points out that "the form itself remains a Kafkaesque impossibility for most people to complete."

It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories. So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete.

It's not clear from the supporting statement, statement of legal authorities, or regulatory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why declining to discuss one's siblings or to provide the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denial of a passport to a U.S. citizen.

Would you consider me paranoid if I admitted I've been feeling for the last few years that the ruling elites think all this easy travel has gotten out of hand and that they want to dial it back... a lot?

Is It Immoral For Tourists To Visit Tibet?

The closest we could get to visiting Tibet in 1970 was to hike up to the border with Nepal and gaze across. Now there are regular flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa on China Air ($500 roundtrip). I always wanted to go and now I'm going to. Whenever I post something about it, I get barraged with sincere pleas not to go to Chinese-occupied Tibet because it will add to the plight on the Tibetan people, who would still like to maintain their national identity and even regain their national autonomy. Journalists aren't even allowed into the country at all.

We're staying at Yabshi Phunkang, a recently renovated residence of the 11th Dalai Lama that was built in 1838 in the heart of old Lhasa. Yabshi is title given to the parents of the Dalai Lama and Phunkhang is a short form of Phuntsok Khangsar (11th Dalai Lama’s family house). Presumably this notice, which is posted in every hotel in the country, will greet us when we arrive:

NOTICE

Ladies and Gentleman Welcome to Lhasa. So that you may have a safe and enjoyable travels, we would like you to be aware of the following government regulations:

1) Foreigners travelling in China must abide by Chinese law and must not endanger the national security of China, harm its Public interests, disturb the Public order, or engage in any other activities incompatible with tourists status.

2) If Chinese citizens are holding a rally or demonstration, it is strictly forbidden for foreigners to participation, follow along with, take pictures or video film any of these affairs. Foreigners are not allowed to interfere in Chinese internal affairs.

3) Foreigners are forbidden to distribute any propaganda material and join in any religious activity.

4) In accordance with regulations, foreigner tourists must go through all registration formalities and stay only at a designated hotel. Without prior permission it is forbidden to travel in unopened areas, to use undesignated transportation, to operate individual business or privately take up an occupation.

5) It's forbidden to visit and photograph the sky burial site according to the local government's regulations for the minority nationality's habits and customs. The tourist who breaks the regulation will be punished strictly.

6) For safety reasons, it is strictly forbidden for foreign tourists to travel by tractor or other privately operated means of transport. If by any hance a traffic accident happens, under these circumstances you will be responsible for your own actions and the results.

7) Valuables should deposit in checkroom, otherwise, the hotel won't be responsible for the loss.

As "political" as I am on my blog, I'm not travelling around the world looking to interfere in other countries' affairs. In Tibet just speaking with a foreign about politics could land a Tibetan in jail for 20 years. We're going there to see place and get a feel for it. I have enough to worry about with my own country's political dysfunction. On the other hand, I'm not unaware that China would like to turn Lhasa into a kind of Disneyland destination for insensitive tourists. And the beef with travellers going to Tibet is that by going there you implicitly condone the status quo and you enrich the oppressors in Beijing. Yeah, tell it to someone who shops in WalMart... or who owns an Apple computer. Here's a perspective that tries seeing it from all angles:

The first point is something which you must decide for yourself, but I feel that this worry is outweighed by the personal insight one can gain into the current political situation. It must also be borne in mind that over 98 percent of Tibetans live (willingly or otherwise) under the jurisdiction of the Peoples Republic of China and one cannot ignore them; they are trying just as hard to free their country as those in exile. Some live within the system, trying to get the best for themselves and their culture, whereas others attempt to live inspite of it, ignoring the rules.

It is true that Tourism in Tibet is used as a propaganda weapon by Beijing to purvey the message that all is calm in Tibet. If this irks you (as it does me) then make sure you tell people how it really was when you get back home.

The second point is something in my view is far more serious:

Many shops and restaurants are not owned by Tibetans, but by migrants. These migrants are encouraged by tax breaks and other government measures. The government would appear to be following a policy of cultural harmonisation by marginalising Tibetans and Tibeatan culture through a dilution of the Tibetan population. This is being done in the hope that future Tibetans will not be able to differentiate themselves from people in other parts of China. This policy would appear to have had some success in Chinese Inner Mongolia where Mongolians are outnumbered 20:1.

As tourism is an important part of the local economy, the growth of tourism will allow more migrants to earn a living in Tibet. There are two ways to combat this: don't go to Tibet, or if you do choose to visit, then you should stay in Tibetan owned hotels, shop in Tibetan stores and eat in Tibetan restaurants. Anyway, who wants to go all the way to Tibet just to eat cuisine from China? The Chinese and Hui food is far better in Chengdu and Linxia.

The Free Tibet website lists the pros and cons for travelling to Tibet.

Arguments for travelling to Tibet:
 
• The Dalai Lama  encourages foreigners to witness the oppression in Tibet and to inform others of their experiences on their return.

• Tourism provides a window to the outside world for Tibetans. 

• Tibetans find the presence of tourists in Tibet encouraging.

• Consider going to Tibetan populated areas outside the TAR in Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, where you can travel without a special permit and the need to hire an official guide.
 
Arguments against travelling to Tibet:

• Tourism provides legitimacy to China's occupation.

• Most of the money you spend will go into the pockets of Chinese enterprises. The tourist infrastructure in Tibet is largely controlled by Chinese businesses with headquarters outside Tibet.

• It is hard to travel in Tibet without tacitly complying with the Chinese regime.

• Tourists are only allowed to travel to the TAR in an officially organised group, on an officially approved itinerary and guided by an officially approved guide.

And if you feel it's wrong to go to Tibet, where do you draw the line? Russia? Israel? Morocco? Myanmar? Arizona?

Planning Ahead For Nepal And Tibet

My trekking permit from 1971

The first time I was in Kathmandu was 1971. Nepal had just gotten it's first paved road-- in honor of the marriage of the Crown Prince. For me it was like a pilgrimage... the end of the road after a long, hard trip from England, across Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. This summer we're going again, my third time, Roland's second. The reason isn't just to visit Nepal again, but to take the next step: Tibet.

The Chinese don't make it easy to get in. In the past you could drive up to the border and stare. It opened up quite a bit in the last few years-- even to the point of allowing individuals to wander through the country. That's over now. The only way to get an entry permit is through an authorized travel agent and you're obligated to book a tour with a guide/minder. Getting the tickets are difficult too. You can't buy them online and doing it on the phone is fraught with roadblocks. I had to spend the entire day arguing with people at Air China yesterday. But in the end I got the tickets, $709.70 roundtrip, although they made me sign a letter saying that if I couldn't get the entry permit I wouldn't get a refund.

I'll keep copious notes on Tibet and report back. As for Kathmandu, we'll see how different it is from the link above (which mostly covers 1971). The monarchy is gone, of course. I was just reading yesterday that the new Prime Minister, Jhalanath Khanal, is the chairman of the Communist Party. The political stability of the country is tenuous. Great report in the Al Jazeera video below. Last time we stayed at the Yak and Yeti but we're thinking about Dwarka's this time. Anyone been to Kathmandu recently with any suggestions about a hotel?

I don't want to get anyone in trouble-- especially not myself-- so let me figure out how to give away all the secrets of booking this whole Tibet thing for after I get back. I'll say one thing though-- well two: normal travel agents can't or won't do it and everything is very negotiable... everything.