I though I would write some practical details about my trip to Eastern Tibet, as the essay was more about the feelings, impressions and politics, not practical photographic or logistical matters. The original thread has veered off a bit, so I just start a new one.
The gear I used was a Fujifilm X-Pro1 with 14, 35 and 55-200mm lenses, and Fujifilm X100s with the fixed 23mm lens as a backup. I honestly believe part of the reason I was so well received everywhere were the “old” and unthreatening cameras I used. An old man with old camera is not a threat to anyone, rather something to sympathize with. My camera bag was a ThinTank Retrospective 7, which also is a simple shoulder bag and looks like it was made from an old burlap sack. On the next trip, hopefully this coming summer, I’ll be taking two X-T1 bodies, not sure which lenses yet. Zooms are practical, but a set of primes somehow more inspirational. We’ll see.
Like I already wrote in the other thread it seems that people mistakenly think the whole Tibet requires permits, fixed schedules and guides. This is not true, the whole Eastern Tibet outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) is open just like most of China. There are a few caveats, though.
Firstly: the area is a bit sensitive, so when applying for a visa it is best not to mention those areas in the application, but list “safe” cities where most tourists go. After you get inside the country, you can travel as you please.
Secondly: while it is legal and largely possible to travel there using public transportation, practically nobody speaks English even at the largest tourist attractions. There simply are not enough foreign tourists to make it necessary. 99% of tourists are Chinese, where there are any. So getting bus tickets etc. is complicated and frustrating unless you speak local Tibetan dialect or Chinese. Travel takes a long time and facilities are sometimes very basic (common toilets without partition walls, etc.). As there are some counties which are closed to foreigners, bus operators routinely refuse to sell tickets to westerners even to places which are not closed, because they do not want to be harassed, and they can not even exactly know which places are closed and which are not. Nobody really knows, as it is a somewhat sensitive matter which is rather swept under a rug than announced officially. Officials are never going to announce that some area is so badly out of control that tourists are banned. They are just asked to leave, and getting there is made difficult or impossible.
This means that while a truly adventurous person could travel independently and cheaply (and somewhat uncomfortably), a financially more comfortable person, like we here mostly are, can hire an interpreter/guide, driver and a Land Cruiser to take care of the logistics. This makes it possible to visit also the sites which are outside the bus networks, and makes things vastly speedier and easier in general (if one wants that).
The total cost for a car, driver and Tibetan guide for my 16 day trip, including everything except food was 34400 RMb, which came to 4295€ at the 2013 exchange rates (around $5200 I quess). That was for one person, with 2, 3 or 4 people sharing the car the costs would have dropped dramatically, of course. Original plan was to have 4 people in the group, but they had to cancel, so I just bit the bullet, dug deeper in my back pocket, and it was worth every penny.
Next summer we are planning to redo the trip with 10 people, longer, improved 24 day version this time, with more remote countryside and more time at the huge Buddhist Institutes (tour agencies think we are crazy, as “there is nothing to see”…). Most groups stop at Yarchen Gar, for example, only for an hour or so and take a few shots from across the river, never even entering the encampment. My guide had visited the place three times previously and had never crossed the river! I found the place fascinating. I digress, the cost per person is likely to be around 2300€/$2500 for 24 days, this time including also food, for practical reasons. This is the land cost, naturally. We will have 3 Land Cruisers with drivers and 2 native Tibetan guides, one female to make nunnery visits easier.
So if the story and pictures has piqued somebody’s interests, go there! It is not impossible or hugely costly with a small group of friends or family. I was lucky to be able to visit Lhasa in 1985 when there were no permits asked and we could come and go as we pleased with other pilgrims (we were actually given alms at the Jokhang temple). After that I have been there twice with wife and family in -04 and -07, and the city has metamorphosed from Tibetan into contemporary Chinese, and grown tenfold. Luckily the old Tibet still exists in Amdo and Kham.
Petrus
