A Texan in Tibet - Travel Documents & Government Red Tape

“The value of your travels does not hinge on how many stamps you have in your passport when you get home.”
- Rolf Potts

I'm no stranger to trips abroad and with over two million commercial air miles, I consider myself a well-seasoned traveler. While travel generally sucks, all those miles facilitated my booking these international flights with award miles at almost no cost. Successful travel starts with thorough planning and though I'm known as a shoot-from-the-hip guy in most situations, I leave nothing to chance when it comes to travel; especially international travel. These days, all international travel requires passports and visas. I remember being able to pass to and from Canada and Mexico with just my Texas driver's license, but those days are long gone...at least legally. Fortunately, visas are easier to acquire these days, with most countries offering on-line pre-approval or instant approval at customs in the destination country.

Some countries offer instant visas upon arrival at their airports, and Nepal is one of them. I can secure my visa on the spot upon arrival in the Nepalese Customs area at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. $50USD will get me a 30-day tourist visa with expedited outbound processing when I re-enter Nepal from Tibet, and again when I depart Nepal for my connection in Qatar on my return trip home. I could also acquire a six-month visa before I depart for the same price, but for some reason having the 30-day visa issued at the airport expedites my entry back into Nepal from Tibet. I can't imagine why that is, but that's the recommended option and the one that I'm taking.

Once in Nepal and checked-in to my hotel, I'll have a few days to acclimatize and adjust to the 10-hour and 45-minutes forward time change. I'll also have to hand my passport over to my local fixer so he can secure my visa through the Chinese Embassy for passage into Tibet. I'm told this can take a day or two and honestly, I'm not entirely comfortable handing over my passport to a stranger in a foreign country. I've had discussions with a few people who have visited Tibet from Nepal as recently as December 2024, and every indication is that if you want a Chinese visa into the Autonomous Region of Tibet without delay and with no surprises at the border, this is how it's done. These "fixers" are lifetime locals who know the ropes, the pitfalls, and who's palms to grease (with my money, of course). More importantly, they have a reputation among experienced travelers to the area, so knowing who to trust was somewhat easier for me. The alternative is to ride to the border with all the assumed proper and completed paperwork, and then petition the Embassy outpost there for a visa. I've read accounts of tourists being stranded there awaiting red tape resolutions that could take days due to the remote location and local staff working under a repressive regime and who have little to no authority to make decisions. My entry permit aside, I'm told also to expect the Chinese to visually check every piece of luggage; unpacking each item for inspection. For this reason, no maps or other printed information about Tibet can be brought into the country as it is considered foreign propaganda. Photos and videos in the border area are prohibited. Motorcycles must be pushed across the borderline, ironically known as the Friendship Bridge. Maybe that's because unlike Nepal, traffic flows on the right side of the road in Tibet. I wonder if they have to push cars across too? I suppose I'll find out in soon.

Tibet voluntarily isolated itself during the wars and was not part of the League of Nations. This might explain why the rest of the world was quiet when the Chinese discreetly occupied the Tibetan territory and labeled it as the Xizang Province of China. Occupying Tibet gave China access to rich natural resources and allowed it to militarize the strategically important border with India. As such and despite being labeled "The Tibet Autonomous Region",  Tibet is essentially a Chinese militarized zone wherein strict rules  of governance appear to be arbitrarily enforced. One such strange rule is that no foreign national can travel alone on Tibetan roads. A government approved escort is required to be within eyesight of a tourist or group of tourists, and there are checkpoints scattered throughout the country to enforce this rule. The escort must carry a list of his clients and those clients must carry the name and contact information of their escort. For this reason, I will likely find myself riding among a group of strangers that could increase and decrease in size each day. I'm good with that, but if I plan to stick with my escort (and stay out of jail), my itinerary may necessarily be fluid. This is where I'll have to leave some aspects of my itinerary to chance, which is about as comforting to me as popping a zit. Honestly, traveling with other riders isn't an issue for me, and strangers don't remain strangers in my orbit for very long. They may walk away thinking me a strange Texan, but we will be familiar. I view it as doing my part to promote international relations from the soon-to-be Nation of Texas.

I'm told that despite having my Tibetan visa in hand, I should still expect a lengthy delay while crossing the border, and that this delay includes getting my rental motorcycle inspected by the local police force for safety and compliance. These same bikes pass through this border many times each year and are probably instantly recognized by the inspectors. Smells like a shakedown to me, but I'll play the game. It's not like I have a choice. I'll also have to apply for a temporary Tibetan motorcycle driver's license at the border and to do that, I have to attend a short training course and pass an exam. I must also present an International Driver's Permit that is recognized by the 1949 Convention on International Road Traffic, and issued from the country of residence listed in my passport. An IDP is only valid for one year, so of course the one I secured back in 2020 has expired. An application through my local AAA office by snail mail was only $20, and I received the new IDP a week later. Another box checked.

 

This all seems like a lot of red tape (no pun intended), but If my career travel experience has taught me nothing else, it's to be patient and to find a way to embrace the suck. I've waited almost seven years to take this trip, so a few hours delay into an exotic country that was totally off limits to foreigners as recently as forty years ago should be a walk in the park.

So I say bring it on; travel delays, inconsiderate rookie passengers, inconsiderate seasoned travelers, hours of flying, hours waiting on connections, and customs red tape. An amazing trek on a motorcycle and a photo of Mount Everest in the background will be worth it all.