I am going to Tibet for 12 days in August. Have a tour itinerary confirmed with Tibet Trekking (found the link on CS and they have been very helpful). Just wondering if there were any snippets of advice from fellow CSers who have been.
Oh, I used Tibetan Trekking as well.. Mr Gao Li Qiang!
Just some short notes, Tibet is HOT in August as i went during that time so bring sunblock and you'd be surprise how much climbing you do despite being driven around. At altitude, things seem harder. Ask for a good guide as I got a good driver but the guide was not great (in fact, insist you don't want dicky). Otherwise, you can decide your own itinerary then let them work out details (i had alot of email correspondence with them before finalising) but DO NOT rush as the travel distance is quite significant. You're a photographer trying to get pictures, seeing or passing by is just not sufficient so i regreted rushing the trip. You're not supposed to travel to places where you do not have the permit that is applied before hand.
I did most of Lhasa (bout 3+ days) on my own cept for Potala where you HAVE to get a guide and only get ONE hour. Stay in Yak Hotel (good roof breakfast with direct view of Potala) or nearer to Jokhang. On the road, stop as often as you like as the driver need smoke break too (they all smoke). I think Namtso Lake is worth it despite it's distance but also like Gyantse for it's variety (almost like desert, dusty town) and Shigatse; didn't make for the base camp but your would drive thru other snow capped passes. I used a D2X as well and brought only another spare battery because most guest house would have electricity (ones provided by TT) cept for Lake Namtso. You would spend ALOT of time on the road so prepare for it (i.e. making sure window can wind up and down and getting a bag that is like CompuTrekker to access equipment easily) and don't fall asleep!!! AMS pills might help (with side effects) as you are landing at 3.5Km but you'd need to take before hand. Just don't get overexcited, you'd be fine.
Internation SOS? It's not that bad lar... just normal insurance would do and the guides / driver look after you. In fact, if you speak chinese well then I would contemplate just a driver alone. It's really quite safe there as I went out on my own even as early as 5am in the morning, but only harassment i had was when i took pictures near the bridge at Lhasa in fact further away from Lhasa the safer it becomes. No sweets please, maybe buy the local
Tsampa to give instead. Some monks are fake, but in general I avoid people who approach me cept inside the monastery e.g. Sera where the monk themselves are learning english.
Good luck and enjoy yourself, its really nice there especially outside of Lhasa. I'll try to post a series of pictures of Tibet (on separate thread) so you get an idea of what to expect in each location. Watch Kundun!
And in my opinion, the best looking Tibetans are performing at the cultural show in Jiu Zhai Gou.
Om Mani Padme Hum.