How to Find Cheap Hotels in Lhasa Tibet

Home of the Dalai Lama, Lhasa, Tibet, is the Mecca of Buddhism. Modernization and Chinese influence have crept their way into the city, but it's still a city that amazes.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Credit card
• Passport or visa
• Computer with Internet access

Know Your Destination

1. Join a tour group, as all foreigners visiting Tibet must be part of one. Groups can have just one person.
2. Obtain a TTB permit, which is required to purchase a plane ticket into Tibet once you are part of a group.
3. Stick to the Eastern, Tibetan part of the city, rather than the Western, Chinese section. The Chinese quarter is much like any other town in China.

Organize Transportation in Lhasa, Tibet

4. Arrive by air at Gonggar Airport, 61 miles south of the city. Buses pick up passengers of all incoming flights. There are a few buses leaving for the airport from the city each day.
5. Arrive by bus at the long-distance bus station in the southwest of the city.
6. Get around Lhasa by taxi or private minibus, which are convenient and can transport you for fairly cheap rates.
7. Get a taxi if you need to get to and from the airport quickly. A shared taxi is cheaper.

Find Accommodations in Lhasa, Tibet

8. Stay in Lhasa's backpacker hotels, the best bet for cheap accommodations.
9. Consider staying in one of the nicer and not quite as cheap rooms, which are on par with those in more expensive luxury hotels.
10. Prepare to pay a 10 to 15 percent service charge for hotel accommodations.

Be Familiar With Local Information

11. Be sure to check out Lhasa's sacred sites. The 1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple is the holiest shrine in Tibet. Unfortunately, some of its original art was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, although those have been duplicated. Barkhor, the pilgrim circuit around the periphery of the temple, is lined with shops, stalls, teahouses and hawkers. A walk through Barkhor is the perfect introduction to Tibet.
12. Join Buddhist pilgrims at Potala Palace, a former seat of the Tibetan government. During the winter, you may even see the Dalai Lama.
13. To book accommodations in Lhasa, Tibet, call South Travels at 011-63-35-419-8329 or visit the link below.

Tips & Warnings

• All plane tickets to Lhasa must be purchased through a travel agency.
• Connecting flights can be discounted up to 20 percent.
• The long-distance bus station servicing other cities in Tibet does not sell tickets to foreigners.
• Most Chinese taxi drivers do not know the Tibetan names of sites, even the major ones.
• For further information on travel in Tibet, head for the courtyard of a Tibetan hotel.
• Find a travel buddy or a second-hand travel book on a hotel notice board.