Beijing to Tibet/Nepal
 

Hello everyone!
I will be in Beijing for a little over a month from late July to late August. I would like to travel from Beijing to Tibet, possibly even crossing over into Nepal. How feasible is this? I am guessing air transportation does not exist into Tibet, so how would you all go about finding transporation to the Tibetan border? Also, any estimates on how much such a trip cost? At most I would be spending 2-3 days in Tibet/Nepal.

Hope you don't take offense, but answering your questions is pointless given your last statement. Unless you grew up in Mexico City, Cuzco or even Denver, you would need several days to acclimatize to Lhasa's higher elevation.

Take a look at lonely planet's website for more information.

I doubt I'll be bothered by the elevation. I'm an avid hiker and frequently camp at high elevation (3000 meters +) for many days at a time. Thanks for the concern though.

This website was very helpful when I was locating the following information:
Roundtrip airfare from PEK-Lhasa (LXA) runs about $600. Hiring a 4WD from Lhasa to the Tibetan border is about $120 roundtrip, and it's a 500km drive. Then I have to arrange a Nepalese visa, and then board a bus to Kathmandu. China also seems to make it difficult to re-enter Tibet from Nepal.

Well, it was interesting to at least look into a trip such as this. Unfortunately It's looking like a trip like the one I just described would require at least two weeks of travelling to make it worthwhile. I'll probably have to plan this trip for a later date. Additionally, I'll be in China on a student visa and it appears that only foreigners on a tourist visa are admitted into Tibet, student and business visas are not allowed, apparently.

You certainly could fly from Beijing to Lhasa, an one-way full fare Economy Class ticket (Y Class) should be around RMB2,400 (Less than US$300) if you purchase via a local travel agency or the airline ticker office in Beijing.

To the best of my understanding, Air China offers a daily flight between Beijing to Lhasa via Chengdu, the flight out of Beijing is CA4112, normally leaves Beijing at 07:10 and arrive in Lhasa at 12:10, operating aircraft would normally be either a B757 or A340.

For inbound flight from Lhasa to Beijing via Chengdu, CA4111 normally leaves Lhasa at 13:00 and arrive in Beijing 17:45. Again, operating aircraft would normally be either a B757 or A340.

Cheers.