Why Travel to Tibet?

"You have to put up with a lot to get up onto the "rooftop of the world" - bureaucracy & permits, distance & flights, unpaved roads & long drives, poverty & filth, altitude sickness, headaches, nose bleeds, and dust... lots of dust. "But make it to Tibet and you will be rewarded with a surfeit of sensory experiences. A Tibet tour will delight and challenge your senses with smells, tastes and colors you have never experienced before. Good or bad, you’ll discover the fetid odor of yak butter and incense that smacks of hashish. You’ll taste rich, savory stews of spicy yak, crisp Asian pears, and sweet local melons ... " -- by Ken Exner, 2002

But why you must go to Tibet?

Because it's UNIQUE!
It's Landscape!	It's People!	It's Religion!

In brief the irresistable charm of Tibet comes from three aspects:

• Splendid Landscape
• Smiling Tibetan People
• Unique Religion - Tibetan Buddhism

Some more quotes will prove it ---

No matter how one gets there, a trip to Tibet is a journey out of the ordinary. It gives fresh meaning to the old label: the trip of a lifetime (or perhaps several of them, if reincarnation proves to be true).

I'm not a religious person, or even very spiritual, but this place awakens childhood wonder and silences the ego. Put simply, this place puts me in my place.

- Envoy Travel's Travelogue, 2002

Well, we spent one helluva rollercoaster month in Tibet, up and down mountains and up 'n down emotions. It was a very confusing mix of good and bad, pleasure and discomfort, beautiful and ugly. The biggest and most obvious contrast is the Chinese with the Tibetans -- and corresponding architecture, food, spirituality (or lack thereof), etc.

-- Curtis David Draves, 2002

The people. In all my travels, I have never, ever met people so willing and eager to laugh. Although there are, of course, exceptions and of course people who have little to laugh about, the vast majority of people we met--whether beggars or children, lamas or shopkeepers--were almost always on the verge of a smile, if not a grin. Laughter seems to come easily to these people and the influence such a "small" thing can have on your day and your experience is absolutely enormous.

-- David from Chicago 2001

Next: How to get there?