Hey Pete
Thats great news!
Good luck finding a couple more adventurers for your path through XiZang. Keep us posted on your travels...here preferably if possible.
Also, if you could pass on any helpful advice for future overlanders as to how you were able to make this happen it would be greatly appreciated I’m sure.
Tibet and China
Good morning
I'm not sure where to post this on the forum for the info you asked me to provide, so may i provide it to you and could you put it into the appropriate forum please
Tibet & China on a Kiwi Passport.
As of April 2025, it is really difficult if not impossible for Kiwis to move through Myanmar. NZ travel site says it is a no-go area at present.
The only way to get your vehicle moving east is to ship it out of India, or go through Nepal, up to Tibet and across China and down into Laos.
The great thing is that China has opened up its borders for a free visa to 36 countries. NZ is one of them.
The only stipulation is that you must have a guide with you at all times, and believe me it is a must to have a guide as it is so much easier.
We chose a Tibetan travel tour company for our trip. "Tibet roof of the world.' What an amazing company, and guide. Authentic, honest and ethical. (Tibetroofoftheworld.com)
For us having a Tibetan company talking authentically about Tibet was preferable to a Chinese company - giving Chinese propaganda. We met many other tourists who had a Chinese tour guide who wished for Tibetan guide like we had.
For a 14 day self-guided tour with a guide and in our own car was $US5500. This included:
3* plus hotels + breakfast - they were fabulous.
Entry to all events, cultural sites and museums etc
Oxygen - wow did we need it at Everest Base Camp!!!! - 17,100 feet
If you are a single person there is a single room supplement of $US500 extra.
Guides Tibetan knowledge on where to go.
We crossed into Tibet from the Nepal side at Timure, which is above Kathmandu and is called The Friendship Bridge.
The crossing took 9 hours. I recommend staying close to the border the day before you cross to get an early start, and because the roads are terrible. 58 minutes to go 12.5km from Timure to the border.
Make sure you get your Carnet stamped at customer in Timure.
They close the border between 1300 - 1430 hrs for lunch. Nothing happens. The Gates on the bridge are closed and padlocked.
Once through the Nepalese side, you will need your guide for the Chinese side. It makes a huge huge difference having the guide to assist.
Be aware - The Chinese will ask you if you have any maps. They are looking for Chinese maps with Taiwan on it. If you do, they will confiscate this map. They are very ‘precious’ on this.
The roads on the Chinese side are very good.
Making our way to Kyirong through the mtns was just spectacular and breath-taking.
Note: Internet and connecting with the outside world in China is incredibly limited in China. Our accounts were closed down. We had to carefully use a VPN, to have any contact outside of China.
Each night at the hotel or entry into a place, you will need to have your passport with you and show it. They will take a photo of it. Also on the roads, in cities, there are cameras every 100m. On some open roads, there are cameras every 1 km. Get used to being photographed and having your car photographed.
Drivers Licence and Temporary Car Rego
Your guide will help you get this at Shigatse if you come in from the west side. It is a
MUST. Don’t try and drive without either of these items. At toll booths toward the east you will be asked to produce both. If you don’t have them, you go nowhere.
Getting these items was another 8-9 hours in Shigatse as they do all the checks on you and the car.
I used the time to go to Toyota Shigatse and get my car checked and serviced. (We are driving a 2021 Rav4 hybrid) They were brilliant and didn’t charge us for the service. It was their welcome gift, to China they said.
NOTE: They reduced the tyre pressure from 35psi to 25psi. When I asked why it was due to the high altitude. We were about 4000m. Be aware of this requirement so you look after your tyres.
Moving across Tibet/China is relatively hassle free, The roads are good, but be aware, when you stop, or are at your residence for the night you will be stared at and your personal space invaded because the Chinese and Tibetans are curious. With a foreign number plate, they will look inside your car without being invited. They are not being rude, just curious - although it does grate. You will be treated like a minor celebrity. Flow with it.
The normal question you will be asked is, “Where you from?”
Having crossed Tibet and China, we made for the Mengla border with China and Laos.
This was pretty hassle free. Just ensure your guide has the required paperwork for the border crossing, otherwise you waste hours waiting for it.
Be aware - the border closed from 1130 - 1430 hrs for ‘lunch.’ Get there early and get through. As of Aril. Opening time was 080 hrs. Laos side is 0730 hrs. You go back an hour entering Laos.
The journey
It is absolutely worth going through Tibet with a Tibetan guide. For us E.B.C. and Mt Everest, both at Base Camp and then looking at the Himalayas from the Pangla pass (after 97 switch-backs) was a highlight.
Be aware - of altitude sickness. We struggled to breath at times and needed oxygen. Use it, it makes the trip more enjoyable.
Be aware - The amount of dangerous overtaking has to be seen to be believed. We travelled during the day with our spotlights and headlights on full. It’s the only way to stop the stupidity of it, as they possibly thought we were closer than we were with the beams of spotlights piercing toward them.
And then at roadworks when there is a long long line of traffic, they pull out to get in front of as many cars as possible. That then causes traffic jam and everything becomes gridlocked. It is just ridiculous, dangerous and so so selfish. We had several “near misses.”
