Tibet - China

Entry/Visa:

Many nationalities can enter China visa free for up to 15 days. Those include:

Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia, Poland.

Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months. Some other nationalities need a visa to enter China.

Should the duration of the stay exceed 15 days, you must apply for the visa yourself or hire an agency to do so. Due to frequent changes in the application procedure, we recommend using an agency. Although you can apply for the visa yourself, it is only slightly more expensive to hire an agency and often saves a lot of work. The visa for China costs approximately EUR 300. More detailed information on the visa can be found in a specific appendix after booking upon request.

Depending on the tour, we ride Royal Enfield Bullet 500 motorcycles (manufactured between 2014 and 2017) as well as the Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 and the new Himalayan 450.

The Royal Enfield Bullet 500 is the classic model and features electric starters, 5-speed gearboxes with the gearshift on the left, front disc brakes, roomy and rugged leather saddlebags, crash bars, 19” tires, and twin horns.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 and Himalayan 450 are modern adventure motorcycles, designed for long-distance touring and rough roads. They offer comfortable ergonomics, long-travel suspension, and strong single-cylinder engines, making them well suited for the diverse road conditions encountered on our tours.

A travel day normally begins at 8 am with breakfast. Around 9 am, after a short briefing by the road captain, it’s time for the day’s riding, the mileage of which can vary quite a bit. Plenty of time will be available for lunch and coffee breaks, of course. Depending on the day’s mileage, we’ll reach the destination hotel between 3 and 4 pm.
Since our tours vary considerably, we may also hit the road at 8 am on high-mileage days – which is also nice, because then we have the whole day ahead of us.

Your baggage will be carried by the support vehicle. Please don’t pack too much – remember: less is more. From time to time, we’ll have to carry our baggage over short distances to the hotel. Baggage is not insured, so please be sure to purchase your own baggage insurance for the trip if necessary. Your personal items for the day are best kept in the saddlebags or your daypack. Tank bags – including magnetic ones – can be used on the Enfields, but we don’t provide them.

All riders must have a valid motorcycle driving license issued in their home country. An international driving license is also required. Be sure to contact the relevant authorities in your home country well in advance for more information on obtaining an international driving license.

Documents – Please note: With your confirmed booking, we require a scan of your passport (data page only), your international driving permit (both sides), and one passport photo.

Six weeks before the start of the tour, we also require a scan of your Chinese visa (which can be applied for no earlier than three months before the start of the tour / entry into China).

The scans should be submitted in original size on one A4 page.

Groups generally consist of 8 to 14 riders and 2 to 6 passengers. The minimum number of participants is 6 riders.

Yes, all passengers have a guaranteed seat. In bad weather or challenging riding conditions, they can switch to the support vehicle at any time – and back to the bike when conditions improve.

We always recommend that you take out travel insurance to cover costs incurred if you need to cancel the trip due to illness or other reasons. When shopping for travel health insurance, make sure the policy covers the potentially high cost of medical evacuation to your home country. Both forms of insurance can save you a lot of money in an emergency and we recommend them unreservedly. In many countries, your national motoring organization can provide the coverage you need.

You will definitely want to bring your riding suit with protectors and a helmet. You will also need motorcycle boots or lighter riding shoes and gloves. While your gear should be breathable in hot climates, you need to be ready for anything at high altitudes and in the Himalayas. We recommend winter gloves, warm socks, liners for jackets and trousers, a scarf and face protection. Rain gear is a good idea if your riding suit is not waterproof.
Please note that we do not hire out clothing. We believe that your own riding gear will fit best and thus give you the best protection. If you forget anything, we’ll find a solution, however. We often have spare gear with us, or we can point you in the direction of a shop.

Oxygen: From Lhasa onwards, we have access to medical oxygen that can supply a person with oxygen for up to 24 hours.

Furthermore, you should contact a doctor who can prescribe Diamox, a medication that can be taken in advance to prevent altitude sickness. Groups taking Diamox rarely experience altitiude-related illnesses. For the smooth running of your trip as well as your personal health and well-being, we strongly recommend considering taking Diamox.

Mostly paved with some exceptions. Sections of road are often resurfaced and are therefore temporarily in poor condition.

The paved road is generally in good condition, sometimes with the occasional pothole of loose gravel. However, there are also sections with excellent new asphalt where you can enjoy European-level (or better) driving conditions and really let loose. Extreme caution is always advised in wet conditions due to the difficult-to-detect oil or diesel spills.

You should be able to handle a motorcycle confidently, and riding on winding mountain roads should generally not pose a problem. Any initial uncertainty will disappear once you get used to the local traffic. Our tour guide will also provide helpful tips for riding in China and explain the rules of the road at the beginning of the trip. The basic rule is: the larger vehicle has the right of way.

The currency in China is the CNY (Chinese Renminbi). The exchange rate is approximately 1 Euro to 7.56 CNY (as of May 2020). The CNY is not a freely convertible currency, therefore it is not available at every bank in Europe.

The exchange rate is set by the Bank of China and can be viewed at the following address: http://www.boc.cn/sourcedb/whpj/enindex.html. The most sensible approach is to withdraw a larger amount of CNY from an ATM using any major credit card or debit card immediately upon arrival in China.

Our local tour guide will assist you with this. Since the exchange rate for the CNY is usually very unfavorable in Europe, it is not worthwhile exchanging large amounts of CNY in Europe beforehand. Furthermore, cash can also be withdrawn from numerous ATMs in Lhasa.

Our experience shows that most participants spend around 20 euros per day. This amount is only sometimes exceeded when larger souvenir purchases are made.