How to transform yourself from a "tourist" into an "explorer" when traveling to Tibet?

Maybe because I am a girl and not very fond of dangerous travel activities, so I don’t know how to answer your question directly. But I traveled through Tibet by car. Unfortunately, I did not go to northern Tibet or western Tibet. But during the self-driving process, I personally felt that the most beautiful place in Tibet is not the scenic spots, but the road. Or maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many beautiful places in China, especially Sichuan, that I’m not surprised.

The most roads in Tibet are similar to those in Xinjiang. They are all next door, but Tibet is in the mountains next door, hahaha. My favorite is the section from Nujiang 72 to Lingzhi. I think it is very beautiful.

On the way back and forth, I will try to slow down as much as possible during this journey. Stay as long as possible. But there are also worse things. Because I was born in the 1990s and grew up in Beijing, I may have never lived in a village. On the way to Tibet, it was my first time to experience what a village guest house was like. That's really hard to describe. The whole village was full of Tibetan compatriots, and I was scared because I couldn't understand what they were saying at all. There is no hotel in the whole village, only one guest house. If you want to sleep in the car, you have no choice. So if you drive there and don’t have a guide, it’s best to stop as soon as you see a bigger county seat and don’t rush. Otherwise, although the navigation says there are big county towns 200 kilometers ahead, it may take 4-6 hours to drive the 200 kilometers on mountain roads. It's hard to drive.

As for other attractions, such as the three holy seas and each Gyatso, it means sea in Tibetan. It's a bit like Sichuan people who call big lakes the sea. I think the religious significance is greater than the scenery.

I don’t know if it helps you. If I didn’t make it clear, you are welcome to leave a message and I will add it at any time.

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How to become an "explorer" when traveling in Tibet

My understanding is not comprehensive, and everyone is welcome to correct me!

After all, I have been "exploring" Tibet for 20 years. Like everyone else, I was just a tourist when I went there in 1999. I was a penniless loser at the time, but I came with the purpose of being an "explorer". At that time, there was a row of sellers in Potala Palace Square. I searched for a small store for clothing and travel supplies for a long time, but there was no "Explorer" brand. A kind person told me that there was an "Explorer" store opposite the TV station. Old Lhasa people should know this, so I The first piece of clothing I bought in Lhasa was "Explorer".

What did I go to Lhasa to explore?

I have always been a tourism worker. I have experienced the pain of "Farewell to the Three Gorges", when profits plummeted from four digits to single digits, and I have also experienced the "revolution" in Jiuzhaigou, from group tourism to Individual travelers join group tours, and shopping malls are overwhelming. Traveling without rebates is impossible.

I am defeated.

At that time, Tibet was very distant and mysterious in people’s eyes. Not to mention tourism, there was only one sleeper car every week from Chongqing Caiyuanba Long-distance Bus Station. The fare was 800 yuan. How long? One week, or For a long time, sleeper cars did not dare to run on the Sichuan-Tibet Line at that time, and the only option was to use the Qinghai-Tibet Line, which was more than 1,000 kilometers long. The ticket price was equivalent to two months' salary of an ordinary person at that time. In aviation, only Chengdu United Airlines (both military and civilian) was flying Tu-154 at that time, and there were also IL-76 transport aircraft sitting opposite. Air China tickets are out of reach for ordinary people and expensive. What about trains? It was opened in 2006, 7 years later.

I asked an acquaintance to buy a 600 Tu 154 ticket to Lhasa.

Then, just to show that I came to Tibet to "explore", I bought a 400 Lots of down jackets (the cheapest ones).

Exploring is to explore a Tibetan tourism road that Chinese people can afford. Why do you say this? In 1999, the Tibet Autonomous Region received 448,547 inbound tourists throughout the year, including 108,224 overseas tourists, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%, completing 119.4% of the annual plan; and 340,323 domestic tourists. That is, the ratio of domestic and foreign guests is 3:1. This must exclude the number of mainlanders who come to Tibet to work and are purely tourists. At that time, our estimate was at most 1:1, or even less. The space in this market may be worth "exploring"!

Next, there is the issue of money and the travel agency license. Of course, I will not go into details about how I got 830,000 yuan to acquire the local travel agency. , it should be noted that there were only 24 travel agencies in Lhasa at that time, most of them were international agencies, that is, receiving foreign guests was their main business.

Through ups and downs, I have been "exploring" in Lhasa for 20 years.

In the past 20 years, I have made a per capita profit of more than 800 yuan, and achieved a per capita discount of 1,200 yuan. Haha, everyone said this is unreasonable, and the negative tour fees have spread to the world-class tourist destination - Tibet. Sad!

In fact, in 2010, when tour guides from Hainan, Yunnan and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan flocked to Lhasa, I realized that there was no way to stop this "tourism" of shopping with group fees. At this time, I aimed at self-driving travel.

These are my "explorations" for traveling. In fact, at this age (50 years old), I should do some of the things I want to do. Although the advance payment and the negative tour fee knocked me down again and became a veritable "negative man", my feelings for Tibet and my dedication to this land cannot be given up. I returned to Chengdu in 2015 and began to Another "exploration".

I have been familiar with the secret land of Tibet for 15 years. I have set a very high starting point for this "exploration", high-end customization, because I am not only a driver, I hope to lead Leading high-end tourists into Tibet to explore Tibet’s geography, culture, customs and secrets. These secrets are what I have accumulated over the past 20 years.

1. What should we pay attention to?

Answer: Compared with other places, the most important thing to pay attention to when going to Tibet is altitude sickness.

I have been to Tibet many times, and I was worried about altitude sickness at first. However, after actually walking through it, I found that altitude sickness was far less serious than I thought in advance, and was more of a psychological effect.

Of course, you still need to pay attention, but don’t take it too seriously. According to my experience, when you arrive in Tibet, it is definitely beneficial to treat yourself as an old man and slow down all your movements.

In addition to altitude sickness, coins are not circulated in Tibet, especially in Lhasa. Never give coins to beggars or alms seekers, otherwise they will take it as an insult!

2. Are there any good places you can recommend?

Answer: It can be said that after entering Tibet, except for the densely populated areas of the city, everything is worth recommending! There are views everywhere! No matter where you go, you will be fascinated by it!

3. Can I bring something for self-defense?

Answer: It is strongly recommended that the poster does not bring any self-defense items!

In Tibet, personal safety is far better than in many places in the mainland! The local people (especially Tibetans in remote areas) are actually very simple! Very friendly too.

4. What should we pay attention to?

Answer: This question has been introduced a lot above. Another thing is that in Tibet, don’t show too much curiosity about things you have never seen, especially some religious activities.

5. How about going there to find a group to break up?

Answer: It is not recommended that the poster go to the local area to participate in the tour.

After the poster arrived in Lhasa, he suggested that he stay at the Balangxue Hotel on Beijing East Road, which is a world-famous gathering place for backpackers. There is a notice board specially prepared for backpackers, with a sign posted on it It is full of all kinds of information posted by backpackers. I believe that the author will be able to find like-minded people there, discover a new continent, and determine his next destination (route).

Supplementary answer:

The route chosen by the poster is quite good. Entering Tibet via the Qinghai-Tibet Line, you can experience the magnificence of the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau!

However, flying from Lhasa to Chengdu is a bit of a fly in the ointment.

It is recommended to take a long-distance bus from Lhasa to Chengdu, and experience the beauty of the Sichuan-Tibet Line along the way. It’s just that this journey may be more difficult and difficult.

The main reason is that there is no long-distance bus from Lhasa to Chengdu, so you have to take it in sections. In addition, the departure of some road sections has to be adjusted according to road conditions, and there is no fixed departure date.

But after this journey, the author will never regret it! It's worth trying this hard.

Tourism is different from travel itself, and explorers are at a higher level than travel.

It is not an easy thing to become an explorer in an industry. I think you must first have the spirit of an oil seller. Practice makes perfect. People who have been there less than three times have no say at all. I have been there more than five times, and every time I have carefully planned the route. These routes can cover 80% of the essence of Tibet. Secondly, excellent explorers must learn to stand on the shoulders of giants. We should take the essence of other people’s views and feelings about Tibet and know what they are and why. The last thing is to be original, and re-creation is just copying. Explorers must have their own unique opinions that cannot be imitated by others.

Personally, because I like traveling, my current idea is to become a thoughtful traveler, and I don’t even dare to hope to become an explorer.

Isn’t there a saying that traveling means going to places that others are tired of, but you find them very novel.

When you arrive at a new place, there is a sense of exploration in itself.

The rest is to change the mindset from a tourist passing by to a heart of exploration and knowledge, slow down and feel the unknown.

Therefore, in-depth travel does not necessarily mean going to places with few people. If you have the right mentality, you will have a different feeling even if you are deep in the bustling city.

Tibet is very big. If you want to understand this region in depth, you need time, a lot of time.

For example, Lhasa is a small area, but there are many places worthy of digging deeper. This is also the first stop for most people to Tibet.

For those who like the sun, you can bask in the sun at the Jokhang Temple Square and the Potala Palace Square, go to the Guangming Teahouse to drink tea, and enjoy the tranquility and warmth brought by the title of Sunlight.

There are two teahouses, Guangming Teahouse. Most of the people facing the street are tourists. There is an Old Guangming Teahouse in the alley opposite, where most of the people are locals, so you can go and experience it. Sweet tea is a bit similar to milk tea, and butter tea is something most people can’t get enough of.

After adapting to the high altitude, you can plan your next route. Tibet is divided into several major regions, Nyingchi Region, Shannan Region, Ngari Region, Qamdo Region, Shigatse Region and Nagqu Region.

Generally, it starts from Lhasa and goes to the south of Linzhi Mountain. There are more places in Ngari and Shigatse.

Then, you need a car. If you want to see the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, you can go to the Linzhi area. In fact, you can stay in Pai Town under Namja Bawa for a few more days. You can overlook the south Jiabawa, a close look at the Brahmaputra River.

Shannan area is more cultural, with many historical temples and many hiking routes.

If you want to feel the charm of the 8k-meter peak in the world, go to Shigatse. After two days of departure from Lhasa, drive to Zhufeng Base Camp, continue to Ngari, and arrive at the Guge Dynasty

For these places with history It is a place where it is best to do a knowledge search and understand the history before setting off. Thousands of years later, if we do not understand the history, even if we walk through it, it may really be me who came and I left.

As for the strategies on how to enter Tibet, there are a lot of them on the Internet, and they have been publicized by countless people. You must go 318 in life, no, where you go is very important, but The most important thing is how you feel during the journey.

Going to Tibet is not a conversation piece, but a precious memory in your life. When you are old, it is enough to look back on those days without any regrets.

Tibet is a fascinating tourist destination! It is one of the destinations that many people plan to travel to! Nowadays, there are many people going to Tibet to travel, hike, drive by themselves, or even travel on a budget. It is indeed one of the hot spots for travel and adventure in our country!

Of course, everyone’s purpose and way of traveling to Tibet are different. Many self-driving, budget travel, and adventure hiking travelers basically have full preparations and plans, and some do it to achieve their own life goals. And some of them are to achieve a more perfect adventure experience, and some are to try their best to become an Internet celebrity! So there will always be various stories happening or meeting all kinds of travelers on the journey to Tibet!

Returning to the essence of this problem, to change from a tourist to an explorer, you must also look at the purpose and method of traveling to Tibet and your own mentality. The motherland has a vast territory and rich resources, with 56 ethnic groups and numerous provinces and cities. Each place and the people in each place have their own humanistic characteristics. If we want to understand the differences and characteristics of all places, the time and cost will be huge. , which is also not available to ordinary people.

Going to Tibet is just a trip. Maybe I didn’t have much thought and preparation before starting the trip, so it can basically be said to be just a quick trip. But with the beginning of the journey and exposure to and experience of the different local cultures, the purpose of the trip may have subtly changed and increased deep in my heart! Therefore, the mentality of being "fresh" and "going with the crowd to watch the excitement" has changed. At this time, in fact, we only need to seriously and as deeply as possible experience and understand the local humanistic characteristics, and develop the curiosity and desire to understand in our hearts. On the deeper side, I may have slowly and involuntarily transformed from an ordinary tourist into an explorer with a desire to explore the local culture. This is just a change that occurs unconsciously during the journey. The most important thing is that it depends on the individual. cognitive needs!

When traveling to Tibet, how do you change yourself from a tourist to an explorer? I will answer this question with some of my own thoughts:

First, physically, some people who travel to Tibet cannot There are high reflexes, so if you want to go to Tibet, you must first have a very healthy body that can adapt to the climate conditions of Tibet. The body is the capital of revolution. When going to plateau areas like Tibet, the body is also very important.

Second, stay curious about things. You are unlikely to be interested in exploring things that do not make you curious. Curiosity is what drives you to explore the outside world.

Third, time and a thirst for knowledge. Just taking a quick tour will not transform you from a tourist into an explorer. Maybe you are just a little interested and want to know more, but time does not allow you. Therefore, you need enough time and a thirst for knowledge, which will allow you to constantly explore things you don’t understand and unknown to enrich your knowledge and experience.

The above are what I personally think are the conditions needed to transform from a tourist to an explorer. Interested friends can discuss it together!

Tourism is different from travel itself, and explorers are at a higher level than travel.

Personally, because I like traveling, my current idea is to become a thoughtful traveler, and I don’t even dare to hope to become an explorer.

From my personal point of view, tourists go to well-known scenic spots, while explorers go to places that are relatively pristine for development.

Tourists only enjoy the scenery as bystanders. The most extreme case is to sleep in the car, get the wrong license plate, and the circle of friends is full of selfies. As for the customs and customs, they will not be there after they have been there. There are too many insights, but explorers slow down, search carefully, integrate into the lives of locals, and slowly understand the local customs.

Explorers generally don’t like well-known attractions because most of them have too heavy a commercial atmosphere. , it doesn’t make much sense

There are also differences in travel methods. Tourists usually follow a group or simply drive by themselves, while explorers usually drive professionally, cycle or hike.

First, physically , some people traveling in Tibet will have high reflexes, so to go to Tibet, first of all, you must have a very healthy body that can adapt to the climate conditions of Tibet. The body is the capital of revolution. When going to plateau areas like Tibet, the body is also very important.

Second, stay curious about things. You are unlikely to be interested in exploring things that do not make you curious. Curiosity is what drives you to explore the outside world.

Third, time and a thirst for knowledge. Just taking a quick tour will not transform you from a tourist into an explorer. Maybe you just have a little interest and want to know more, but time does not allow you. Therefore, you need enough time and a thirst for knowledge, which will allow you to constantly explore things you don’t understand and unknown to enrich your knowledge and experience.

The above are what I personally think are the conditions needed to transform from a tourist to an explorer. Interested friends can discuss it together!