Has anyone been to Tibet recently (in the last year)?

I would like to go next summer and want to know what the process of applying for the different visas was like?

Thanks for any help!

It's called an entry permit, not a visa. You need to have a valid China visa (tourist, work, whatever) as well.

To gain entry to Tibet, you need to hire a tour agency and apply through them. At this time, all foreigners must be accompanied by a licensed tour guide.

So I need to sign up with a tour group? :( BLEH...

That's to make sure you see the right people and the right things and not the wrong people and the wrong things, thought they'll probably tell you it's for your security.

Well, at least I can go, even if it is with a tourist group :) Seeing some of it is better than seeing none of it!

does need to be group of people from same country? It was 3y ago, I was told in Chengdu that I need to be at least 5 people with passport from same country.

What are the prices like for the tours?

Last time I was in Lhasa - thats about 1.5 years ago - Lhasa had got traffic jams and the air was quite bad too. Well, fair enough, there were sandstorms too, but the main roads were stuck. Same Seven Wolves shops and what not else, yea, to exaggerate a bit, it could have been Shenzhen - with some obvious control mechanism differences of course.

If the hassle seems too much just choose the tibetan areas of Sichuan and Qinghai, they got a lot more to give.

I'm not sure about the single country requirement. My wife went on a trip there about a year ago with people from Singapore, Malaysia and China. They had enough people for a small bus though, so it may be different from small groups.

Well, as I said :-)

www.gokunming.com/[...]

There is a section of tibet which no permit is required.
Kham, the eastern grasslands of the tibet plateau is pristine with very few tourists.4000m altitude.
Tagong, Litang and many other small towns and villages.
7 hours by bus from chendu to Kanding and westward.