NEPAL/ TIBET
Bus sans passengers
The Nepal state-owned Sajha Yatayat resumed its Kathmandu-Lhasa bus service from 1 January, though the passengers were less than excited. In fact there were no passengers, and an empty bus was finally forced to leave Kathmandu for Lhasa. This was not because no one bought tickets, which dozens of Nepali and foreign tourists had reportedly done, shelling out the USD 70 necessary for the 955-km-long trip. The problem was that the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu refused to grant visas to a single one of them.
Despite some easing in recent years, Chinese visas to Tibet are still generally issued to tourists travelling in groups, and that too after stringent scrutiny. In the end, Sajha was forced to send a bus with only two people aboard – a driver and a helper – in order to demonstrate respect for the agreement that had been reached between the two countries.
The shuttle first became operational in May 2005, based on an agreement signed in 1994 to promote tourism in Nepal and China. The service was short-lived, however, and was eventually suspended in 2006. Last November, an exchange of road permits between Sajha representatives and Himalayan Transportation, on behalf of Tibet/China, led to the theoretical revival of the service – though no one appears to have told the Chinese Foreign Ministry. In all this, it appears to be a matter of the Tibetan authorities enthusiastically wanting something the Chinese authorities are more than willing to thwart.