Eastern Tibet offers quite a different Tibet. Here you will see wide forest and grassland. It is much more green then the dry, desertlike high plateau in the west. It is not quite as high here but the valleys are much deeper. In practice this means the passes are less high but the climbs much longer.

Some infos about eastern Tibet that differ from the rest of Tibet sind.

Big parts of eastern Tibet (Kham & Amdo) lie outside the TAR (Tibet autonomous region). This means there is no need for an ATP (Alien travel permit) here, a normal visa is fine. That does not mean that this area is always open to foreigners. If Tibet is closed for foreigners it often means that this area is closed too. To find out what is open and what not is often difficult. The police cannot tell you. You only find out when you are there. So your best source of information is other travellers.

Good places to extend your visa:

• Zhongdian (Shangri La). Here you get an extension within 20 minutes!
• Songpan. Some day visa extension too