I booked my spot on the Tibet tour on July 5th and at that time was told I would have to wait for a month for final confirmation that the tour would depart as scheduled - we needed a minimum of 5 passengers and only 4 had signed up at that time. If not, I had the option of joining a group that was leaving a few days earlier - which I could do but didn't want to because it would have been smack dab in the middle of the week which, according to my friend Lei, is when all of China takes off on vacation and goes traveling. Lhasa would be a mob scene - not something I would have enjoyed being in the midst of.
So yesterday I emailed Intrepid to find out about whether or the tour was on. I got a reply back that because there were still only 4 passengers signed up they needed to check with the Tibet field manager and would let me know the next day.
Then, today I got the word that the tour was ON!! Potala Palace, here I come!!
......now, all I have to do is finalize the rest of my travel arrangements - airline tickets, visas, etc.