When to leave for India?

[Chancer]

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on when would the latest possible time of year be to leave the UK through Europe,Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and on to India without facing the full force of winter.

I have the opportunity to get away and have been planning this for some time so the bike, kit, paperwork etc is almost taken care of however due to work commitments I now may not be able to leave at the beginning of September as originally planned.

I am still aiming to leave this year and have had a good trawl through previous posts, world weather websites etc and reckon that mid October would probably be as late as I could comfortably leave. I appreciate I may have less time to spend in more northern countries than I would have liked however I think I would rather do this than delay the trip for 6 months.

Has anyone travelled towards Quetta late on in the year and going on the advice of those with more experience, would it be better to delay for 6 months rather than try and catch up the good weather?

Cheers

[Simon Kennedy]

Your problem is the high altitude of eastern Turkey and northern Iran rather than Pakistan.

I crossed through these areas in early November and it was seriously cold. Not impossibly cold, but there was black ice on some of the roads in the mountains that stayed around most of the morning. The snow on the road melted quickly, but another few weeks and we would have been in trouble. Heavy snowfall in Iran blocks many routes.

So my advice would be, late October departure is realistically the last date, although you might be able to push this onto the first week on November, if you have luck. But I wouldn't chance it myself. Turning around at this point would be crappy.

Once you descend from the altitude of northern Iran, the weather is milder. The south is warm. You might get a chill in the passes before Quetta, but it is not a big issue.

Bring warm clothing, heated if possible and you will be okay. Get your visas sorted out. Be prepared and you can do it. As for comfortable...hmm, not really a criterion we use around here very often.

You will, of course, have to accept that you wont see much of Europe and Turkey. But India is the goal, and you will have an intense and extremely memorable time. All in all it is still a doable plan. It is invariably best to go if you have half a chance, as other things have a habit of coming along.

Simon

[pecha72]

We went from Greece to Turkey on October 25th last year, and crossed into Iran from Gurbulak/Bazargan border (Dogubayazit) on November 2nd. I wouldnt have left it any later.

Eastern Turkey is the area, where it can really get cold, as its mountain area, and the roads run quite high, too. Unless you go right in the middle of the winter, the rest of the way should be tolerable, though nights can get chilly in Iran, too. Likely to get real warm by the time you get close to Pakistan.

[The 314559]

A folk tale in Eastern Turkey mentions cats freezing as they jump from one roof to the other...