from india to pakistan and iran
 

hi everybody..me and my wife are travelling around the world with a bmw 1150 gs .we are in india at the moment trying to get the visa to be able to cross pakistan and iran. does anybody knows wich is the best route to choose for crossing pakistan right now ? how are the condicions of the roads ? thanks in advance
paolo

Hello,
Plan A..: If you are lucky enough to get Pakistani visa in India,only 1 bordergate available between these 2 countres.That is Amritsar which will take you to Lahore in Pakistan.Between Multan Pakistan and Kerman Iran,you will have to follow several escorts..

Possibly you will meet members of MAP(friendly local bikers) in Lahore and will be donated with all current information for Pakistani roads.

Plan B..:You may be in need of shipping your bike to Turkey or Dubai by sea or airfreight from India or Nepal..

Lets keep in touch to talk about details according to the ability of getting visa for Pakistan in India..

Wish you all the best..

ok..thanks for the answer..next week i'll arrive in dehli.. i'll try to get the iranian visa first and after i'll try to go to the pakistani embassy to get the visa for pakistan..i have a contact in islamabad who can send me an invitation (for me and my wife 100 us dollars) to help us getting the visa . but first of all i want to be sure to have the iranian one.
in case do you know if it's better passing through karachi after beeing in lahore ? i know it's out of the route but i have read that it's safer..no?
the plan B is to drive back to kathmandu where i allready have a crate..but i would really like to drive back home to Italy passing through pakistan and iran..
keep in touch
paolo

Hi Paolo, and welcome to the HUBB
As for personal experience: since 2010 you can only apply for a pak visa in your own homecountry, unless you're resident in the country you're attempting to apply for it, at least since six months.
It has happened to me on 2010, when i was in Tashkent heading to China.
We were on struggle to send back our passports to Italy, tryng to apply over there, but we're in a hurry due to a meeting point at Torugart to get to China.
We took the "risk" to reach Sost border post and we were "lucky" to get it there.
I do not know if you are on a such time schedule, otherwise you can consider to courier the passports back to Italy to be processed (i can't swear for any guarantee).

...hope to get wrong myself.

www.lungastrada.it

Road between Lahore to Sukkur is fine and between Sukkur and Quetta damaged due to floods but ordinary cars regularly travel on it so shouldnt be a problem for bikes. Quetta to Taftan is again not bad for 3rd world standards despite occasional sand dunes on the road.

Crossing Pakistan without travelling on the KKH would be unfair with the traveller so try to spare ample time for it. KKH itself and its adjoining valleys are superb, simply out of this world.

Cheers
Omar

I can confirm what Dr. Omar says, Hi Omie, it's true.
We rode along the KKH from China to Islamabad, including a diversion along the stunning Kagan valley and Babusar pass. Absolutely not to miss.
You can't get through Pakistan without ride the KKH...
But Pakistan worth a trip for its people too.

thank you for the tips guys...very helpful...i'm still in delhi waiting for the visas ...i'll definely consider the idea of doing a part of the KKH...my only problem at the moment is TIME. i'm travelling since one and a half year and absolutely i have to be back in italy for june...let you know if i can get the visas..
thanks again
paolo

hi everybody..
i`m in delhi at the moment..i got the pakistani and iranian visa and probably tomorrow me and my wife are heading to Pakistan. we got stuck here in delhi for some problems with the clutch oil seal but fortunately we met a great mechanic who has knowledge on every kind of bike and has seen almost of the problems a biker can have.. he is very helpful and affordable compared to the official bmw shop in delhi. the bmw shop here tried to fix the bike ,couldn`t find the problem, but still charged us a lot of money.
if anybody needs his contact please get in touch with me .he worked in management in Ducati for many years..

Hello PS ,

Let me know once u reach your stop .

GUESS WHO !!!!

POMPA DE BENZINA ;)

hi ps! it's bruno and nathalie and we will doing next month more or less the same route like you. nice to see that you got all your visas that you needed. How many days you had to wait in delhi for this two visas pakistan and irani? I hope you will have a very nice trip. thanks