Things to do, places to go, people to meet - UK to Nepal
 

Hi,

I am leaving the UK in 2 weeks for my journey to Nepal via europe, turkey, pakistan and india. I plan to get to Turkey within a week and then I have 3 months for the rest of the trip. I have a rough plan of my route and 'must see' places to visit. What I would like to know is where people would reccommend i go, and what i should do. The more unusual the better. My idea is to only have a loose plan and fill it in and change it as i go but the more ideas the better, any good road/tracks? I don't mind tarmac or dirt roads, cities or complete countryside. Also if anyone is also in any of these countries at anytime then maybe we could catch up for a night or two.

I look forward to your suggestions!

Cheers

James

good idea but...
 

great to be flexible.
have you got your visas for Iran, Pak and India yet and your carnet sorted?

if not - and you haven't done so already make sure you are knowledgeable about what is required for the visas for Iran and Pakistan. There are plenty of posts here in the HUBB for both countries.

Pakistan - you will be hard pushed to be able to get to those unusual places as you will have a military escort and be told which route they will take you across the country. No choice. Be aware that currently the northern mountain passes are experiencing problems due to flooding etc. the Karakoram Highway is still not open - it may be within a month or two though.

Presumably from Pak you enter India and then Nepal?

You will arrive in Nepal during their monsoon period. Be aware that the route from the Western terai across to Pokhara can suffer due to lots of rain.....

OK - I know I have put up nothing positive so far! sorry!

so -visas and rain aside - this part of the world is amazing and beautiful.....you will have a great time. take the time to enjoy the ride!

Simon and I are currently in Nepal and loving it. we have found it generally to be such as peaceful gentle country - despite the Maoist activities of recent weeks.

send me a PM or email if you need to know anything specific.

Hello James,
hello Lisa,

The run down to Turkey appears to be quite strait forward.
or is it not ?
What route did you decide on ?

However, can you tell be your plans from say,, Istanbul to Nepal?
I would like to consider to go asd far as Beijing, and Nepal is a few steps closer than Istanbul.
Visas for Iran, Pakistan and India, are they difficult, or expensive, or time consuming, or all three ?

Lisa,
How and where did you cross from Turkey to Iran?
How and where did you cross from Iran into Pakistan
And the same for Pakistan into India?

Thanks in advance for any help.

'vette

I have my visas for pakistan and india and have the authorisation code for iran which I am taking to the embassy tomorrow. I am assuming now I have a visa authorisation code the embassy part is just procedure and they are very unlikely to not give me a visa? Carnet again I am paying for tomorrow.

Iam expecting military/ police escort in eastern iran, I didn't realise that I would encounter this in Pakistan too but I suppose with the worsening situation it is not that surprising. I have been checking up on the KKH but it seems quite tough to get up to date info from anywhere? Do you know about the safety of Chitral, travelling from Gilgit not Peshawar?

I am entering Nepal at the beginning of September so I should miss the worst of the rainy season, but obviously the remnants of it will remain (mudslides etc).

Thanks for your comment, I may PM in the next week with some more questions.

Thank you

The route to turkey is nice and easy, through holland, germany austria then down the adriatic coast to greece and accross to Turkey. Getting the visa at the border with turkey. Then to edirne, istanbul down following the mediterrean coast to antalya then to goreme to the north black sea coast. Down past Ani and Van and crossing at the sero border. In iran it is Tabriz Hamadan, Tehran, caspain sea coast, qom, esfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Bam. Across the border to Pakistan, not sure of the route here but onwards to Quetta, islamabad, murree, KKH and gilgit, chitral, skardu, lahore. Then india, amritsar, srinagar, leh, manila, shimla, Delhi, jaipur, jodphur, jaisalmer, gujurat, agra, varanasi. Nepal - not decided yet.
Visas are ok.
India - not a problem quick and simple. £35
Pakistan - absolute nightmare went to the consulate every day for 7 days. Don't tell the you are going by motorbike or going anywhere on the KKH or baluchistan. Just say your going to lahore and islamabad entering from india. (none of the details you submit appear on the visa) £55
Iran- Time consuming took 3 weeks to hear back to get the authorisation code. The I need to go to London for 7 in the morning to queue to collect a ticket, then return the following day at 12.30 to submit my passport. £80 agency fee (persian voyages) £95visa + costs of going to london for two days.

By the way it is very difficult and ridiculously expensive to take a bike into china

Hope that helps

james

Hello James,

Thats great, loads of good information.
So that sort of rout can get me right down to the far eastern border of India.

Then I need just see how to get from India into China.


I will send you a PM.

Hi James,

We are on the Turkish Med coast here

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/cou...ey/kas-antalya

Give us a shout way on your way through.

Cheers,

David

Hi vette,
If you're leaving in less than 2 weeks you'll have to collect your Iran visa on the road ( if excepted!) it's debatable wether you'll get your passport back in time for the off if you do a complete application and collection in the UK. When you apply you can state the country to pick up your visa, so my advice would be apply now and pick up a month down the road.

The KKH is a no go at the moment due to earthquake damage, well north of Gilgit (best bit) at least and if the dam breaks, nobody knows!.
Did that route recently, (been back home for 2 weeks) including the KKH, so if you knock 1200mls off for that you're looking at approx 12000mls total down to Madras.
HTH
Pete
ps Hi Dave

..in reply to...
 

jamesallen - as mcgiggle states - Gilgit is a no go area. just seen on the local news here in Nepal that they are really really concerned about the dam break - people evacuating etc. and KKH is definitely a no-go. apparently closed to foreigners at the current time.

uk_vette - unfortunately I cant give you any information re Turkey - Iran as we came from Turkmenistan into Iran after having gone through the rest of the 'stans....great region to see BTW. however, there has been a military escort from Bam in Iran and all the way through Pakistan from the border of Iran -Pak to Lahore. when you cross the border into Pak you will be told which route you will take across. they will provide you with a military escort who will be with you all of the way (not the same guys as you change hands a lot of the time with different teams but we found all of them in Pak to be very good and amiable - not so in Iran). from Lahore to Islamabad we were left to our own devices.

Now with the precarious situation in the north I am not too sure if that will still be the case.
there is only one border crossing now open to foreigners crossing from Iran into Pakistan which is the one 18.3 miles away from Zahedan.
and only one you can use to cross from Pak to India is the Attari/Wagah border. when there try not to miss the amazing border closure ceremony. the town of Amritsar will be your first stop probably.
we crossed Pak at the end of 2010. there will be new Pakistan diary up on our website in the next few days so go and check it out.

India into China best via Nepal I would say. though the costs of traveling into China are prohibitive for us and so I don't have much information. although I am sure you will find it in the HUBB.


We have a fully downloadable GPS file with ref points for Iran, Pak and India on the front page of our website.

Am I really expecting an escort form Bam to Lahore. I was under the impression it was from Bam to Taftan border then once in Pakistan I was free. If I will be escorted all this was how long does it take as I here the escort on the Iranian side is very slow progress.

Thanks

HTH
Pete
ps Hi Dave[/quote]

Bonjour Pierre et le bon Katherine. I'm practisıng my franglais as the Frenchies are coming to town. Zut alors:D

Cheers,

Dave

Hi,

A bit new to all this, but I'm planning my first major motorbike trip from london and heading through these areas. I know about all the visa troubles and thanks for all the info on here that has been duely noted. However I didn't know about the military escorts.

Can anyone say from where the escort begins and finishes? As well as any other information, like how far its possible to travel with them in a day? I know this info is hard to say but educated guesses are welcome.

Cheers
Bryn

..no choice.
 

this may give you an idea as to what to expect.
have a read...and there are photos too of lots of military escorts with guns....:-)
this section of diary is for Iran 2ridetheworld.com : diary
the escort commences in the second chapter...
this is for Pakistan 2ridetheworld.com : diary

we had an escort from Bam in Iran to the border with Pak and then were picked up at the border in Pak by a military escort - we had no choice. We were told the route we would be taking with the escort- once again no choice. the escort was all the way with us to the outskirts of Lahore. Again - no choice. there have been quite a few posts on the HUBB in the last 6 months about these military escorts.

I can not see that this situation re military escort will have changed in the last few months as the situation in Pak has not improved. The Pak guards were friendly and as helpful as they could be when you take into account they are 'baby-sitting' a bunch of tourists when they are, in some cases, top military trained individuals. Treat them with respect and be cordial and your trip will be much more fun....however, the guys with us in Iran were a real PITA as you will read in our journal.

the question of 'how far can you travel with them in a day?'....is all dependent upon the guards you are with at the time, their attitude and the attitude of the other travelers you may be with and the ability of the travelers vehicles - this is if you are put with any others....once again - the is not a choice thing.

if you have any questions you can send me an email or just post here and I will try to answer as fast as i can but internet access in Nepal can be a little intermittent.

So far, so good
 

Who is Olly staring at?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_xTAvr_R1KUY/TC...0/P1030957.JPG


It's James :clap:


http://lh6.ggpht.com/_xTAvr_R1KUY/TC...0/P1030981.JPG


Well he made it down to Kas, got his bike fettled and now he's off........


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_xTAvr_R1KUY/TC...0/P1030982.JPG


.....................EAST:D


http://lh3.ggpht.com/_xTAvr_R1KUY/TC...0/P1030983.JPG


Good luck fella:mchappy:


Cheers,


Dicky