Questions to a trip Iran-Pakistan-India

[hekoheko]

hi at all,
i wanna ride my bike(Yamaha Xt600) in the beginning of octobre from Austria over Greece,Turkey,Iran and Pakistan to India.
In february 2008 i'm planning to return. (dont know yet, if i will ride or ship the bike - any tips of reshipping by air from India are !)

I found a lot answers of my questions in this formidable board.
A few answers,i didnt find.


I dont want change the originally tank (15l ~250 km).
Is this enough for the requested trip, or have i to carry a canister with me?

I expect to ride about 20000km.
Has anybody done this with only 1 set of tires?

I can get a multiple-entry 1year-visa for Pakistan at €106 in Vienna.
1x entry visa for 3 month costs only €36.
How much is the visa for PAK in Dheli, and is it complicate to get it?

I expect to arrive eastern Turkey and Iran in the end of octobre.
Can i expect, that is rather cold there at this time?
If yes, would it better to cross turkish-iranian border not in Dougabayazit, but anywhere souther?

Getting bottled water?
Is this a problem, should i take a filter with me?
tia

heko

[Lars]

1) tires

Yes, you can make 20.000 with one set of tires. Depends on the tire of course and on how tires wear on your bike generally.

On my R 100 GS a set of Metzler Tourance the rear tire lasted about 25000-30000 km, the front tire about 20000-22000 km. For Details see ontheroad | Resis Zipperlein (German only)

I heard good things about the life expentance of the Mitas E 07. Ask beddhist on this forum. As far as I remember, he rode about 30000 km on his Mitas as well on his DR 650. Cannot tell myself, just bought my first set.

However, once you are in India, you will need tires as well and it is not easy to get them there, since India charges 500% custom fees on imported goods (afaik).

It is still possible to get tires (might be difficult - I had a hard time to find an 21" tire in Delhi, was not too bad though), but do not expect international brands!

For that reason it might be sensible to carry spare tires anyway. If you carry them yourselve, your Carnet is valid for them as well (there is an extra section for spare tires in the carnet but I never bothered to note my tire and nobody complained)

2) Visa for PAK

Consider that Pakistan and India are foes, so I expect it would be as difficult getting a Pak visa in Delhi as it is a hassle getting an Indian visa in Delhi. Again, I did not do it myself. I entered Pakistan within the last days of validity of my multiple entry visa and extended my stay in Lahore.

You might consider this: The visa for Pakistan is easily extendable and the extension is free. However, they will extend only your current stay. So even if you entered the country on a multiple entry visa, it will be expired if you leave the country on an extended visa. HTH

3) Temperature in October
Yes, it will be cold, even further south. The mail road from Bam to Esfahan is as high as 2500m.

I entered Iran by mid-november from Pakistan and I had snow on my way from Yazd to Esfahan.

As far as I know, snow is a major issue in the border region between Iran and Turkey a bit later in the year, too. But I also heard that you can put your bike on the train as well if the conditions are too bad.

Again, ask beddhist. He entered Iran from Turkey by mid-octobre afaik.

HTH

Lars

[bmw.bec]

Hi

Metzeler tourance tyres lasted 20,000miles on my F650GS - they were great and never punctured.

Fuel was available, fill up everytime you can and we did buy from barrels at the side of the road in Pakistan.

Some guys we met on our way to India had bike trouble and had to turn back - this was in November and they had snow in Iran and Turkey.

Bottled water availible everywhere - never had any trouble finding any just remember to check seal is not broken.

Hope the info helps - enjoy your trip

[hekoheko]

thx for your hints, Lars!
so i guess, with Tourance and a little luck , it should be possible to do this trip and return with 1 set.

Is it possible to avoid cold and snowy times in Turkey and Iran, when i take a route south of of the main (persian gulf)?
Never read about it, everybody seems to take the main.

@bmw.dec

Bottled water availible everywhere - never had any trouble finding any just remember to check seal is not broken.

fine, because these filters are rather expensive.
thx for your hints!

heko

[davidmc]

Get your Pakistan visa prior to leaving home, they are very difficult to get away from your home country...

[Lars]

Dave,

I had no problems at all getting a Pak visa in Kathmandu.

[davidmc]

Lars, how long ago was that? We had major problems trying to get ours two years ago at several Pakistan embassies. They all said, "you need to get your visa in your home country". Maybe things have changed?

[Lars]

I got the visa in April 2006 in Kathmandu within 3 working days. Had to hand in a letter of non-objection of my embassy, but that was no problem either.

Yes, I heard about that "get your visa in your home country"-policy, too. But I heard also heard several stories that you actually can talk the embassy staff into giving you a visa anyway. Even if they give you only a week or so - you can easily extend your visa in Pakistan itself, up to 6 month I heard. Only drawback is, as mentioned, once you leave the country on an extended visa, you need to get a new one, multiple entry visa or not.

Cheers

Lars

[davidmc]

Originally Posted by Lars

I got the visa in April 2006 in Kathmandu within 3 working days. Had to hand in a letter of non-objection of my embassy, but that was no problem either.

Yes, I heard about that "get your visa in your home country"-policy, too. But I heard also heard several stories that you actually can talk the embassy staff into giving you a visa anyway. Even if they give you only a week or so - you can easily extend your visa in Pakistan itself, up to 6 month I heard. Only drawback is, as mentioned, once you leave the country on an extended visa, you need to get a new one, multiple entry visa or not.

Cheers

Lars

Lars, I would say you got lucky.

We finally got our Pakistani visa in Tashkent, after trying three previous embassies with no luck. In Tashkent, we finally got an understanding official who issued us a visa after plenty of pleading and some extra money. Not all embassies issue letters of introduction or other diplomatic formalities either, the US embassy was certainly of no help procuring visas for us.

That being said, I would highly recommend getting the Pakistani visa prior to leaving to avoid potential trouble. Had I realized this prior to leaving, I would have gotten one in the USA, then had it extended if I knew I wouldn't make it into Pakistan in time. Its a heck of a lot easier to get the visa extended than a new one, even outside of Pakistan.