I crossed over the border from Iran into Pakistan yesterday, so I thought I'd give you guys the low-down on how it went.

I started from Bam at 6am.
Bam to Zahedan, no problems, pristine road, no checkpoints, did see a bus being escorted by a pickup-mounted machine-gun which gave me the willies, but no worries!

Once you get to Zahedan you're met by the most irritating relay-race of escorts you'll ever want to meet.
It took me four hours to get through Zahedan and to the border (a total of about 100km!) as I was waiting half an hour each time for a policeman who escorted me about 3 feet to the next checkpoint and told me to wait there for the next guy... Repeat ad-nauseum.

Once I actually got to the border the process was relatively quick and painless.
2 hours it took from riding in and waving good-bye to my escort to driving off into the sunset in Pakistan.

The Pakistani side of the border is a stark contrast to the Iranian side, unsealed roads link the run-down customs and immigration offices together.
Taftan, the town immediately on the Pakistani side of the border has virtually nothing apart from a shop and a government hosted accomodation block (or so I'm told, I didn't actually stay there)

The road from Taftan to Quetta is in pretty shit shape.
It looks ok, but suddenly there's a huge chunk out of the road where it's been washed away, and the Pakistani way of warning you is to put a big pile of gravel in front of the offending area (not helpful at night!)

Petrol is 70Rupees a litre as far as I've seen so far, there are no official petrol stations between Taftan and Quetta (as far as I saw anyway) but there are umpteen stalls selling petrol by the roadside at any of the towns.

It took me approximately 14 hours to ride from Taftan to Quetta, going as fast as the roads would allow.
As that's only 550km or so.. that gives you a fair idea of how shit the road is.

EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention, in Pakistan I have had NO escorts so far, though I think they are available if you want them...


Hope this is of some use to somebody!

Thanks alot, it was really good to get some up to date info. I will be passing throught next year. I know it will proably change, but still great to know how its is at the mo.

George

Hopefully it will change for the better, once Obama takes over. I'm not into politics, but it seems pretty much every muslim country hates Bush. We'll see!! I'm planning on going that way next year to.

You're lucky you didn't have to get the escorts from Bam to Zahedan (400km), I was going the other way- I had to ride in the dark for about 4 hours, something made all the more unpleasant beacause nearly everyone in Iran drives with their lights on full beam at night...

On the Pak side, I only had (proper 30mph) escorts from Dera Ghazi Khan to Kingri, nothing from there all the way till I got to the Iran border. The road to Quetta is actually not too bad, relatively speaking, ie comparing it to some other places I've riden though it is pretty heavily eroded at the road edge resulting in some pretty impressive drops.

Very little traffic on it too.





You can also 'free camp' at the really friendly Pakistani customs office in the town about 130kms from the border if you need to break the journey;

Image of Well, it was 'free' accommodation - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

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We've done it now about a week ago. They picked us up at the hotel in Bam. Before we've left BAm the escort allready changed 4 times. And then again to Zahedan the same thing. Was not so bad after all. Actually almost never allowed us to stop. The first policecar was stopping while the one that took over was taking off. Some parts they 'lost' us and they did not seem to mind. It went so fast that we decided not to stop in Zahedan but cross the border the same day. Arriving in Taftan at sunset we did not wanted to drive at night so slept in the 'hotel' next to the customs office (could not find an other). That was bad!!!! Taftan - Quetta, about the same experiences as Toukakoukan. Although we've had some escorts once in a while.
We found the road from Quetta to Multan much worse. It's about 600km from which there is a part 65 km unpaved (among more). Then as we saw that we would not going to make it before sunset and wanted to stay at Dera Ghazi Khan the police told us that we were not allowed to. At a certain point after that they gave us an police escort, which was oke considering it made driving in the dark much easier. In Multan we wanted to leave without an escort, but they stood waiting for us outside the hotel. So we've had an escort for a great part of the way from Multan to Lahore again. Although we rather rode without it, it did had it advantages and the policeofficers were very friendly.
Hope this is of some use.
Regards,
Marcel

Ps heading to Amritsar tomorrow (nov 11th), anybody around here somewhere?

There is no place to stay/camp/rest for the night between Quetta and Taftan???
Its almost 600kms and we have never done that before in one session.
The max we have done in one day is 350kms.
Little concerned about this, we are planning to do it April 2009, India to Iran direction.

Are the escorts changing over because of change of juristriction or because they need a rest?
Is it feasable to head out of Quetta with or without an escort at say 5am?

Jeez Im dreading the butt pain already...

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There are a few towns with places to stay, I've had Daibandin reccomended to me but it was a fair whack from the border so I kipped at a (ridiculously expensive, well.. 500 rupees :P) place in Nokundi.
Camping is probably not advisable as the for the most part the place is flat as a pancake, and you'd be hard pressed to conceal yourself from the road.

The escorts I took were changing over presumably because of jurisdictional issues as I can't imagine they needed a rest after 1km...

It's not that much of a pain in the butt really.
And I wouldn't recommend doing taftan to quetta in one day... you'd be hard pressed to do it all in daylight I think, even if you set off from taftan at sun-up...

Hi

We rode he Taften border to Dalbandin and then camped in the police station - just ask when you arrive in town.

As far as the rest goes, we camped in the Ziarat valley enroute to Lorarli behind a goverment hostel with no problems, the next night we camped rough by the side of the road near a petrol station and the third night just before reaching DG Khan we rode into a military barracks and they gave us rooms and meals free - turns out the commanding officer was at Sandhurst for a short period of time!

Hope this helps

Becky

[quote=AussieNat;214893]There is no place to stay/camp/rest for the night between Quetta and Taftan??? QUOTE]


See my comment below:

You can also 'free camp' at the really friendly Pakistani customs office in the town about 130kms from the border if you need to break the journey;

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www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Half on the way to Quetta is the only so called town, Dalbadin.
There is a cheap hotel (think its called Alleman), right-handed, after you entered the town.

PS: when you go there, say hi to the the guy, who manages the hotel.
he was servicing me like a mother, when i had a break-down there
because of heavy diarrhea

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We drove almost the same route: http://www.lifeisjoy.nl/GoingEast.php

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I am planning trip from south Africa to Pakistan. need guidance please

Perhaps the stories and movies on our website can be helpful:
Life Is Joy - NL-Nepal

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Feel free to ask for any information or guidance about Pakistan.
Have a nice trip.

Cheers
Omar