If so, how much trouble did you have getting an iranian visa. thanks

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Back in the US - aisolaz3@hotmail.com

I agree with stauart. Pakistan is hard going, and you should add atleast two to three days extra in your schedule for unforeseen delays. Roads in Baluchistan are particularly bad( even by Pak. standards).

Quetta- Loralai-DG Khan-Multan section is the worst. But you can take alternative routes that are longer but relatively better. Roads Multan onwards to Lahore-Wagah or Islamabad are much better.

Regards.

Hi mate

Asfor tyres I am using Metzeler Distanzers and they are excellent for this type of journey, there are a semi off road trye. I have done 8000 miles so far and there still have good life left in them.

You wont encounter too much mud or deep sand but thereare plenty of `diversions` were the road is being worked on in Pakistan and there are `temory` roads runningnext to it that are unpaved.You can easliy make it through, you just have to take your time and ride slow, thats why you should allow plenty of time as one day I only covered 200 miles in twelve hours!And you will want to rest upon some days.You are right it will be cooler in Oct/Sep but it will get coldin Iran much latterthan that, amazingly there do gets now.Quetta to Multan is the hardest section and you are not allowed to stop in DG Khan or the surrounding towns, the policewill give you an armed escourt all the way to Multan, its quite good fun and it makes finding you hotel much easier!When you arive in Dalbandin there is a hotel on the right hand side just as you get in to town, its a right dive, but itsto only hotel in town and ithas a resturant. If you can change money at the border do so , but make sureyou get a good rate, as itwas difficult to change money in Dalbamndin, you can use ATM`s in Quetta. If your buget runsto it stay in the Serena, if nit at least go for dinner,its areal oasis and if your a guest, you can get !

Any other questions just drop me a line

Regards Stuart

Also just having crossed Pak here is my 2 c worth:

The escorts ARE a pain and you don't need them. If you are worried about the small security risk then you shouldn't expose yourself to the much higher risks in road traffic, anywhere.

You can ride the road from Quetta to Loralai and DI Khan, thereby avoiding the (apparently) congested and bad roads in the Indus valley. The mountains are much nicer, it's cool and there is little traffic. In theory you need a permit, but I think you will get through without one. f you do get a permit the escorts will be waiting for you. I was travelling with a Basque couple in a van who had a permit, I didn't have one. I can't remember anybody ever asking for one. I also tried to avoid stopping at checkpoints, as they are just a waste of time. The roads in the area are OK and there is mostly little traffic. The last stretch from Zhob to DI Khan is pretty bad, as just about all bridges and wadi crossings are gone and there are road works everywhere, but you will manage on a road bike. Avoid riding after it has rained.

From DI Khan to Peshawar goes through Kohat and Darra, the latter is off-limits to foreigners, but we went through anyway. My friends first got waved through by the checkpoints, then stopped before Darra, sent back to Kohat, held for 5 hours by police, then verbally abused by the police chief who hadn't done his job. You can avoid this by taking a more roundabout route or avoiding Peshawar altogether.


Iran: before another rumour starts: there is NO FUEL PROBLEM in Iran. See the relevant topic.

Enjoy Pakistan, it's one of the most hospitable countries I have been to and the Northern Areas are just great.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Hi

We did this same trip last year on Vstrom 1000 2-up, our blog is at www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/skillington if you are interested.

When we were in Quetta there was serious unrest in the mountain areas Quetta to Multan and police were turning foreigners back that were trying to go that way, although some got through with escorts. We wanted to go via Loralai but instead chose to go via Bolan Pass to Sukkar to Bahawalpur to Multan. This road is all sealed and hence no problem 2-up though probably not as scenic. But even on this road we had escorts for a short way in a few areas then all the way from Jacobabad to Bahawalpur at the 50kph mentioned by others. If it was dangerous area well fair enough we would welcome an escort, but its very irritating given there was no actual danger in these areas as best we could tell. Even police say there is no danger, but then add that escort is for your safety - huh? All police manage to do is slow you down to a crawl, draw attention to you and chase away locals that want to talk to you. We did not have to pay and were never even asked. We left Buhawulpur hotel early morning by side door and gave police escort the slip, no more problems with escorts after that.

Tyres - we fitted new tyres in Turkey as per all advice here on HU even though ours were only half worn, heed this advice well as another couple on Vstrom 650 needed new tyres in Iran and had to pay 500% import duty!!

I fitted Tourance to rear and TKC80 to front expecting to do more dirt, but when we went Quetta to Sukkar instead of via Loralai, front knobby pattern was really not necessary anywhere we went. I would fit tourance or similar to front and rear unless you intend a lot of dirt road riding which is not much fun 2-up with luggage anyway.

Lots of great advice from others on the tread, but here is a little incidental bike advice - I am not sure if Euro bikes have headlight alway on like Aus bikes (ie no switch to turn it off), but once you leave europe this "safety feature" nearly drove us insane. We were flashed/beeped, nearly run off the road, flagged down by villagers/police/army to tell us our headlight was on!! After the 50th time you are told this on each and every day you just want to scream. I also had to talk my way out of a potential fine in Pakistan when police pulled us over and told us it was illegal to have headlight on during the day.

So my advice, fit a switch to turn off your headlights (this is actually illegal in Aus, but who will know?) or take lots of valium to keep you calm after someone runs you off the road in a overloaded unroadwothy car/truck that doesnt even have lights or indicators just to tell you your lights are on!! You have been warned!

Actually lots of valium would be a good idea anyway (except it may be illegal) to calm you down after driving in India each day, I know I would have liked some...... Terrorists and insurgents are the least of your worries after you spend a few months on indian roads with the insane no rules traffic - really I am not joking it will be the most dangerous part of your trip by far.

Regards
John

wow, this site really rocks.. couldnt imagine there would be this much info coming from people who have actually done this route quite recently. A sincere thank you to everyone who have taken their time to reply!

Regarding the escorts, I once traveled thru the Caprivi strip in nothern Namibia, when there was still civil war in Angola, and there was an army convoy, because some tourists and locals had been targeted by Angolan rebels who´d been using the road. As I went thru there I learned that there had been no violence at all for at least two years, and all there had ever been was a couple of isolated attacks. Those could´ve probably happened anywhere in the north of the country, and the convoy was only for a small portion of that borderline. Didnt quite figure out, how they knew, that only that stretch could possibly be dangerous while others werent, and according to the locals, it wasnt.

Skillo, you make a good point about the headlights, indeed theyre on all the time when the key´s turned. I was already thinking maybe I should put some switch in it, because sometimes in SE Asia they´ve been giving the same hassle you mention because of lights. I hear people have been fined in Cambodia because theyve had them on, aint that something, considering the traffic in general!! Well, the police have to make a living, too, and I hear their normal salary is something like 100-150 US a month over there.

I'm planning a similar trip (in 2008) to what Skillo and Alana have just done, and this thread is giving me heaps of information.Keep 'em coming guys!! Skillo, I have been following your blog for months now but didn't realise that you were flying home from Nepal. I imagined that you might be doing Thailand, Malaysia etc.. I am in Brisbane and wouldn't mind buying you a sometime while I pick your brain.

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Just Ride!
www.rocktravels.blogspot.com

Hi KennyE,

I don't want to hijack this thread too much, so will keep my reply short. We did go to Thailand, but without the bike. Bike stayed in storage for a few weeks then was flown to Perth where we picked it up after our breif Thai backpacking visit. Time and money were running short and it just seemed like we would be just riding every day rather than taking our time and experiencing the countries in SEAsia which is our preferred way of travelling. So we elected to fly bike to Perth and ride home from there.

Blog is way behind for a few good reasons that I won't bore you with, we will get it finished sometime. Beer is always good way to meet and get talking, so if you want to send me a PM on this site we can arrange something or email john_skillo at yahoo dot com.au (disguised email to evade spambots, put it together in normal way).

Skillo