Avoid Iran and Pakistan?
 

I've searched and searched but can't seem to find any current info or "unbiased" opinions on the matter.

Part of my trip is to fly my bike from Thailand to Nepal and then ride down through India, south Pakistan and up through Iran to Turkey. Also my girlfriend will be on the back of the bike.

Are Pakistan and Iran safe two's up with a female on the back? Will the armed escorts be a bit too scary for her? She's a hardy girl but I don't want to spoil her trip by her being scared or just dreading that part of the trip.

I've travelled by myself and camped rough on a bike in Europe before but I can't work out if the bad stories I hear are just scare mongering or the good stories are people acting tough and playing it down. I also realise that the situation could change as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Many thanks

Ed

It will be difficult to get "current info or "unbiased" opinions". By virtue of it being an opinion it is going to be biased...

We did exactly this trip from Nepal to Turkey via Pakistan and Iran 2up on our bike. We had not problems, all you need is patience and you'll be fine. If you want more info or want to get in touch with my better half to have a female perspective just send me a PM.

To be honest like most people who travel this route, Pakistan and Iran were the highlights of the trip. I consider myself very lucky to have been and it's an amazing part of our world, I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip, especially once out of India ;-)

I'd check with the HU communities in these respective countries to get the best local and up-to-date information. Remember: de omnibus dubitandum :thumbup1:

As long as you are respectful to Islam traditions such as wearings, be sure this part will be the most interesting and exciting part of your trip. You will get most interest in these countries but will meet many friendly and helpful people, local and international.
Key is Selamünaleyküm.say this each time before you start talking.You will not be alone.Also several riders will be behind escorts.Bad point is you will be riding slowly.
Spirit of discovering will be with you.
best wishes.

Thanks for the responses guys, very helpfull :)

Turbo: I've sent you a PM and my girlfriend is looking forward to the reply.

stephen.stallebrass: I'll be sure to contact some of the HU community for any specific hints or tips closer to the time to check if things are still as stable and nice as you guys are saying.

istanbul bisiklet motosiklet: I'll be travelling on a Honda C90 so the slow riding part as not a problem haha. I think it's the escort side of things that worry her. I get the impression though that the escorts see it as more of a chore than a necessity. If we don't have one for some parts should we be worried? I'm certainly respectfull of others' traditions and I always have a friendly outlook on life and others, Laura will be abbiding by the correct dress codes and wearing male motorcycle gear to help blend in (not a pink helmet etc haha). The other bonus of riding a C90 is that you either blend into the background of other "rubbish" motorbikes haha :scooter: or people will go out of their way to help you out because you're on such a small bike. (when I rode 3500kms across the alpes in winter on one last year, I even got given some free thicker motorcycle gloves because I looked cold :biggrin3:)

Many thanks

Ed

Please also note that.
If you have selftrack system on your motocycle and give me the link to track you,your riding coordinates will be followed and urgent free help can reach you from the nearest 112 station if you need that during your ride in Turkey.Or just dial 112 ask for umke when you need urgent search and rescue help whereever you are in Turkey.(Wish never need this)
This is a government and club volunteers free service.includes welcome bier in our club.
More touristic information about Turkey, thay you may need.
While making your plans, we recommend you check these sites about touristic places of Turkey.

Go Turkey, Gateway to Turkey: The official travel & holiday guide
[url=http://www.videosofturkey.com/turkce/category.asp?id=16]TATIL VE TURISTIK YERLER <br> Fethiye -

Probably plenty here on HU, not recent trips but these ADV ride reports might help you too, 1st one was a couple:

iran by triumph scrambler - ADVrider

denizelif

Germany to Iran and back - ADVrider

ايران Iran - ADVrider

Correct!
Learning some sentences like this will open many doors and will let people appreciate you from the beginning.
I experienced this in Turkey, Syria and Jordan and I always saw sincere smiles on the faces of people I was saying this to.

Iran was a real highlight of our trip. Amazing people and unbelievably cheap fuel. No beers though :( would definately go again. We both remarked we felt safe walking around Tabriz at night because the place is well policed and everyone was friendly towards us. For g/f make sure you have the right clothes (black chador and headscarf) or she'd feel a bit out of place sometimes. Aside from that where else would you be riding in the world and have people handing bannanas to you out of a moving car window?

Pakistan was great too and we have some good pictures to look back through. Security wise it seemed ok while we were there as long as you were sensible. By that I mean ride in the day and stay with the (free) police escorts unlike when we rode to Quetta in the dark and lost our escort (pretty stupid). We heard gunfire in the distance while in Islamabad though it could have been anything (a wedding party for example). People were friendly and curious although we were still careful and aware all the time. You know you have to cross the border to Pakistan from India at Amritsar / Lahore right?

A bigger issue, 2 up in Pakistan would be the state of some roads, particularly around Jacobabad. These have been destroyed by flooding or maybe were in poor state to begin with. If you can handle a bit of the rough stuff you'd be ok, though in saying that we had longer worse roads (and driving) in India. It is also possible to put the bike on a train from Lahore to Quetta though its best to book in advance and we had a bad feeling when we went to do it (which worked out good because we really enjoyed the ride).

Having said all this the security situation changes everywhere all the time and at the end of the day you have to make your own judgement call. There were no demonstrations in Iran while we were there for example though I saw on the news recently there were some in Tehran.

Personally if I was doing it again I'd ship around India and ride through Iran/Pakistan :)

Neil

Wow thanks for all the replies!!

istanbul bisiklet motosiklet: thanks for the info and as soon as i work out what my tracking system will be I will let you know. At the moment I use an iPhone.

crazymanneil: So as I understand it from your post that you can only cross from India to Pakistan in the north? Is Quetta okay seeing as though it's so close to Afganistan?

many thanks
Ed+Laura

As far as I have been told by everyone, the only official border open to foreigners between India and Pakistan is that one and we only went there. Its also a great place to see the border closing ceremony which happens at sunset where the guards on both sides lower the flags and slam the gates shut etc.

Quetta is not great in fairness, probably the dodgiest place we were on our trip. A lot of checkpoints around the city to control cars going in and out. Advice from the cops was to stay in the hotel after dark and in fact there was an advice note thing given to us saying we had to be back at a certain time. Don't want to put you off but it was not somewhere for sightsightseeing anyway. We were happy to have the police escort. Rest of the road through Baluchistan to Iran was pretty decent though. We camped in the customs house on the Pakistan side of the Pak/Iran border :)

To get to Quetta from Lahore by road you would have 2 options. Either across at DG Khan via Lorlai which requires a permit (free but takes a day to organise) or south via Sukkur (like we did). The other road will take you North through the Federally Administered Tribal areas and is a no-go for foreigners.

Only other thing to be aware of is that you would need to get the Pakistan visa in your home country and they have around 3 month validity (one Swiss guy we travelled with was lucky to have a 6 month one without even asking!). For us it kind of set the pace we had to get through Europe and Iran. For you going the other way I am not sure how it would work?

I'm sure Omie will pop his head into this thread soon for the latest info...

Neil

Hi Neil,
 

Hi Neil,
Great surprise and nice to see you here: thanks to Mr.Grant, HU has become the trustfull and honest meeting point of adventure riders. Last time you were very busy with repairing your diesel in sultanahmat streets.Hope all is ok with you and your trip.
Your bottles bier waiting for you. Next time we repaire in our club garage together!!! But ı think you will get a new transalp at last.

Best wishes.
zeki avar

Thanks again crazymanneil.

I will be riding from Kathmandu so I suppose having to cross in the North will shorten the journey through India.

With regards to to Lahore to Quetta do you think getting a train would be an option to have as a backup? With the luggage off it's small and can be picked up and thrown around easily. (I had one that broke down so I stripped it down in 5 mins and carried it on the back of another C90) Try doing that with a GS1200 haha.

I've also seen details of trains going from India all the way to Istanbul. I don't want to miss any of Iran and Pakistan but with Laura on the back I need to have some backup plans just in case she pulls rank :nono: haha

Thanks for all the info so far all you guys, I'm sure it helping out others too
Many thanks
Ed :scooter:

Hey Zeki, yes that was me. I think you might have also met the Dutch guys that we travelled with later on in our trip? Unfortunately we had to postpone our trip to Oz when we got to Kathmandu but will hopefully continue in a while. The diesel did ok in the end with no big problems although I think I'll change the sump for the next bit to give some more ground clearance.

Ah I missed the C90 bit! Pretty straightforward to put on the train and to be honest a great bike for India/Pakistan/Iran since its light and will attract a lot less attention. The trains stop at a load of stations along the South/Sukur route so you could start on the road and switch to the train if you decided against it or had a mechanical problem. If you were stuck out in the wilds I'm sure it would fit in the back of the police escort pickup truck too! For us the issues with the train were there was no ramp to load, nowhere to tie down 2 big bikes and the carriage would be open to people to nick stuff like mirrors, tent etc at the stops. In the end we felt we'd miss out not riding the route and were glad we did.

Neil

Avoid Iran and Pakistan?
 

If you can get visas for Iran and Pakistan outside your home country you should definetly make the journey. The security situation changes on a daily basis, and whether you have a mandatory escort or not seems to vary. Baloch area of Iran were the most unfriendly, with shots fired in the air or near my feet, and demands for baksheesh. Pakistan was more friendly, but you are a package to be passed on, they dont want you to stop in their area.
The good side to escorts is they find your hotel, so you have to have a suggestion for them. All the people I met, in '08-'09, both in Iran and Pakistan, were friendly and helpfull to excess, but some are goverment agents, so be a bit carefull how you express yourself.
Safe travels, I am sure you won't regret the experience.
Peter, in Oslo

Hi Neil,
 

after you left istanbul, more than 20 riders called here to give a break in november and december.Told all of them to follow your black clouds, no need for GPS!!!!!!!.Dont worry, keeping your bottles bier in safe for your return.
2 members are going to Shanghai.İsmail and Burak will fire on 10.th of march.
So cold in istanbul, here butterflies of freedom awake, too.Problems in north africa so ı keep staying here until beginning of april.
This year we started operating a search and rescue team with 2 ambulances
for riders and adventure accidents.
Lets keep in touch.Dont hesitate to call me when there is something to be done in Turkey.
best wishes.see u somewhere on the road.
zeki.
(handsome photo of sucking diesel included):clap:

Despite all the stories of kindness and generosity, which I don't dispute, the world is not always bed of roses. Scratch the surface and there can be a festering boil of bigotry and intolerance fuelled by medieval dogma, a social utopia it aint...

Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll learn as much from the places you visit and people you meet as they from you but it would be foolish not to be cautious. I hope you both experience the best that this part of the world has to offer, have fun and I look forward to reading about your adventure. beer

I can't speak for Pakistan, but I did ride across India and Iran. I say, go.

While in Iran I met a French couple who'd driven from India via Pakistan in an old Renault boulangerie van, and they said the Pakistani portion of the trip was great. Very friendly people. And this was just a few weeks after that massive flooding that allegedly was going to plunge the country into chaos. While riding, the security details can be sometimes dispensed with (allegedly) and the biggest annoyance with those is that they trundle along at 50km/h with a pair of relatively useless cops riding two-up. And they stop frequently. These French folks said that if you just stick to the main roads and avoid the federally administered tribal areas in the northwest, pretty much anybody will be fune.

I think the hardest part will be India, because of its terrible roads and hair-raising traffic. Buses and trucks will be your worst enemy. I've done Belgrade--Jakarta so far on this trip, and India was far and away the most challenging portion.

And as for Iran, I can't say enough good things about that place. It's an excellent country to ride in. The lack of beer sucks, and you do get this uneasy feeling that the basij might mess up your holiday if you do something stupid, but aside from that -- I've never been anywhere more hospitable. Plus the roads are good and the gas is still ridiculously cheap, even after they doubled the price a few years ago.

The timing might be less than optimal, as you suggested, what with the revolutions spreading across the Arab world that might possibly inspire the Persians to give it another go. I don't think it'd be very pleasant to be stuck in Iran if they throw another ding-dong like they did in 2009. (Although I cheer on their efforts from afar!) As for the most recent unrest, a friend of mine near Tabriz said that it was confined to north Tehran and the rest of the country was pretty much business-as-usual. Why not ride to Pakistan, and from there read up on the news to see if it looks like Green Revolution 2.0 is in the cards? And then you can make an educated guess about whether or not you should make a run for it.

Cheers!

Yep, I share that opinion. Pakistan and Indonesia do get close though, especially Indo!

In fact traffic is what´s most likely to get you into serious trouble over there. But of course you must also keep in mind the political and security situations. I must say, that what I´d read in the papers, or seen in the news about Iran & Pakistan, before I went there, had given a much darker picture of those countries. Can´t say that I´d still know them very well, though, and sure there are troubles, lots of them.

But they are big countries, so by sticking to the main overland route in southeast Iran and Pakistan, not very likely that you´ll see any of those. For us (in Nov-2007) the escorts were continuous and also very slow in Iran (started from Bam), but on the Pakistani side we were allowed to go free most of the time, and even when escorted, they kept a decent speed, and made quick switches of the escort vehicle, while the Iranians made us wait for hours at checkpoints. But how the escorts work is something that changes all the time, and each travellers experience of them might be different.

hi poddlebiscuit
if you have some time read our diary inputs for these countries on our website for a little bit of info of the time we spent in this part of the World.
plus feel free to PM or send me an email.
as a female I rode my own bike through these areas..this created a huge amount of interest, especially in Iran where women are not allowed to ride their own motorcycles - they can drive but not ride.

your girlfriend can ask me anything she wants via PM or email or here, whichever is best for her.

my main advice is - respect their culture - especially as a foreign woman in a muslim society.
have fun - it is a fantastic and enlightening experience.

Wow thanks guys and girls. All of this is helping to give me a good idea of what to expect.
My plan now seems to be to ride from Nepal down through a bit of India and cross into the north of Pakistan on the border crossing mentioned eariler and then decide together whether to chuck the 90 on the train or continue riding. I think given that we wont be getting to Iran/Pak untill this time next year I can't make that decision anytime soon. And that all depends on visas too. If visas dont go to plan then I'm not too sure what the plan will be: can't go through Saudi because me and Laura Aren't married so going shipping to UAE isn't an option either.

Lisa Thomas: I think Laura might send you a personal message over the next couple of days. Thanks for the offer and I'll let her know.:thumbup1:

Many thanks
Ed+Laura

Probably would be very hard to get a Saudi visa & enter with your vehicle regardless of your marital status.

go!
 

Not much to add on above remarks, but still.....

We rode some parts together with Neil and Helen. We are now in cambodia and I still see Iran and Pakistan as the best experience we had. It would be really shame to miss out on them.

As a girl riding my own bike I didn't face any problems, only maybe getting stinking hot in the proper dress and veil. O yes, and my dress became more and more a spannier dress having to adjust my chain al the time and having a few flats.....
Don't worry about the escorts, most are extremely friendly and it will give you some nice pics with kalashnikovs to send home ;-)

You can also pm me if you would like to know more


Personally if I was doing it again I'd ship around India and ride through Iran/Pakistan :) ==> good comment Neil :thumbup1:

And if your going to Pakistan I would also ride up the KKH, really loved that ride and I foresee nothing is going to beat that on.

greetz Els

Went through last year
 

We rode through Iran Pakistan last year on a vstrom 650. It was all pretty good other than getting throught the flood affected areas which was slightly challenging. The people were wonderful and very friendly and helpful. The pakistan police could be a little over protective at times and the Iran police could be a bit non-caring but overall a wonderful experience. I had my wife on the back and she has a different opinion but she talks of most of the journey quite positively.

Yes, but what does it mean?
 

Yes, but what does it mean?

Aside on Hello, Welcome, Peace be with you in Arabic
 

:offtopic:

You are referring to remark below I believe:

Well the normal spelling is "As-Salam Alaikum"or just "Salam Alaikum".

The true meaning of "As-Salam Alaikum" is not a mere "Hi", "Hello", "How are you" as we are accustomed to using today - it has a much deeper meaning than just a standard greeting. In actuality, there are three meanings for this greeting:

1. As-Salam, as we know, is one of the names of Allah. Thus, when we say "As-Salam Alaikum" we are actually saying that may the trait of Allah (as-Salam or peace and tranquility_ be upon you and may He protect you;
2. As-Salam is also in the meaning of submission or surrender. Thus, when we say "As-Salam Alaikum" we are actually saying that we submit to what you would like for us to do (obviously within the limits of the Shariah);
3. As-Salam is also in the meaning of protection or safety. Thus in this meaning, when we greet another believer with "As-Salam Alaikum" we are actually guaranteeing believing brother or sister protection from any evil from ourselves and that we will not do a single thing to harm them - either physically or even spiritually. Not only would we not harm them with our hands, but we will also not cause them grief with our tongue...

Reference: Otowi: The Meaning of As-Salam Alaikum

I came through Pakistan from China via the KKH in September 2009 and all i can say it has been my favourite country of the whole trip. The people are so welcoming and as long as you stay away from known trouble spots you should be ok. The issue is you may not get a visa. I heard they'd stopped issuing them last year when the US started bombing the Pakistan/Afghan boarder regions but my information my be out of date now.

Russ

It means 'peace be upon you'.

Great explanation.

There is a DHL courier who delivers to my office, who is from Morocco and he told me already months ago that the meaning of the sentence is this I quoted.
I did not know about the other two.... Good to know them! :thumbup1:

Waffle
 

Heya Poodlebiscuit, neat trip you've got planned there.

Have you heard of a fella going by the name of Ryan Scott, a Kiwi, who a few yars back rode bored out C50 from Vietnam to England. From what I remember - and I have his contact details if you need them - his was a local bike, sans Carnet, that he piloted up into China, then back down doing some crazy route through Iran and Iraq and some other such danger until he got to England. Crazy crazy trip. He did it compltely off radar with forged documents. Shame he's not documented it anywhere.

My personal experience is of rding a CT110 - a variation of the C90 theme - from Sydney to London in 2009, the route I took being one largely similiar to yours.

From Thailand I too shipped to Kathmandu. I can't for the life of me remember the company's name, but it's on here in the shipping guide. I can dig it out if need be. I reckon it cost about $600 to ship it, plus my flight. It was an easy process and landed in Kathmandu no fuss.

I got my visa on arrival for that country, but for India and Pakistan I got them in Thailand. Getting the Indian one was fairly easy, getting the one for Pakistan was a problem, as most people here will attest. I got it through perserverance and luck, not to mention the engine size of Dorothy, my bike, which the man laughed at moments before changing his mind and issuing me a ten day tourist visa. It cost $200. I was robbed. But I got my visa.

Sadly I couldn;t get one for Iran, being British and all. Which caused a bit of a dilemma. Like you I considered shipping and flying over, to Turkey, to the Middle East, anywhere.

I ended up going through China having ridden the KKH. I was in China a week before crossing into Krygyzstan. I used Stan Tours so had a guide the whole way. It cost $2000 or thereabouts and wasn't much fun but it got me through.

From there west, through Kazakhstan and Russia, picking up visas as I went.

It sounds then you've got two options; do a Ryan Scott, or do a Nathan and Dorothy. His method was cheaper and braver, mine was costly and more sensible. Depends on what kind of guy you are.

Question is, would I have ridden through Pakistan with my girl on the back; no, I wouldn't, though I know people who have. If she's desperate to do it and it's her idea, then fine, but if you've dragged her along for the ride and some nasty shit happens then I know how I'd feel. But that's your call.

For what it's worth I loved Pakistan, despite only being there ten days. Friend;y people, Subway, KFC, what more could you want.

Just wish I'd got to see Iran. Next time.

But whatever you decide you'll find a way.

Message me if I can be any more help.

Nate.

Ps. A C90 will climb the Himalayas. But not two up.

Thanks for all the replies and advice!! J I’ve now decided that I will go through Iran, Pakistan and India. I’m okay with there being some risks and it seems like I would be silly to miss the chance to ride through all of the culture these countries have to offer.
It looks like my Girlfriend wont be joining me for this part of the trip because of the stress it could put her under. I can take almost anything in my stride but we both think it won’t be fair on her.
Anyway…. I’m now really set on this trip and can’t wait. It looks like my main issue will be Visas. Has anyone British got an Iran Visa within the last 6 months or so?
Thank you all for your help, much appreciated
Ed

Visa for Iran on British Passport
 

Just a quick bump to ask if anyone has got an Iranian or Pakistan visa recently on a British Passport?

Many thanks
Ed

Two Swiss kidnapped in Loralai
 

Hello,

two Swiss has been kidnapped today in a restaurant in Loralai near Quetta.

Regards

Mike

Iran visa and British
 

I got a visa for Iran, no problem. I'm British but based in Qatar, riding 'home' via Saudi, UAE, ferry from Sharjah to Bandar Abbas, up through Iran, Turkey, Balkans etc. I used www.PersiaTours.com contact there is samira zare [samira.persiatours@gmail.com], highly recommended. Rob

Came through about 6 months ago. Riding through Iran and Pak were some of the most amazing times in my life. Iranvisa.com were a little expensive but got the job done (British). I was also able to elect to pick it up in Istanbul which was nice and I had no troubles with the process.

A quick note on the recent developments. The DG Khan road that the Swiss took we were advised against (I came through the same time as Crazymanneil and a few others). The DG Khan road is bad and policed by local tribe leaders not Pak police. Ergo I'm not sure escorts operate through this area. The road we took southeast towards Sukkur was in a better condition, policed and beautiful.

Alternatively you may be able to get your bike onto a train at Bam or Quetta to Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Keep your ear to the ground, but I would still go. Iran and Pak, especially the KKH are too incedible to miss.

Let us know what decision you make

Hu meeting in Pakistan
 

Hello if someone its planning to ride Iran and Pakistan around October-November
have a look to this:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...462#post344158

bier

Loralai is around 500 kms from Quetta close to Afghan border and the lawless tribal areas. I wonder how and why the Swiss reached where even I cant go. All tourists and even locals are clearly warned not to take that route.
I wont be surprised if some other story comes out of the unfortunate kidnapping.

Good point Omar. When we were in Quetta we were told if we wanted to go this route we would have to request permission which involved signing a declaration that we understood there would be no police escort, at our own risk etc.

I hope it turns out well for them and wish them a safe return.

N

Hi Neil, Drone massacres are taking toll and unfortunately the law and order situation in Balochistan has worsened specially in the tribal areas which are an absolutely no go areas for foreigners.
Only the main roads are safe.
BTW Your Diesel bike is still discussed here :)
Omar

thanks for all the updates. However I am now confused as to how I get from India to Iran via Pakistan.:helpsmilie:

I've attached a very bad map of Pakistan.

The "A" is the Wagah-Attari border which I've been told is the only one open to foreigners.
The Red fuzzy area is Balochistan which is a "no-go area"
The Red line is the DG Khan road which is also "no-go"
The Green dot is Sukkur which was described above as safe, and the green line shows the road I'm assuming Bryn means is also safe.

My main problem appears to be the blue dot which is the Mirjaveh-Taftan border and is apparently the only border open to foreigners. How do I get to Iran without entering Balochistan? It covers the entire border :helpsmilie:

If anyone wants to create an equally bad map to show me then it would be greatly appreciated :clap:

Hi Ed,
Your map is fine. Taftan/Mirjavah border is in Balochistan and you'll be crossing it. It is the largest province (area wise) of Pakistan and certain areas are unsafe specially the ones close to Afghan border. You should be taking the following route,
Sukkur-Shikarpur-jacobabad-Sibi-Mach-Quetta-Dalbandin-Nokkundi-Taftan
The main roads should be safe. If there are any problems you might be given guards or advised to take a train and you can take your bike in it too.

Omar

Thanks Omie:clap: thats really usefull and incase anyone else is reading this for info I've made a map to show Omie's route. It does run a bit close to Afganistan but then I suppose there's no ther option.
Once again, thanks

Yep, the main road goes near the Afghan border. And it is a troubled area (and it doesn´t stop at the Iranian border, you´ll probably have escorts in Iran, too, until Bam). But at least the government(s) have some presence on that route. Closer to the coast you´d really be on your own, I think. The majority of overlanders go between Iran and India following more or less exactly the route, that you have on that google-map.

Quetta to Taftan is a long stretch, so either break up the journey in Dalbandin where there´s a hotel (well, sort of!!), or start off very early, so that you´ll arrive before sunset. During our trip the road was better near the Iranian border, and got worse as we approached Quetta. But I haven´t been there in almost 4 years, so I don´t know, how it´ll be now.

Cannot guarantee anyone´s safety of course, but in fact traffic is probably the most realistic danger for tourists passing through there.

500km is the distance I cover on my C90 on European roads before sunset normally. I've done 1000km in 29 hours non stop but that doesn't sound like a good idea on these roads (and I fainted and crashed at one point haha) :oops2: looks like the stop in Dalbandin will be the plan:thumbup1:

Hi,

I just crossed Pakistan from India to Iran. I would also recommend you to stop in Dalbandin. I stayed at Hotel Dalwood which was very good. Single Room for 300Rs (even with TV).

In Quetta I did not stay at the "Bloom Star Hotel". They got greedy and try to charge you at least 1500Rs for a room + 300 Rs for parking :ban:
I stayed at the "New Grand" just turn left after the tourist information office a few hundred metres away from the Bloomstar. I paid 500 Rs for a decent double room and they have secure parking too.

You can send me a PN if you have any questions about Pakistan.

I enjoyed my time there very much!

Cheers,
Frank

Visa info - help please!
 

Hi all,
(Ed, hi its Char from Zen Overland -hope you are well). Gabe (baron bolton)and I are off on two bikes leaving the UK in mid September, and seeing how far east we get, in the general direction of India.

Can anyone confirm the pakistan visa process?

If I am correct we take all relevant paperwork to the High commission in London, queue up, and hope to be seen. Does anyone have any recent experience of this, and can give the lowdown? And also, where does one gets the "invitation letter from sponsor"?

We think we have the iranian visa under control. Awaiting the authorisation code from iranianvisa.com and will then take a trip down to London to queue with paperwork and hopefully be given a visa.

As for routes - I was under the impression that we would be given police escorts all the way to Lahore (from Bam in Iran), and that a route would not be something we could choose?

Check out my earlier thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...pakistan-57916

Cheers
Char

Wow, Hi Char. Thanks for asking the visa question (I'm still a tad confused with the Pak visa)
Maybe our times and paths will cross and we could meet somewhere that has beer bier. Will you be riding or flying back home?
I'm also looking forward to the HU meeting in September, this time it looks like there'll be four C90's but only 3 riders (let the mystery commence haha).

Hey Omar. Its sad to hear the situation has gotten worse. :(Pakistan was amazing, probably the most adventurous bit of our trip. Looking back at our photos is very strange now being back home. I remember talking to a man in Quetta who mentioned the drone attacks too. I hope the rains this year are kinder.

Thats the route we took (opposite direction).

Our biggest mistake was when there was a delay at a checkpoint about 100km before we got to Quetta and the sun set on us. We should have stopped at that point instead of riding on into the dark.doh

Its worth figuring out locations of hotels along the way so you know where you can stay if plans change. We also found it best to know names of *different* hotels in each area so you could give those if someone casually asked where you were staying...

There will be others who will be more blasé about it and think they know better/can go faster than the police escorts. At the end of the day they are doing their job while you are on your jolly tour and I think it's important to try not to be a pain in their a$$. If they tell you not to go somewhere then there is probably a reason for it. By and large, the guys assigned to look after us were professional and courteous.

Anyway, stay safe out there, wherever you are.

N

Hey,

We have just come through Iran it was great and we where made to feel very welcome most of the time. We found the north a little more unfriendly than the south and had trouble with people pre tending to be officials at the border but we have come across that fairly often.

Have any of you guys tried to get the pakistan Visa on the border, we have been told its now impossible and it leaves us in a difficult situation as we want to head to india. We are now in Dubai trying to figure out what to do.

Any ideas welcome

James

Hi James,
Pakistani VOA is only available at the Sost border. This is a Pak/China border on the KKH. You might like to drive accross Central Asia and China too and then enter Pakistan. The only problem is that China is expensive for bikers.

Cheers
Omar

You might want to take a look at the waypoints at the website below - might not be totally up to date but gives a general impression waht to expact on the Taftan - Quetta route:

www.quetta-overland.com

Cheers!

Arno

Just doing a quick bump to see if anyone has any recent info?

The relations between to UK and Iran are falling through the floor and it's not looking good. I'm in Kaula Lumpur at the moment on my trusty C90 and will be heading north to start the trip next week :)

any info is greatly appriciated

Ed

Bugger, I'll keep my eyes peeled for you chief but it's not looking good. Maybe go through Saudi Arabia?

Relations with Iran have been going up and down with many countries. In the 5 times i've crossed Iran, it's been the same all the time. And each time it's been rather surprising the Iranian visa was handed out anyway. Try it anyway, you'll never know, apart from the question if you want to be there anyway.

Alternative is to drive up the Karakoram highway if the weather season is right towards Tajikistan through China. The political season there was usually wrong by default in the past.

Shipment from Mumbai to Muscat / Sharjah (UAE) is also a possibility. Many Dhows cross this stretch all the time.

Cheers!
Arno

Thanks guys, I will be getting to the KKH at around feb-March so I'm guessing it'll be closed?

And is Saudi a possibility? I have heard getting a visa and bike in is pretty much impossible (I have a carnet by the way)

Any help is awesome :)

Ed

The KKH might still have some snow in spring time. Its a trade route with China so trucks will be moving all year round, unless they can't clear the route.

The saudi transit visa is indeed hard to get by when coming from Jordan / Syria. Many tried and failed.

However, when you're in the UAE, getting the Transit visa to Jordan is a 1 day process in Abu Dhabi. The Saudi embassy uses an agent close-by which helps you through the process.

ou might have to get the Jordanian visa first, but for most nationalities its handed out on the Jordanian border.

Don't let the 5 day transit visa expire without report yourself to a nearby police station in case of a breakdown or anything else. The trouble is huge at the border with an expired transit visa, even for experienced people crossing the border often. You need quite a bit of Wusta to get yourself out of such a mess.

From what I heard the route is extremely dull with bad corroded asphalt on parts of the route.

Cheers!
Arno

hmm, this looks like a difficult choice. The jordan visa doesn't seem too hard to get from a foreign embassy (the fact they hand them out at the border should help I'm guesssing)

I can't find any official info online about the process for getting the transit visa in Abu Dhabi, just hear-say. It's not that I don't believe you, I just like to have an idea of how to do things so I don't get land locked :)

Which does lead me to my next problem: according to google it's 1300 miles across Saudi and I'm on a C90 with a max speed of 45mph and that's on flat tarmac. that's 260 miles (about 10 hours ride average) for 5 days in a row with no breakdowns or punctures or slow sections. I can take the endurance but if fate throws some punctures then I'm riding in the dark on bad tarmac....not a good idea.

hmmm this is a tricky one:(

There's nothing online about the visa process to my knowledge. I'd call the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi - tell them you're on a UAE tourist visa and want to get to Jordan on your SC90.

Most crossing the border with Saudi are locals (Saudi's, Syrians, Jordans, Omani and Emirati) or expats on a Saudi visa. Occasionally foreign tourist also cross the border coming from Iran, Jemen or Oman with a transit visa from the Saudi embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Just recently a dutch guy crossed Saudi from a sea port coming from Africa and drove through Jordan / Syria towards Turkey.

Here's the Saudi transit story from Jiddah to the borderpost near Aquaba. He followed the coastal route on a 3 day transit visa. He lost a bit of transit time in the harbour - which is always a lengthy ordeal. He crossed Saudi in about 2 days with a MAN 4x4 truck.

Crossing Saudi from Jiddah to Aquaba

Use Google Translate to decipher Dutch

Cheers
Arno