I can only find this information on news paper websites and not on any government official websites.

I am trying to contact a few people in Pakistan to see if this is true... It seams a bit strange though.

I had to do this in Oct 2011
 

I had to apply for a NOC before I arrived at the border into Balochistan...
Maybe thats what you have to do now.

Here is what I wrote - just fill in your information.
I then faxed it to them using my hotel fax machine - you might be able to find a email address on the website



29th September, 2011


The Secretary,
Home Department, Government of Balochistan,
Quetta.

SUB: REQUEST FOR ISSUANCE OF NON OBJECTION CERTIFICATE (NOC) TO ENTER IRAN BOREDR THROUGH BALOCHISTAN

Dear Mr.

I, Miss/MR/MRS (NAME) of spent the last (NUMBER) months travelling from (COUNTRY) on my motorcycle. Currently I am in Islamabad travelling through Pakistan and about to head towards the Iran border through Balochistan.
(CHANGE THIS TO SUIT)

My travelling details are as under:

Name:
Nationality:
DOB:
Passport No:
Date of Issue:
Date of Exp:
Issue Authority:
Motorcycle:
Chassis No:
Reg. No:

I have been made aware that foreigners now require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) before crossing Balochistan. Inshallah expected to arrive in Quetta on (DATE).

It is therefore, you are requested to kindly issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to cross Balochistan as soon as I arrive in Quetta on (DATE) and obliged please.

INSERT YOUR CONTACT DETAILS



Kind Regards,


(NAME)

Cc:
Mr Rao Amin Hashim, Inspector General of Police, Government of Baluchistan, Quetta
Phone:0819201366 Fax: 0819201267

A foreign couple on motorbike just entered at Taftan successfully, so maybe everything is the same as before. difficult to know these days what's really going on.

Taftan to Quetta open?
 

How do you know this?

Im heading this way soon. If 18 people are easily mowed down by machine gun. What chance does one bloke on a bike have? Not too happy with whats going on there at moment. :(

I am currently out of Pakistan vacationing with the family and would be returning this Sunday. Let me check the situation myself once I am back and update you.

Apparently it is the old local communal problem not concerned with the foreign tourists. The same problem is being faced on parts of KKH to but many of our friends are there with no problems.

Well; fighting others wars can be expensive and problematic. People like us who warned of dire consequences spanning generations in the early eighties when Pakistan was entering Afghan war on US's behest were routinely slapped down and ridiculed. A Pakistani saying "When bulls fight, frogs get trampled" and so did we. The beautiful and peaceful Pakistan of the 70s is still the hotbed of wars of distant powers. This nonsense got to end.

Unfortunately our fears came out too correct and the rest of the world has to bear with us its consequences.

Omar

I entered about a month ago from Taftan.... There was murders and bomb attacks in Quetta nearly everyday I was there, but none of it directed to foreigners... It was a very tough call crossing into Pakistan, in hindsight and only in hindsight im glad i did it....

I got the NOC letter but I learned of it from the chaps at the hotel bloomstar once i already checked in... I had to wait till monday and visited the home department.... This is walking distance from the Bloomstar..... I wasnt able to leave Quetta until i got this.... Once at the home department I got this within the hour.... No worrys

Listen to the escorts and stay on the main road...

Good news from Balochistan
 

Got the latest from a senior member of PBC and an accomplished biker based in Quetta. He says that the conditions are the same as before and bikers are regularly crossing. I am pasting his reply which reads as,

Dear Dr. Sahib:
Walekum Assalam
Hope u r fine and enjoying with ur family in Iran. The rumour is not true and if the particular forieigner has valid visa and carnet for his vehicle can safely enter Pakistan and will be provided police escort till Quetta and beyond. It is true that couple of months back they had restricted the movement of foriegners in the north particulary Gilgit area but I think that issue has also been resolved. Two foreign riders had reached Quetta and were staying in the same hotel with me when I left three days back.

take care and regards,
Dr. Yaqub

He can be contacted directly for latest situation at,Yaqub213@gmail.com

Hello,

which way takes the escort to Lahore?Quetta,Sibi,Sukkur and?????
or Quetta,Loarali,Multan.And how it work with this guys.Can you go after 6 hours to an hotel or you have to go where the want to go?And at last you have to drive 10 hours.

Mike

I was instructed and escorted Dalbandin, Quetta, Sukkur, Bahwalpur, Multan, Lahore - You are able to choose which Hotel you stay at, (some escorts may try and persuade you to go to a certain hotel, ultimatley it is still your choice) Please consider - It can be difficult getting hotels to accept you, especially if you are with escorts... Hotels arnt that keen to take percieved risk on foreiners, but you'll eventually get somewhere (I only had problems in Bahawalpur... Sukkur they also gave me the old, we are full... I wasnt with an escort, so I pushed a little and they gave in, mind you it was their deluxe suite, so i blew my budget)

The escorts should (and i use the word SHOULD) be with you all the way to Lahore... I was escorted from Border (once Pakistan side of border i asked about escort and they basically said no worries and sure enough a Balochistan levi was their shortly) to a hotel in Dalbandin (here they may get you to stay at police station, they gave me the choice, i prefered hotel).... Sometimes the escorts will drop off, if they are travelling in their own car, but you are usually picked up again at the road blocks further down the road....

I was escorted to just outside Quetta and waited, they organised proper full on army escorts right to the bloomstar hotel, where I asked them to take me... Here the bloomstar said i needed to go to the home department to get a NOC letter (the guys there explained everything, basically this signs you into the care of the police and each forthcoming police force will get copied into that letter, so basically they know your coming)

You dont need to pre arrange escorts, its part of their JD. the Balochistan Levies sometimes ask for some money, "to get back to their checkpost" :rolleyes:... This is upto you but I paid mostly to keep these guys on side, as i wanted their assistance...Sindh police are rubbish, but once your in Punjub the Police are highly professional and you may get the regional elite force with you, these guys were cool...

All in all, its a shame that you miss most of Pakistan as it tends to become drive, sleep, drive, sleep.... But once in Lahore you are free, and Lahore was one of the highlights of my whole trip... Stay at Lahore Backpackers, the owner Sajad is great...

Hope this helps

Thanks Andrew,

very good information.

Mike

USA License Plate in Pakistan - Insane?
 

I am planning a trip that will take me from Kashgar, China into Pakistan down the KKH through Gilgit to Lahore and in to India. Currently I am planning to use a bike licensed in the US (NY State plates). Crazy? In Pakistan will they give you a local plate? I have an alternative country where I can buy and register a bike, but it will be much more expensive. The trip is more than a year away, but I want to purchase the bike well ahead of time and work out the kinks. Thoughts?

You won't get a new plate. You need a carnet de passage for Pakistan, issued by the Canadian Automobile Association in Ottawa (yes, for US citizens too). The bikes needs to be registered to you. Driver license address, registration etc. all need to match etc. In China, you need a new driver's license, plate, escort etc. costs are huge to go this way. Research is your best friend at this point.

Thanks - I have done riding in China and I am familiar with the CAA carnet requirement. My situation is simply that I can bring a bike from the US (I am a citizen), or I can bring a bike licensed in HK (I am a permanent resident). The cost of buying a bike in HK is 50% higher than the US. Is there any value given anti-American sentiment in places like Pakistan (rest of central asia, other locations) in having the unidentifiable yellow plate from HK (looks like UK plate) or just go ahead with the cheaper option, a US-plated bike? I should have been more explicit, appreciate any reactions.

I had a Canadian plated bike. A US one might arouse somewhat more curiosity. Should be fine IMHO. I would not not go because of it.

Doesnt matter. I see so many Pakistanis driving with their US number plates in addition to local ones.
You should be OK with any kind of registration.

Omar