anyone been 2 iran lately
 

hi there people .im about to travel through iran and pakistan with my girlfriend and am wondering if the situation is ok,im sure it is but my girlfriend is a little nervous and would like hear someone elses opion.
thanks...phil.

Iran rocks! The people are ace and you will encounter incredible hospitality. The women will love speaking with your "wife" but she may find some hotel managers wont deal with her, only you.

Its no problem for her to take off her helmet then quickly put on a head scarf when in public.

You will appreciate the 6 cents a litre petrol and 2 dollar a night hotels. camping worked for me as everyone went home when it got dark..no bars, drunks etc....

Dont forget..You CANNOT get any cash out in Iran from any bank using any card, due to US sanctions. Bring it in with you, and if you are leaving into Turkey save enough to pay for your Turkish Visa if you need it.

A freind came back form pakistan a month or so ago and enjoyed the KKH enormously. The ride through southern pakistan is a little more edgy I hear!

cheers

http://users.netlink.com.au/~asimpson

Phil,
I went through Pakistan and Iran six weeks ago, with no problems barring a bit of ear bashing about Muslims and Afghanistan in one of the Baluchistan towns.

Iran should be fine. Much more Westernised than I expected in the big towns and the people are great. Drive like mental cases though.

For your girlfriend Pakistan may be a bit more 'interesting'. I don't remember seeing many, if any, women in Baluchistan. I know women who have been through a number of times and their advice is just to be careful and let the male they are with do the talking (no matter how much that grates). The people are very friendly throughout Pakistan but especially once East of Multan where they are less isolated.

One other thing - if you are going from Quetta to Multan think hard begore going over through the hills right now (via Loralai I think it is) as the road from there onwards is being repleced for tens of miles with tracks into the desert as replacement.

Enjoy yourselves,

Matt

I spent time in Iran 3 years ago and found the people delightful and beuraucracy minimal.Support everything the other guys have said.I have lived in the ME for years and although I have not been to Pakistan the people are fine but your girlfriend should not get involved with conversations with men you don't know.She will be inundated with attention from the women.

Regarding money, apparently it is possible to withdraw money from a credit card in banks in bigger cities. We didn't manage though...
And FYI, mobile phones don't work in Iran either.
Our best drive in Iran was across the mountains just south of the Caspian Sea. Having seen thousands of kilometers of desert (we came from the south) it was great to drive up forest covered mountains, and then drop down and having the Caspian open up in front of you. Let me know if you want to know more about a few really beautiful spots up there.
Erik

Did you need a CARNET DE PASSAGE... for Iran, or is it possible to enter the country without this expensive paper?

Well, we had a carnet and with respect to Iran, they are apparently entitled to an astonishing 300% (or 400?) of the amount you deposited, so you don't want to loose your bike in Iran.
On the other hand, exiting to Turkmenistan, the customers didn't care very much about the carnet, and we really had to beg for an exit stamp (which ended up on the back page...)

Erik

Yes, you do need a carnet for Iran. And before you ask: for Pak, India and Nepal as well.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

Malmoerik, you came from the south? Did you cross the Gulf sae from UAE? We are currently in Oman, heading towards Iran. We came from Yemen, sound the same as Iran, friendly people and woman covered up completely.

You should be able to cross the Gulf with ferry.

Here you'll get the times and fees for ferrys:

http://www.irantravelingcenter.com/v...rsian_gulf.htm

Let me know what price you got for the bike - it's not written there! I'm probably crossing the gulf in september with the bike.

Enjoy, Margus

jc - how did you managed to go from Yemen to Oman??? As far as i've heard there's no road, only via Saudi it's possible(?) Altough i've heard somewhere that the road between Yemen-Oman is in progress again, not sure if it's true. And how did you got the Saudi transit-visa then - from border or Yemen has embassy?

Cheers, Margus

[This message has been edited by Margus (edited 12 February 2005).]

any one been there lately ie this year

[This message has been edited by zx6r (edited 10 July 2005).]

hmmm..


[This message has been edited by zx6r (edited 10 July 2005).]

where zx6r? Iran or Yemen??

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ride safely
ozhan u.
www.ozhanu.com/gezi