If you have used GPS in Iran/Pakistan Please Help.
 

Hello All,

This is my first post after following various threads for months.

I am looking to do a Roadtrip from UK to Pakistan. I have gained loads of information already but one topic not really touched in detail is the Maps for Iran and Pakistan.

I mean I am intending to Use a Garmin 2595 and will be travelling in Bmw 520d. Can anyone share their experiances with the Sat nav they used and where they got the maps from?

The area am most concerned about is the Route from Mir Javeh through to Quetta? Is there full turn by turn maps I could buy from somewhere for the garmin device? I know many people have done this route but unsure how many used GPS. I am worries I will get to Taftan and my GPS wont work and I will end up being lost in the dangerous area of Pakistan. According to Google I just need to follow one highway but I would be grateful if soemone can shed some light.

I have found the following link for the Iran maps which I will buy cannot find naything for Pakistan, I have seen some reference to using Open source free maps for Garmin and Pakistan is inlcuded but unsure if the Taftan regioin or route to Quetta is?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Iran GPS map for Garmin

OSM not good enough?
 

Please post in ONE forum only. Save duplication of the information.... doh

As I posted in your other thread on the same subject; more detail here - I'll delete my other response.

Download Garmins Basecamp software - free. This runs on your PC.
Download OSM map for your area of interest... say UK to India. See http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...eet-maps-64135

Now look at the map on your PC - see the roads and other things in Pakistan and Iran? Enough detail?

You'll have a PAK police escort anyway, all the way to Quetta from the Iranian border so why worry?
Oh yea, a convoy of buses was hit yesterday with about 19 killed, but that was "local on local" stuff = shia/sunni or similar (sunni/shia).
It's Balochistan after all.

Sorry about the duplicate post, I posted for the first time and when I went back to find my thread, I couldnt find it ( I was looking in the wrong place) SO I thought it didnt get posted hence why I did a repeat. However that thread how now been deleted.

Thank you for this info and link, It does have enough detail, only thing I was concerned about is being lost and loosing valueable time I could spend site seeing or strolling into the wrong area because I am lost. Hopefully with a GPS atleast it will reroute me to the correct route again hence my question.

Hello,

I am Pakistani through heritage and do have dual nantionallity via parents ( Born and Bred here in the UK all my life) so I am unsure how the Pakistani's will treat me, like a forgeiner or someone returning to the country so am unsure about the Escorts whether they would supply me with them. I mean if I didnt have them then only my British number plates would give it away that I am not local otherwise I would be able to blend in.

Also in Quetta on the 29/12/2012 four police officers were murdered by people on a motorcycle, The officers were on routine patrol, so am unsure if I will be more vunerable with police or without as with escort I may attract more attention? This is something I wil consider when I am there depending on the type of reception I get.

I know about the bomb blast, its not reassuring and one can only hope and pray that I am not in the wrong place at the wrong time as I believe the buses were too being escorted by levies.

Also I will be needing the route onwards from Quetta to Lahore hence want a decent sat nav that will be able to assist but TomTom or Garmin dont have maps for Iran or Pak. So will have to rely on the info Warin has given.

P.s. Anyone crossing the border in April 2013 then please advise maybe we can cross together etc.

We crossed Balochistan by motorbikes some weeks ago. My mother is Finnish and Father Pakistani, so people have asked me if I´m Turkish in Turkey and Iranian in Iran. In Pakistan they only asked if I´m Muslim. I told I´m Finnish. So I think you can play with double cards.

I´m sure you will get lot´s of attention if you tell about your origin. We rode together with Turkish couple and they became small celebrities in the checkpoints.

And if you´re driving a car you can have much lower profile than us and maybe you could go without escorts at least in Iranian Balochistan.

I recommend you to get Garmin GpsMap 62 or similar, where you can download Open Street Maps. They are not perfect, but worked quite well in Iran and Pakistan.

Dear Rami,

Thank you very much for this info, Hopefully I will be able to blend in with the locals and not attract much problems. Did you cross via Sukkar or go direct to Multan via Lolarai? and how was your experiance?

You have to get No Objection Certifivate (NOC) from Home and tribal affairs office in Quetta for your trip from Quetta to Jacobabad.

Loralai is totally out of bounds!

Police escorted us all the way to Sukkur and our friends even to Lahore.

I think the escorts are double-edged sword. Sure they have better knowledge of the situation, but they are also slow and got lots of attention. About a week ago the bad guys shoot at Levies in Mastung (nobody got killed) and after that they captured and killed 20 policeman near Peshawar...

Oh I see so the only option would be towards Sibi then Sukkur and then up towards Bawalphar. Do you or anyone else know what the road conditions are like on this route?

I agree about escorts being double edged sword! How long did it take you to clear Quetta to Sukkur?

Road from Quetta to Jaffarabad was pretty good. Areas between Jaffarabad and Sukkur have been suffered the floods several years in a row and the road has damaged and under construction too. It took almost five hours to ride 90 km from Jacobabad to Sukkur with escorts.

Hello Rami,

Thanks for the reply, Was the delay from Jacobabad due to slow escorts or poor road conditions? am not looking to have escorts after sibi and in car how quickly do you think it could be crossed into sukkar? according to google its 5hours from Quetta to Sukkur which I am unsure how realstic that figure is without escourtS?

The road between Jacobabad and Sukkur was poor, but you can make from Quetta to Sukkur in one day, if you don´t have escorts.

I assume, you have NICOP or similar ID card. If you check in to hotel with a foreign passport, they will let the police know that.

We rode two days from Karachi to Bahawalpur without escorts, but then intelligence man came to our hotel and told, we have to follow the escorts next morning to Lahore.

Through Pakistan
 

I went from Zahedan ( Iran ) to Quetta . Quetta - Sukkur and then up to Lahore . i did it on my own by bike . I used Sygic maps .You will get police escort in dangerous area's.
Eddie van de Wiel

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sygic
 

works well on the smartphone, with latest map