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-   -   Entering Afghanistan on a Motorbike Not My Own (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/northern-and-central-asia/entering-afghanistan-motorbike-not-my-99900)

crisidsto 23 Oct 2019 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris (Post 605494)
Cristiano rode what I believe to be the only "road" available to foreigners with vehicles in northern Afghanistan. He'll be able to clarify the lay of the land.
[...]

We rode the main road from Ishkashim to Sarhad-e-Broghil.
To be honest, we stopped around 20 kms before Sarhad and turned back: we arrived at a pretty deep river crossing and decided it was enough for us. Time was not on our side, as we were all on a tight schedule and decided not to risk it.

It is the road in red in this map
https://caravanistan.com/wp-content/...rridor-map.jpg

Honestly, I'm not sure it is the only rideable road in that area: I definitely saw cars going to what I suppose was the yellow road in this map along the Tajik border.
I heard that on Afghan side they are working hard on the buildings around the border crossing from Langar, so I'm pretty sure it is possible to reach at least that point.
I also heard that in the next few years is possible that the Langar border crossing will be open to foreigners: no idea about if and when this will happen, but it would be a great option for people who wants to visit the area.

A good article about the area is available here and a very nice brochure here.

As for other roads in Afghanistan, situation is more "fluid": I think the hardest thing is to find recent and reliable infos.

There was a great report on advrider forum of a guy who was already in Afghanistan when Ishkashim border closed; he waited a few days there and then decided to continue to Kabul and managed to make it there: I will search for it and link it here...

crisidsto 23 Oct 2019 20:32

Here is it: unfortunately the pictures are gone, but there is a link to the instagram page where they are still on...

levelo 23 Dec 2019 16:14

Great to hear that the Afghan Wakhan was still open back in September.

I am also contemplating going there next summer so all relevant, up-to-date info posted on this thread/forum is very useful !

I assume the Afghan visa is valid for a stay of up to a month ?

What about the Tajik visa ? Can you get a double entry one ? Or apply for 2 single entry e-visas at the same time ?

L.

crisidsto 24 Dec 2019 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 607241)
[...]I assume the Afghan visa is valid for a stay of up to a month ?[...]

Correct: our visa was valid up to one month (Khorog consulate)

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 607241)
[...]What about the Tajik visa ? Can you get a double entry one ? Or apply for 2 single entry e-visas at the same time ?[...]

We were able to apply for 2 evisas (and obtain them).
Our friends applied later than us (just a couple of weeks) and did not succeded.
They had one evisa and applied for a second visa (the normal one on the passport) in Bishkek at the start of their trip.

levelo 28 Dec 2019 16:18

Great news.

Did you apply for both e-visas exactly at the same time ? Or applied for the second one when you were already in Tajikistan ( or Afghanistan, although that sounds very unlikely ).

Did you make the trip by yourself or did you have a local guide or local fixer to help you sort out the red tape in Afghanistan ?

crisidsto 28 Dec 2019 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 607374)
Great news.

Did you apply for both e-visas exactly at the same time ? Or applied for the second one when you were already in Tajikistan ( or Afghanistan, although that sounds very unlikely ).

Not exactly at the same time: I applied for the second one after the first arrived, but before entering Tajikistan.

I applied for the first one june 30th; received it july 4th
I applied for the second one july 28th; received it july 30th

I entered Tajikistan august 24th, exited to Afghanistan august 30th, re-entered Tajikistan september 3rd

But please note: my friends tried to do the same just a couple of weeks later than me and were not able to obtain the second evisa.
They applied for a normal visa in Bishkek (same day service) and used their only evisa for the second entry

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 607374)
Did you make the trip by yourself or did you have a local guide or local fixer to help you sort out the red tape in Afghanistan ?

We did all by ourself

levelo 31 Dec 2019 15:17

Grazie Mille for the information.
I will probably ask you more questions when the Holidays are over :-)
Happy New Year to all.
L.

levelo 27 Jan 2020 16:40

Hi there,

As promised here are more questions coming your way :-)

Do you mean that you managed to get all the paperwork done on the Afghan side of the border without hiring a local guy ?
From what I've read it seems to be the norm.
Do you speak Dari or Farsi ?

There is another border post across the Panj near Khorog.
I did some quick search and it looks like there is a rough track going upstream as far as Ishkashim on the Afghan side.
I read somewhere that some travellers biked it a few years ago.
Have you heard about it ? Or tried it ?
There is even another one leading up to Lake Shiva...

Cheers,

L.

crisidsto 27 Jan 2020 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 608381)
Hi there,

As promised here are more questions coming your way :-)

Do you mean that you managed to get all the paperwork done on the Afghan side of the border without hiring a local guy ?
From what I've read it seems to be the norm.

Yes: we visited 3 offices on the main road in Ishkashim and did everything by ourself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 608381)
Do you speak Dari or Farsi ?

No, I speak perfect italian and some broken english ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by levelo (Post 608381)
There is another border post across the Panj near Khorog.
I did some quick search and it looks like there is a rough track going upstream as far as Ishkashim on the Afghan side.
I read somewhere that some travellers biked it a few years ago.
Have you heard about it ? Or tried it ?
There is even another one leading up to Lake Shiva...

Cheers,

L.

Yes, I heard about that road. I even saw it from the tajik side, as anybody riding the Khorog/Ishkashim road.
Last summer someone told me that one guy managed to enter in Khorog, but was not able to continue on the road to Ishkashim.
From what I heard, security situation in that area is not as good as in Wakhan, but I did not investigated more.
There was some bombing from Afghan army a little bit north a few months ago. Explosions have been heard in Kalaikum.
Things can change quickly in that area...

levelo 28 Jan 2020 08:28

Thanks for your input Crisidsto !
Yes, things can change very quickly in that part of the world.
I'll keep my ears to the ground on the way over ( I am cycling and I am leaving from southern France very soon -- Plenty of time to think about it ) and I'll decide whether to go or not when I get to Tajikistan.
There is also the option of entering Afghanistan at Termez/Uzbekistan and head down to Mazar...
I've got a very reliable contact there.
L.


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