Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan to Pakistan: What are the Options?
 

Hi people!

We are currently planning our route for a 1yr Silk Road to SE Asia adventure that will start in April '23. Two bikes, two people.

Our plan currently is to go East via Turkey, Iran, somehow ship across the Caspian sea (as Turkmenistan remains closed), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and then somehow to Pakistan, before we continue though India further southeast.

However, China has closed their borders and we don't want to rely on reopening. Wakhan valley seems accessible from Tajikistan, but apparently n one manged to get into Pakistan via the Broghil pass. That leaves not many (if any) choices.

Has anyone and idea whether shipping the bikes from Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan (or India, Nepal,...) is an option? I read somewhere that it could be doable to get the bikes via truck through China, but found no info.
Maybe someone has info on air freight from any of the airports in that area.

Open to any suggestions and advice!
Thanks a lot!

Hi Guy, my wife and I have been planning a trip (round) to India.
The two routes we picked were UK to Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India (after seeing info on human rights in Iran, and having a British passport, I couldn't get into Iran anyway) and the former reason, means that route is off the table.
That leaves Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-Tajikistan-China and then India, but because I'm hearing China has closed its borders, perhaps you could enlighten me as to why, I'm interested in your option, so I'll watch this post with interest.

I'll also do some investigating on my own, and any info I glean I'll pass on. I do find that some of the forums on FB seem to be helpful, and I'm also a member on UKGser's although I don't own a BMW but a Super Tenere, but the Yamaha guys seem not to be as adventurous as the BMW chaps.

Google 'China zero covid policy'. China's borders are closed, and there is no indication they will open any time soon.

Azerbaijan's borders are closed, as are Turkmenistan's. AZ keeps delaying a theoretical opening date; TM shows no signs of wishing to open up.

Russia is still open though.

So, any trans Asia overland trip involving Central Asia to India, or avoiding Iran, is purely hypothetical unless you cross Afghanistan. That's why the OP is looking at freighting bikes over / through China.

The Boroghil Pass is not an official border crossing, even for locals living in the valleys either side of the pass. More importantly, it's a steep mule track (I have seen the start of it in the Chapursan Valley) unsuitable for any vehicle traffic. It is not an option at all, forget about it.

Afghanistan however seems to be open for travel, it's not a place to wander into without planning but is a very rewarding travel destination if you make the effort. For safety, you would want to enter from Uzbekistan rather than Tajikistan, so as to avoid Kunduz.

EO

Thanks a lot for the input already.
Yes, Broghil is completely off the table after a bit of research.
Currently trying to get info on shipping, will keep you posted if anything develops. Potentially Mongolia-Nepal could be a viable airfreight option...

@eurasiaoverland: Do you have any further info and/or contact to someone who has recently crossed Afghanistan? Avoiding Kunduz is one thing, but I'm not too happy about Kabul (and all the rest tbh) as well, but that is related to feelings and resentiments rather than facts. We are traveling as an unmarried couple, so I'm not keen on traveling through Afghanistan with a female companion and my partner doesn't feel positive about it either... But IF that is a reasonably safe option for both of us it would be an incredible thing to visit that country.

I crossed the country in 2009/10 on a two month trip, some of the very finest travelling I have done.

Security generally went downhill from 2003 onwards.

Since the American-led invasion has ended, the situation was a bit uncertain but the country now seems pretty safe, as the threat to you as a foreigner from the Taliban has greatly reduced. However, this new status quo is quite young.

I have a friend (who runs a travel company that regularly takes groups of tourists to Afghanistan), who just returned from his first post-Taliban trip, which took in places such as Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, Ghazni and Farah that would previously have been absolute no-go areas. He reported no problems.

There have been attacks though from ISIK in Kabul and Jalalabad, both places you need to pass through en-route to the Khyber Pass. Perhaps it's now safer to go down to Kandahar and cross at Chaman, but no foreiegner as far as I know has done this for many years.

Ultimately, safety is largely in your head, according to your risk aversity, rather than an objective assessment. Try to read up as much on what is happening there, contact some locals etc. That's what I did back in 2009.

Hope that helps,

EO

Hi from Pakistan
Currently the border is open from Iran and Afghanistan. If you need any assistance let me know and ill ask around to make your visit easier.

Hi ALatif,
Sent you a pm.
Regards
Baz

responded :)

Response from a chinese tour operator to an email I sent in 2019 (lol):


China borders reopened, no more covid quarantine, but tourist visa to China still not open to apply.


1. China has reopened borders to tourists after three years of Covi-zero closure.

2. Tourist visa to China (L Visa) is still not available for application. Only M, F, Z, Q, S, X1 and C visas are accepted now. But we believe that Chinese tourist visa will be restarted very soon.

3. Travellers to China no longer required to covid quarantine, after almost three years of being subject to varying durations of mandatory isolation.

* However, customs and border inspection still have some specific requirements, which I will add in below link:

https://www.roadpioneer.com/china-bo...rist-visa-not/

i think the longest way at this moment you go up to india,cos myanmar still closed for polytical situation then shiip it to thailand.

if you want to travel with your GF just make her ID the same address with you, they will believe if you are married couple even you dont have married certivicate, just check wildlens by abrar pakistani guy with german passport recently he went to all middle east country also saw worldcup in qatar

China? Easier said than done...
 

Hi Guy..
We seem to be in a similar position.
I'm riding from the UK to India, through Turkey to Azerbaijan, taking the boat across the Caspian to Kazakhstan, before travelling to Tajikistan and on to India via Pakistan.
The trip is due to start very soon, arriving in Pakistan (with luck) on May 5th.
The sticking point seems to be the brief transit though China, and I too have been wondering about shipping the bike between Tajikistan and Pakistan, and becoming a pedestrian for a bit.
Did you have any solution in the end.
Believe me, I'm taking notes.. :scooter:

Hey, China opened it's borders again two weeks ago.
For China Transit, there is a Facebook group "China Transit for Overlanders". Especially look for the post from 14. March with a link to a WhatsApp group. There is most of the discussion happening. And other people planning the same trip where you can maybe join to reduce cost. Just ask there.:thumbup1:

think only Aserbaidschan is closed atm. I read it's valid till may, so maybe afterwards they open up.. I guess we can just wait.
And for Turkmenistan transit visa is not possible, but the tourist (with agency +guide) should be.


Or you go via Iran directly into Pakistan. This is what I will most likely do at the end of summer. I talked to a few people traveling there atm. Bottom line is: none of them regret it or felt explicitly unsafe at the moment. There are more check points, but all went well for them so far. They just said, it would be reasonable to "behave atm" and don't to stupid things to catch interest by the government / police. Other than that it should be fine and doable.

https://www.roadpioneer.com/china-cr...costs-sharing/

Got an email from these guys recently - potentially worth a look?