Route from India to Turkey
 

Hi,

I'm planning a motorcycle trip to go around Asia, I'll start in The Netherlands, then go east to Mongolia, then to south Asia and India. From there I will try to go to Turkey somehow and go back via south Europe.

However I'm kind of stuck on where to go from India
I do not want to travel through Pakistan as a blond cheese head.

What I'm currently thinking of is taking a ship from India to Oman or UAE and work on the ship in the meantime to pay for my passage. Then from there go to Iran and Turkey.

I don't know if this is the best way and if it is even possible. So I would like to hear the opinions of you, my fellow travelers, on how to tackle this area.

All advice is appreciated.

I think you're making a big mistake to miss going through Pakistan. It's definitely my favourite country. In more than five years travelling around Eurasia I spent a year in Pakistan and found it to easily be the most rewarding country in the region to travel in. Much friendlier than India and much more relaxed than Iran.

It's your decision though.

The idea of hopping on a boat as crew is a bit of a pipe dream - in this age of litigation you're a liability and would need the permission of both the ship owner and captain. Closer to the time you could inquire with a local shipping agent and see where you get, but I don't think you'll get anywhere.

EO

Thank you for the reply.

It might indeed be a bit far fetched to go by boat.
Still some thinking to be done about this...

Any suggestions are welcome.

Here another (tall) cheese head which has "Tourist" written on its forehead when in these countries.

Crossing Pakistan just straight through is less than ideal, but it is possible and not worth the detour. You get police escorts and is not travelling freely.

The more north on the KKH is much more rewarding. However it can be closed to foreigners when there is unrest.

So check latest status as well as where you will get a visa. Currently you have to do it at home, but may open up.

In Holland you can get 2 passports for business use, perhaps you can use that path.

Thanks for your reply:)

If it is police escort, the detour might not be worth it indeed.

Could you please explain what you mean with 2 passports? What is the purpose of this?

We were also going back through Pakistan. So we had to send our second passport home for getting a Pakistan visa, while being in India with our first passport with of course valid Indian visa.
Hopefully the Pakistan visa will be easier to obtain in near future so you don't have to do this

Oh that's a great idea. I will also get a second passport.

I did not know this was possible. Thanks a lot!

As said, it has to be for business use officially. And they are only valid for 2 years.

So if you have your own business you use that, and write a letter why you need it. If you don't have your own business, you can ask your boss to use their company (bedrijfsnaam + kvk nummer etc), write the letter yourself but have your boss sign it, and a company stamp is even better.

Read into it, at least on the website of your local government.

Try to use the second passport as little as possible. It can be confusing to a lot of countries when you swap passports at a border crossing. Try to avoid it.

How much time will you spend everywhere? Some bikers go pretty fast, if you are doing this all in 6 months or something, perhaps you can get a Pakistan visa from home which has a 3 months validity, and ask them to let those 3 months start 2 months later instead of right away.

using 2nd passport, you would need to focus on Nepal to get your 2nd passport in I think. Please read into options for that (if it is allowed)

Then use the 2nd passport for Iran visa (and possibly India), and then submit for Pakistan visa. Because they want to see a visa so you can get out of Pakistan.