Safety Concerns Turkey/Iran/Pakistan
 

Hi Guys

We are planning a trip from Switzerland to Singapore.
Our current route would bring us down to turkey, through Iran and from Pakistan over to India.
The borders/Routes are as follows.

Iran to Pakistan
http://tinyurl.com/pnn5ddx

Pakistan to India
http://tinyurl.com/ll76se5


We are very concerned about the safety issue in Turkey and Pakistan. Does anyone have any recent experiences traveling through any of the countries? How dangerous is it? I don't feel like risking my life..

Thanks!

Hi there.

I rode through Turkey and Iran earlier this year. My Turkey experience was good and I experienced nothing out of the ordinary. In the east I did encounter the occasional armored vehicle which is probably part of their anti PKK efforts. I rode the southern route past Syria and into Iraq and then back up north to Georgia. With the increased international ISS activity it would maybe be wise to take a route a bit more up north away from the Syrian border.

Iran conjures up media images of ballistic missiles and Islamic hate in the minds. This is unfortunate because I loved the place. I was prepared to be arrested for a day or two though. That did not happen but I was interrogated in public three times by plainclothes police and the last time was for thirty minutes in a restaurant. A slightly uneasy but still interesting experience. On my way way to the Kavir desert I was stopped by traffic police and directed to their station. There I was told to stay on the main road to Mashad. I did not comply and had an amazing ride with no consequences. During massive nighttime world cup festivities on the streets of Shiraz I was pulled away from the crowd by two plainclothes police men and was sent back to my hotel. Halfway I learned I was being followed but I shook them off because they only ride 250cc. All in all nothing serious. Places I was told to be careful about was the border area with Pakistan. Go to Iran, it is an amazing place.

Pakistan I haven't been but personally I would travel through it if conditions allowed it. But one would have to be well informed beforehand though and listen to local authorities. This is a country where bad things can happen and you would be risking your life. Not sure if you can ride solo, think you might have to ride in a convoy. Search the forum since others have done it in the past: like in 2012. As always using your head applies here.

You have a nice ride ahead of you. One day I hope to come from the direction of India through Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Oh that sounds amazing. I've heard of great things from Iran and also it being relativly harmless. Your thougts on Pakistan are similar to mine. I will evaluate options.
Are goal is to get from Switzerland to India/Thailand (and then down to Singapore) Alternatively we could try go through the Stan countries and China.
Will update on how it goes.

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting discussion :)

Cheers
Dr Omar Khan
1 out of 180 million
living and enjoying in Pakistan

I can second mr mota reply for Turkey and Iran - exactly my experiance.
My only addition would be look out for dogs the further east you go :eek: The people are great.

No experiance of PKstan.

sent via tapatalk on the road.

I have no experience with Pakistan, but in my opinion there is nothing to worry about in Turkey and Iran. This summer my wife and I did a tour through Central Asia, and we experienced Iran as a safe country with the nicest and friendliest people one can imagine. Turkey is a half-European country anyway. You should stay away from the potentially troublesome area close to Syria, and enjoy excellent Turkish roads and food. Of course, if you look for trouble, you can find it anywhere..., and you should avoid travelling at night, but in my opinion that applies to any country.

I did pak leg. Its unpredictable, most people have no issues but risk is real. I dont have any current info. Your proposed route I dont think will happen. A) its too dangerous and B) they wont let you do it anyway... I had my route dictated to me. Quetta - sukkar - bahawalpur - multan - lahore. I really loved lahore and you will be free of escorts once u get here.

thanks for the info. I'm looking at going over the top through Stan countries and China as an alternativ. My willingness for Risk is reasonable but at a minimum.
How long did it take you to get through? Where you on a bike?

I don't have practical experience, but what Andrew says is what I've read elsewhere such as HUBB & Chris Scott Something like this route

It is the same route used by Gordon May Route

And is listed in the new site Overlanding: Routes

I'm hoping to do it in May 2015

Dave