Help needed crossing/avoiding Iran/Pakistan ~10/2016
 

Hi Everyone,

I plan to ride from UK to India (and beyond?), passing through Iran/Pakistan around October 2016, but need some tips for the route!

However I see that Iran and Pakistan are causing the most difficulties for my planning:

Iran
- As a UK citizen, i appear to be only able to travel with a guide (the cost of which makes this prohibitive)
- The visa seems difficult, long and unpredictable

Pakistan
- Security seems very poor!
- Visa also seems difficult & uncertain


I would very much like to find a way to travel independently through Iran, and Pakistan may be interesting too. However, I am more keen to avoid Pakistan due to the security situation.


Can anyone suggest any suitable methods to travel from either Iran or Turkey into India?

1) Ferry to UAE, and fly to India. There appears to be no ferries from the gulf states to India. Any idea of costs and/or feasibility to fly?

2) Employ a guide for Iran, fly Tehran to Delhi (quoted USD1900 but going rate seems more like half of this).

3) Fly Turkey to India? What are suitable ports for this, what costs etc?

4) Go north through the 'Stans' - I am reluctant to do this due to the admin/expense of each border crossing. Additionally, the question of Pakistan/China is still not solved.

5) Travel with some kind of overland truck company further north (Stans). Again, how to pass Pakistan/China is still an issue as I cannot find any overland companies covering these areas.

6) Ride through Iran & Pakistan anyway!

7) Some other option?



Any advice from those that have more experience would be greatly received!

Matt.

Just looked up mileages:

Calais (France) to Turkey/Iran border = 4,448km
Turkey/Iran border to Pakistan/India border = 4004km

It's easy to forget just how big these countries are!

I don't really want to end up missing out on nearly half of the trip to India, and most likely the most interesting half too.
My main focus is on finding a way to ride the majority (or at least travel overland), just trying to find a relatively safe way to do it!

Hello Mattbibby!

I have not done this route, but I plan to do it starting from the UK in August 2016 so I have done some research. Please, if anyone reading this sees that my information is incorrect, I more than anyone would like to see it corrected!!

My main concerns about Iran were that as Brits we are required to organize a guide which is expensive, the visa is very tricky to obtain in the first place, also Iran commands by far the most expensive securities when applying for your Carnet de Passage. Tied in with the fact that the route to India from Iran requires navigating Balochistan, a region in Pakistan which is currently considered to be unstable, I found myself looking for alternatives.

Now, going north of the Caspian Sea doesn't look too difficult.

No visa required until the Russian border, which is about £100 for a 30 day single entry, need to apply before hand.

Kazakhstan - No visa required, 15 days from entry.
Kyrgyzstan - No visa required, 60 day from entry.

China - a tour company can sort out the myriad of things like a guide, temporary Chinese license, Chinese plates etc etc for you. The visa itself is £30, but I've had a few quotes and the cheapest it gets is roughly £900 per bike for the relatively short ride to the Pakistan border in a 5-6 bike group, plus daily living costs.

Pakistan visa looks difficult-ish to get but I haven't looked into that in much detail yet. Security issues - the route you would be taking is the Karakoram Highway, referred to here a lot as KKH, there's lots of information on this site about it and the general feeling I get is that although there probably are safer things to do in the world than ride this route, it's reportedly one of the most wonderful travel experiences going and not half as bad as the media will have you believe so I'm more than tempted. Cross into India then near Lahore.

You can usually avoid Pakistan via Tibet and exit into Nepal, but due to the earthquake there's no way to do that at the moment. There is a good chance that a secondary route will open to overlanders into Nepal in 2016.

I also got a quote for 24 days going through China into Laos with a guide, but the question is; do I want to be following a 4x4 for such a length of time on a strict itinerary at great financial expense, all the while missing Pakistan, India, Nepal and Myanmar? Yeah the guide through Myanmar is expensive as well but speaking for myself I'd rather limit the guide time, see more different countries/cultures, do more solo riding or non-guided group riding (whatever opportunities come up) and the more I look into the KKH the more I want to do it. :clap:

Report for border crossing from Iran to Pakistan
 

Try to pass through Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India...

Please refer to my experience as follows.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...pakistan-78914


Thanks,
:thumbup1:

Well gentlemen, if you ever decide to come to Pakistan please stay in touch. Many bikers would be glad to show you around and might be riding with you on the KKH.

BTW I felt much more insecure walking in international megacities than I ever did while living in Pakistan.
Cheers
Omar

Just a thought, but it occurs to me that you [Mattbibby] and Cwac are trying to achieve the same, or similar objectives.

Cwac says he's leaving the UK in August, which means he could easily get to the Turkish-Georgian border, at Sarp, by late September; taking-in plenty of scenery along the way.

You both meet-up at Sarp - or somewhere close-by, e.g. Trabzon - then ride together through Georgia + Armenia and eventually cross-over into Iran at the Agarak (Armenia) < – > Norduz (Iran) border. Meet your pre-arranged official Iranian tour guide right there. Or you can rendezvous at Agarak if you want to travel independently as far as possible - or somewhere in-between (e.g. Tbilisi, Yerevan.)

Ride all the way down through Iran to one of the Hormuz-based port-cities of (a) Bandar Abbas, or (b) Bandar Lengeh, sharing the cost of the guide.

You could try and involve even more UK/Canadian/US travellers and thus reduce the guide costs even further. There's plenty of time ahead to advertise and involve more overlanders.

Ferry to Sharjah or Dubai UAE from either Bandar Abbas, or Bandar Lengeh.

See the Emirates - all seven of them, and why not? Also take a look around Oman, both are fantastically friendly countries. Fabulous roads too.

By the time you've travelled through Iran, and around the UAE & Oman .. believe me, you will have seen more than enough desert by that time. You won't need to go through the southern deserts of Pakistan to see yet more sand!

Then crate-up and air-freight your bikes from Dubai to Kathmandu, Nepal. Turkish Cargo can deal with this for you (via Istabul.) You fly as passengers direct to Kathmandu with the lo-cost carrier, Air Arabia, from Sharjah Int'l Airport. Collect your bikes at KTM and head-off to one of the many Indian borders.

Into India .. via the back door. :thumbup1:

WHAT an adventure?! Entirely do-able too, despite the recent visa restrictions imposed by Iran for Brits/Canuks/and Yanks.

Best of luck with your planning.

Omie, I have read some of your posts with interest, I have no doubt I will be nagging you for advice as my plans get more definite!!

It would be excellent to meet people to ride with in what feels like such a faraway land right now!

I am open to ideas and absolutely keen to ride with others! My main goal is to get to NZ, I'd like to ride overland in the correct direction as much of the way as is physically possible but that does sound like a hell of a ride :mchappy:

Hello all,

Hi to Cwak also. I'd be interested in discussing both of our plans in more detail. Whereabouts are you based?

Keith, thanks for your in depth proposed itinerary. It seems to correlate roughly with my (1). The Iranian 'guide' fees I have heard are c.€100USD/day, which I would rather avoid, though. This is then added with the required cost of shipping from the gulf to India, and I'm not sure whether it might be a better option to ship from further West entirely.

Edit: based on 'Perth2Perth's 10 days to cross Iran (going rather quickly and not seeing much, I assume) this is ~$1000USD in guide fees.

Through talking with shippers it seems that the cost of air freight isn't that related to the distance, but is instead more dependent on the outgoing shipping port. For example, shipping out of a large port like London is cheap due to competition, but most places in Eastern Europe or the Middle East are quite dear.

I'll be looking in more detail into shipping options are the number of hurdles to crossing borders seems almost insurmountable.

:-(

Iran and Pakistan
 

By avoiding Iran and Pakistan you will be missing two of the most amazing and friendly places. They really were our favourite countries and never once did we feel unsafe in either.
The hospitality of the Iranian and Pakistani people was the best in the world. We felt more unsafe in eastern Turkey and also India than anywhere in Pakistan.

Hope you get sorted.
Jaime

PM'd!

You may hope that the sanctions against Iran will be lifted soon and that travelling becomes easier. I had no difficulties in that wonderful country (didn't need a guide as non UK citizen).

Pakistan is actually too safe if you come from Iran. I had to follow police escort all the way to Lahore and I didn't see real Pakistan or meet people. The police did not want me to leave hotels at all! In the north you can ride free but I crossed the border in Lahore.

The violence, I was told, is not directed against tourists but some rivaling groups are fighting with each other. But sometimes someone just happens to be in wrong place on wrong time.

Iran and Pakistan
 

I have read the posts from Matt and Cwak are either of you planning to go through Iran this summer. I have had a few quotes and it is expensive, and I wondered if you are going we could share a guide and reduce the costs. Please let me know by email if possible or on this thread and I will try and check it regularly. We will be travelling by car so could carry a guide in our car if needed. We are British so currently have to have a guide. We plan to leave the UK this summer.
Hope to hear from you
Suede

Hi Suede,

I have essentially still not yet solved this 'problem'. But, if I don't find any better option, I will plan to fly by the most economical Europe-India plane route that I can find.

However, I am interested in the possibility of a shared guide to pass through Iran.
Do you have a ballpark estimate of costs?
Do you plan to continue East, through Pakistan afterwards?

What is your planned timing?
I have planned so far:
- Leave UK 04/07/2016
- Europe & Morocco for a couple of months
- Live in Granada (Spain) for the month of October.
- November onwards I would like to ride to India, over the course of 1-2 months.

I have heard that there may be private boats travelling from Bandar Abbas (southern Iranian coast) to India. So, perhaps it is possible to arrange transport on one of these, but I assume it will only be possible to investigate this in person at the port.

Until recently I was still kind of hoping that the 'guide' situation with Iran may change in the near future. But, I haven't heard anything about it in a while. Have you heard anything more about this?

Iran Pakistan
 

Hi
Your timings will probably not work for us as we hope to reach Iran Summer 16. The quotes we've had are 100 to 110 dollars per day plus meals and accommodation for the guide or 170 dollars per day all in. That's US dollars. The rough itinerary I mapped out would take about 20 days, and we would have to stay in hotels rather than our camper. For us having a guide on our own it would be cheaper to take a tour with all the accommodation included.

Thanks for getting back to us, please come back to us up if you decide, or are able to go this summer. We are considering going on into Pakistan and through to India, we would like to spend the UK winter in India.
Thanks
Suede

Iran Pakistan
 

Hi
Your timings will probably not work for us as we hope to reach Iran Summer 16. The quotes we've had are 100 to 110 dollars per day plus meals and accommodation for the guide or 170 dollars per day all in. That's US dollars. The rough itinerary I mapped out would take about 20 days, and we would have to stay in hotels rather than our camper. For us having a guide on our own it would be cheaper to take a tour with all the accommodation included.

Thanks for getting back to us, please come back to us up if you decide, or are able to go this summer. We are considering going on into Pakistan and through to India, we would like to spend the UK winter in India.
Thanks
Suede

Hey guys,

I am so happy that I found this thread. My plan is to ride from Germany to South East Asia to see Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam beginning Oct/Nov/Dec 2016. I am planning to go through Iran, Parkistan and India as well and I would love to meet up and ride together, as my mate bailed out.

As I am a German citizen I think I would not need a guide to cross Iran, but I know a Iranian citizen. Perhaps it is possible that he would guide us?! Do you know if this could solve the problem?

Looking forward to hear from you.

Hi Suede. Those prices for the Iranian guide are similar to what I have heard - and would make Iran prohibitive for me unless sharing the cost with quite a few others.
It looks like our timings won't work together but I wish you all the best for your trip!


Hi Marvin. Glad the thread is proving useful!
I am also interested in travelling together for parts - particularly Turkey to India.
Can you post here or send me a PM with the itinerary that you have so far?

My understanding of the 'guide' requirement is that they must be 'state approved', so I don't think your friend would qualify. However, I'm sure your friend will probably know more about this than me!

And a long shot - where in Germany are you? I will be visiting Berlin 15-22/03/2016.


I've been following the Iranian elections with interest. Following the result, I have hope that the guide requirement may be removed - if this is the case, I would very much love to visit Iran.

Guides
 

Hi Guys,

So im planning to go via Iran to either Pakistan or Dubai by ferry. Im reading here in comments that you need to have a guide with you? Is this for UK residents only or for everyone? Im a Dutch citizen.

It's only for UK, Canadian and American citizens; so I think you will be fine.

My hope, and I understand the general expectation (especially following the recent elections) is that this requirement may be dropped altogether.

:mchappy:

Is there any news on the Guide requirement recently? Anywhere I should particularly be watching for info?

I'm a UK citizen also looking to go through Iran probably in October on the way to NZ. If anyone is going the same way at the same time I'd love to group up on the costs and share a ride for a while, usually I'd prefer the freedom, but since you're restricted by a guide anyway, some company would be nice.

Looking around, it seems Turkey -> Iran -> Pakistan -> India is the best way to go. China looks like a massive hassle and I don't see an alternative that doesn't involve flight or Iran by other doors.

:innocent:yI received the following from the London Iranian Embassy on 25/03/2016:

------------------------------------

Thank you for your e-mail,


To obtain visa, you will need to receive a authorization code. This code needs to be issued by Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Tehran.
You have two options to gain this code:


Option one would be if you have friends or family in Iran they can visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran and give invitation letter for you and apply for the code for you,


OR



Option two would be apply through Travelling Agencies in UK or Iran and they can apply for the code for you, and the code can be sent to us by MFA.



Either option once the authorization code is been issued for you and sent to us by MFA, then you can visit us to have your visa issued.


Regards

The Visa Section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
-----Original message-----
From: Matt Bibby <XXXXXXXXX@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday 05/01/1395 2:57 PM
To: london visa section <lon.visa@mfa.gov.ir>
Subject: VISA Guide requirements

Dear Sir/Madam,

I note that your Embassy began offering a visa service as of 23/03/2016.

I would like to enquire whether the rules regarding independent travel for those with UK passports have also been relaxed?

I am a UK citizen and would like to visit Iran and travel independently.


Many thanks, Matthew

-------------------------


I didn't find it especially clear, but I took it to be 'no change'.


I too would like to travel Turkey --> Iran --> Pakistan --> India or possibly Turkey --> Iran --> (Ferry from Bandar Abbas in Iran to India) --> India.

But unless the 'guide' requirement is dropped, I won't be visiting Iran on this trip.

Cheers for the info. Seems a bit vague to me, does "applying through a travel agency" mean they are accommodating you? Or just that they have the contacts that could apply for authorization on your behalf (at a cost no doubt).

I'll try and get in touch with them too, asking a similar thing, maybe they'll clear it up. Did you just use that email address directly or some other channel?

Yes, vague, I'm not really sure they understood my what I was asking.

I emailed them on that email address, which I got from the London embassy website.

I just emailed them today (Saturday) so I'll report back with any response, I've been a little more direct in trying to get a clear yes or no on guides. I'm based in London so I can always hassle them in person too if this gets us nowhere.

Hi joshwaaa,

Im an Australia (currently in UK) looking to ride home around the same time as you. I have had similar concerns about Iran/Pakistan and getting the bike into Malaysia via nepal?

I would be very keen to hear what the email response is regarding your visa.
Any help/ advice would very very much appreciated. I haven't been planning long so I'm trying to catch up :)

Cheers,

Andrew

Also Biker Marvin, I will be travelling through Germany in early September enroute to Poland via Amsterdam, Hanover, Berlin.
If you are clode to these areas maybe we could meet up.

I never received a reply at all from the Iranian embassy. From what I've read, though correct me if I'm wrong, Australians aren't victim to the forced guide through the country, just USA, Canada and UK.

If they are and you need help planning and a guide I've been talking to Hossein at - Overland To Iran and he's been really helpful so far. Though I'm yet to book anything.

I also re-emailed to clarify, and received no response.

I'm in London for the next week or so if you want to meet up to share knowledge/plans and a pint. :thumbup1:

Hello! I'm entering Iran through north turkey later this week. I'm from Barcelona and I'm planning to spend almost a month in the country. Is any of you already in Iran? I still don't know if I'll exit through pakistan or go up to the 'stans and Mongolia.

Hey ya all!

I am riding my motorcycle east from Amsterdam and looking for people to ride through Pakistan with. I am currently in Tehran waiting for my visa to come through so I can leave beginning of September in the direction of Pakistan.

Please send me a message if you are around and looking to cross pakistan into india as well noortje.nijkamp@gmail.com

Cheers, Nora
:scooter:




PS.
I don't know if you are already on the road, but I met a few UK people who at the border pretended to have a guide but never met up with one so traveled around the country freely. Never had any problems.

Hi,

Sorry for not replying much on this thread.
My plans have changed and I am currently in Morocco. I won't be in the middle-east for at least another 5-10 months.

A few people have contacted me from this thread - you should contact one another too.

Best of luck everyone, safe and happy travels.