Iran to India via Pakistan (Mirjaveh-Taftan-Wagah)
 

I did a bit of research on this subject before going so I figured it could be useful to some people : we just crossed Pakistan (early October 2019 - 2 Swiss guys with tigers 800). To put it simply, it all went well, perfectly safe, no problem at all.

We slept in Zahedan and headed to Mirjaveh early on a Monday.

Had a bit of a hard time getting fuel in Zahedan (that card thing they have in Iran, not a problem anywhere else in the country but there....), we finally found a pump where we could get fuel and they actually offer it to foreign tourists. Here's where : 29°24'36.28''N 60°49'30.77'' E).

The formalities are easy at the border, takes about 2 hours total. Of course, visas and Carnet required.

Entered Pakistan at around 11. The escort had already left so we slept one night in Taftan. The Levies took us into town to buy food.

Next day, Tuesday, we went to Dalbandin, no problem to get gas in Taftan, just asked the Levies. It was bottle benzine but it worked fine.

Slept in the only hotel in Dalbandin and had a meal there, didn't cost much.

Next day, Wednesday, we went to Quetta, again no problem to get gas, food and water in Dalbandin.

We got into the Bloom star hotel in Quetta, paid 2'500 rupees per night per person. It wasn't as bad as we excepted but a bit pricey. Wifi worked fine there by the way.

Next morning, Thursday, we waited until around 10 for the escort to arrive to do the NOC. We tried to get moving the same day to Sukkur, it's a waste of time from what I understood, you have to spend 2 nights in Quetta. The office is still closed from Friday at noon until Monday. We got lucky, two Turkish riders didn't and probably got stuck in Quetta for the weekend.

So the next day, Friday, we moved to Sukkur, still had the escorts.

The night after that, Saturday, we went to Multan, same thing, still got escorted and we arrived in Lahore the day after that so on Sunday.

We weren't allowed to exit the hotels in Sukkur in Multan.

So in total, it took us one week to cross Pakistan. It's not a lot but we had to wait quite some time for some of the escorts. We had to choose between visiting India or Pakistan so that's why we went kind of fast. I suppose if you go on the smaller roads you can shake the escorts after Sukkur or Multan. Looks worthwhile scenery was amazing. The people we met were great and we didn't have any problem.

Sometimes the escorts were driving stupidly slow so we ended up overtaking them to get them to move faster. Didn't cause any problem and we had a few laughs with them.

There's a big motorways being built that will go pretty much from Sukkur to Lahore but as of now, it's not available for motorcycles. Some dudes at a toll let us on that motorway to get around Lahore but we got stopped by the cops 20 kils later and asked to exit so don't try, waste of time.

We had good roads all along Pakistan and from Sukkur there are plenty of gas stations.

We teamed up with a backpacker from Belgium in Taftan and travelled with him, he also had to sleep 2 nights in Quetta and than took a 27 hrs train ride to Lahore. It also went fine for him.

As for Wagah to get into India, it was a piece of cake. Got there at around 09h30 Pak time and there was no one. Still took us two hours to get through because of the paperwork. Visas and Carnet required naturally.

Yes unfortunately no bikes on the Motorway, which would make life so much easier. You can try, like a certain arrogant Polish female biker did recently, but you will only end up being arrested and sent back to where you came from.

Hello KIKI :) thanks for pure information. what you did just cross border and don't try riding in North Pakistan. Did you had short time ??? I experience lot of over-landers just cross Pakistan from Taftan to Wagha and don't touch north. is it because of difficult and annoyed time with POLICE ESCORTS ??
THANKS
SHAH

I just did not have enough time to go to north Pakistan. I met people who went there and did not have any problems and were able to go around whitout the police escorts.

Great country, great people even if we just stayed one week we enjoyed it :)

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Hello Kiki,

I was wondering: you were talking about paperwork at the Indian border. Do you also need to get insurance or anything when you get into India?

Hi,

No I did not have to contract any kind in insurance in India, it's regular border crossing paperwork : customs, immigration, they search your bike and you go on.

Hi Kiki.. Thanks for that info, as i am also considering this route this year..
Is it required to have the guides during your trip or is there a way around it?
cheers..

Hello,

From what I understood, having to have a guide for Iran depends from the country you're from. Not 100% sure though.

The agency through which I took my visas for Iran also told me that I needed a guide for Iran. I didn't agree and went with it and it was not required or even mentioned at the border in Mirjaveh. I'm from Switzerland by the way.

I have heard from other travelers that it's getting harder to actually get a visa for Iran now, because of the situation there of course. Not sure if it's true or not and we've been hearing stuff like that for a few years I believe.