Safety east-Turkey and Esendere/Sero border crossing
 

Hi,

Im planning to go via Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey to Iran. I'm a bit worried that I will get there in the winter so don't want to go via Georgia/ Armenia to win some time.

So the quickest way is to go via east Turkey which is not so safe at the moment. I heard the Esendere/Sero border crossing is a good border to cross, friendly people.

Has anyone been to east Turkey (Kurdistan) lately and can tell me about the safety? My challenge is that i'm driving an electric car with maximum range of 200km a day. Which makes the trip a bit longer.

Hi Wiebe,

I'm not sure we're if too much help here:
We crossed at the border further north than your plan, at dogubayazit 2 weeks ago and it was deserted: it took just 1 hour to get all the paperwork done and us in.
Everyone was nice, but just getting their jobs done.

The town of Dogubayazit wasn't at all inviting and we only spent time at Murat camping (which is more a mini fairground than a camping spot these days) and the Pasha Palace.

We actually specifically avoided taking that southern route straight east, just because, although we thought the likelihood of anything happening at all is very small, especially to tourists, currently there is that underlying worry that you could just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This was posted in June this year, just search it here (sorry, don't know how to get the link in when using tapatalk): Safe road Turkey to Iran
But again, it's more about the dogubayazit route.

And stay away from police stations at the moment: they seem to be the biggest targets for attacks! We were a little uncomfortable with that in Erzurum picking up out Iran visas, especially when there were injuries in Van following a hit the day before.

Have a great and safe trip!
Helen

safety east Turkey
 

Hello,

We are now in Van, eastern turkey and although there are bombs exploding around, often near police stations, the situation is safe except is some areas.

There are fightings near Hakkari - Yuksekova and between Van and Dogubayazit (Tenderek). I prefer to stay away from those zones and we will cross the Kapikoy-Razi border this week. This road is less frequented.
Going to Dogubayazit from Erzurum is probably ok as said previously. The Essendere border seems to be open now but probably many controls and possible some short term closures of the road.

Pierre

Hi Helen,

Have you bought an insurance on a Iran side? Have you a green card?
And about Diesel (If you travel by car): have you bought a diesel card?

Because at Sero all that stuff is not mandatory (I've crossed this border in 2011 and 2015).
Thanks in advance for your reply.

RR.

Hi RR,

Nobody official asked to see our insurance papers or told us we need any.
Leaving the border area one man stopped us and begged us to buy some: he started at 50€ then went down to 20€, but actually we have worldwide coverage at the moment and told him we didn't need any and off we went. (Thailand was the only place that wouldn't accept it).
We do have a green card, but Iran is crossed out, as in not covered.

We didn't buy a diesel card (according to our guide book they don't sell them any more to tourists). I don't know whether that's true or not. We didn't look for one.

We have found diesel quite easily (just look for where the trucks stop... On the outskirts of town are best). When we've stopped at villages with no diesel they've been able to tell us how many km to a station with gazoil (Gaz-o-eel). The furthest was 45km.
One station had diesel but no card and at one station we bought from a truck driver on his card.
If you are lucky they give you the card price: 3000 rials per Mitte (300 Tuman = 0,07€) but normally we pay 6000 rials (0,14€). Standard price around the country.

Hope that helps!
Helen

Thanks a lot Helen, sounds very good!

RR.

Before I now open up another topic, I'll just add my question for Iran here.

I just read on the German ministry for foreign affairs that they at the moment don't know, whether an entry with your own vehicle is possible. They say you used to need the CdP but as of the beginning of August they don't know about the current situation anymore and whether they'll let you in.

I'm not too worried as their informations are usually outdated and there should be one hell of a big topic here ;) but does anybody know for sure or has entered into Iran in the last 1,5 months?

Hi Juaen,
we are here now. Arrived 31 August at the Bagarzan entry point from Dogubayazit in Turkey.
We have a carnet and all was stamped, no problem and we crossed the border in 1.5 hours, no problems.
We've also met 2 others with big vehicles (unimog and iveco) who've also been here same length of time, also no issues.
Hope it goes well for you!
Helen

Hi,

After reading theses reports, it seems that nowadays Bazargan border is as easy than Sero (it wasn't true before, I have bad experience at Bazargan in 2011).
RR.

I had read the same, then we decided to avoid van and it became inevitable to use Bagarzan. Happy to say the horrors I envisaged never materialised.
Cross well!

fuel tax
 

Anybody ask you in Bazargan border of diesel tax fuel??
I was there 3 times, and I was asked 2 times for paying it.
I was not ask about it on any other borders.
That's why Bazargan is not so good border. Besides Bazargan also Dogubaiazit is not so friendly.

Hi Bartosz,
"Anybody ask you in Bazargan border of diesel tax fuel??"

That is the question!
But they say no (see #5 above).

And it's not mandatory to stay in Dogub.

I have stayed (2011) in Erzurum, not so bad.

RR

Hi Helen,

Thanks for all the info. Just wondering how did you get a worldwide insurance? I was looking for it but couldn't find. And may I ask how much you paid for it?

Safety east-Turkey and Esendere/Sero border crossing
 

Hi,
We got it in Germany.
It's offered by the agent Jahn und Partner, but the insurer is Nürnberger.

I'm not sure how long the Nürnberger will keep doing it: for Asia and Africa they increased their price by 50% this year, maybe to put people off?

For fully comprehensive, we used to pay 550€ per year for the Landcruiser, these days it's more like 800€ !!

You can get J&P at https://www.jahnupartner.de/kontakt

H

We just met a French couple who use this lady based in Holland. They didn't mention how much they pay, but did say it wasn't cheap.
They used her for Africa and S. America.

Maria alessie
Alessie@alessie.com
+31 10 455 5946