Pakistan Floods - Iran to India

[rbarton7]

We are currently in Quetta, Pakistan and are looking to reach the Wagah border to cross into India via our Isuzu Bighorn 4WD.

Today we had to go to the Home Office Department in Quetta to obtain approval to continue our journey.

Our original route was Taftan, Quetta, Multan, Lahore - we have been advised that this is not possible due to the floods near Multan.

We have been told that we have to travel the following route; Taftan, Quetta, Zhob, Dera Ismail Khan, Khushab, Sargodha and then to Lahore.

This is a more northerly route than Multan, but it is the only route the Home Office would let us take.

[Omie]

Roads are fine near Multan, probably they are referring to the inundated roads near Jacobabad and Shikarpur. According to my information motorbikes and busses are crossing that route through temporary diversions of a few damaged bridges.
As far as Zhob, DI Khan route is concerned although pretty I really doubt if they would allow tourists there due to its proximity to Waziristan. Spending a couple of days in Quetta for the road to open might be preferable.
Please recheck your information and the best place would be the bus station of the intercity busses.

[beddhist]

Good for you! I did most of that route in 2006 and loved it. Much better than through the boring plains.

[Omie]

Originally Posted by beddhist

Good for you! I did most of that route in 2006 and loved it. Much better than through the boring plains.

Well said, I totally agree. Even I found the people very friendly and hospitable but a few news items arent as good.

[pecha72]

I dont know, if there would be any real safety threats, but the route directly east from Quetta was off-limits for foreigners at least at the end of 2007, and I think it remained so for a long time?

[Margus]

We came in the other direction less than a week ago.

No direct roads (road through Loralai and also northern road through Waziristan used to be no-go for foreigners, at least two weeks ago) and the used-to-be foreigner's road through Sukkur is partially flooded.

We contacted everything possible in Islamabad - road authorities, tourist information offices etc who managed to say "maybe" the road from Quetta-Bela-Karachi-Lahore is the only one doable (in sha' Allah) since it was possible to go from Islamabad to Karachi.

With our broken rear shock and already expired visas, we ended up flying/airlifting from Islamabad to Quetta (ironically with bike's ticket cheaper than ours!)

With our experience of waiting weeks in different locations, I wouldn't count on "hopefully they repair the road and bridges" scenario in Pakistan.

Margus

[rbarton7]

We are now in Lahore!

Our original route from the Home Office was... Taftan, Quetta, Zhob, Dera Ismail Khan, Khushab, Sargodha and then to Lahore.

When we got to Qila Saifullah we were told that there was a landslide in Zhob and would need to go via Loralai and then Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Lahore.

Arriving in Loralia we were then told that "foreigners" would not be allowed to pass through Dera Ghazi Khan without express permission from the Punjab authorities which is rarely granted. We were also told that this route is very dangerous and should never be taken

After hours of working with the police, we returned to Qila Saifullah.

In this 3 day journey, we have met and spoken to many police depts in Balochistan and they have been fantastic and have looked after us.

We were now told that the only Northern route is via Zhob and Dera Ismail Khan.

The landslide in Zhob was now clear! and this is the route we travelled. It was evident that much of the roads had washed away but it was *just* passable.

It is a very difficult time in Pakistan, we were escorted all the way from Taftan to Dera Ismail Khan.

The escorts were often very slow and we would wait 45 mintues to travel 3km, we would then need to wait another 45 minutes to travel 10km, etc.... - but it was always for our safety.

[Omie]

Hi Rich and Zowi,
Great! Welcome to Lahore. Thanks for the very informative post.
Cheers