stans to china to india
 

So, in the early stages of planning getting to India. The Iran/Pakistan route looks best weather wise for our dates, but also possibly dodgiest safety wise and visa wise. The alternative is stans china India.


All the posts I can find on these 2 routes are fairly old, does any one have any updates on costs, need for guides, routes etc etc etc


Ta

hi,
the only border between china and india is close to bouthan in the arunhachal pradesh area don't no if the road is finished and last july there was a diplomatic problems.
the other way is to travel through nepal and then india
in both case you need an expensive guide in china !!!

Moggy

I'm afraid you're ten years too late to the Eurasian Overland...

The traditional route (well, 1980s to 2000s) through Iran and Pakistan is a little more difficult. If you are travelling with a UK, US or Canadian passport you need a guide in Iran. Pakistan visas are only available in your home country, and the escorts seem to be pretty intense these days; all the way into Punjab (thus missing a lot of great stuff in the south and west). That said, I wonder if you headed south to Karachi, whether the escorts would leave you there. It's a real tragedy as Pakistan is IMO the most rewarding country on the route, but a paranoid government (pressurised by Western governments) restricts the movement of foreigners for their safety.

The other route through the central Asian states is nice, though not as interesting as Iran / Afghanistan / Pakistan. Guides in China are expensive. Not too bad if you're just cutting the corner from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan in a group, but extremely expensive if you want to make a proper tour through China.

I have never heard of any overlander crossing from China to India, I think it is still impossible. Via Tibet and Nepal might be possible but will be fantastically expensive.

India has made the whole visa process more difficult in recent years. Gone are the days when you could walk in with nothing but some cash and get a six month multi-entry visa.

The Former USSR is the way to go these days; it has never been easier.

As far as safety is concerned, I think this is 99% hype and paranoia. If you have made the decision to drive a car in countries like Iran or Pakistan, this is your major danger; traffic accidents. Tens of thousands of people die each year due to traffic accidents. A few individuals getting shot / killed by a bomb (in Pakistan or Afghanistan; Iran is practically terrorism-free) is a drop in the ocean compared to the dangers of being on the road. The dangers which the media scare the sheep with are trivial.

EO

I understand you can go China/Pakistan via the karakoram. Thats more the route I was thinking
When you say expensive guide how much are we talking? I won't be hanging about going through China, much as I would love to, simply because of the cost. It would be a quick cut through as Daniel says from Kyrgyzstan.

I was asking about the price for 2015 for China.

I dont hae the proper dokuments with me on this computer but as far as I remember it was about 2000 Dollar for the permit, then about 1350 Dollar for each bike/car and an extra 0,5 Dollar for the need of a car accompaing you per km ( if you just have a biike and the guide cannot travel with you in your car )

So it was far to expensive.

There is a shortcut from Kashgar to Pakistan which may be able to do around 1500 Dollar / bike

I crossed China, from Kyrgyzstan (Irkeshtam) to Pakistan, last summer.

7 days/6 nights in China (it was supposed to be 6 days/5 nights, but everything took more time than planned)

Prices depends from the agency you contact and number of vehicles and persons.
Sometimes is not easy to understand how prices changes when group size change.
Vehicles are way more expensive than persons, obviously.

In our case, total price was a bit less than 7000 USD for a group of 6 vehicles/8 persons

I saw there are already persons on this forum starting organizing crossing for next year: probably getting in touch with them will give you a clearer idea (things change quickly also in China)

Thanks for the info guys, unfortunately then it looks like I won't be going to India, prohibitively expensive either through iran or china :(

Actually there are several border posts between India and China, none of which are open to us overlanders, unfortunately.

E.g. there is one in Nathu La, locals can cross but tourists can go only to lake Tsomgo. There is one in Spiti valley as well. Etc.