hi all,

i am planning india to europe trip early summer on enfield. i've done some kind of route planning, mostly with the help of Web browser and Live Maps are incompatible (for india, pakistan and iran) and ViaMichelin: Maps, route planner, route finder, UK maps, European maps, hotel booking, travel guides (from turkey onwards). both sites are quiet helpful, especially michelin for europe and turkey, just live.com seems a bit to underestimate the travel time, therefore i added 30% for their estimations to be more realistic.

in general i've done quiet some trips in india, covering up to 500 km per day, though in some cases it happened that we did only ~200 km in 10 hours (yeah, welcome to india). i would prefer to cruise at 70-90 kmh if road and traffic conditions allow.

on trip to europe i would prefer to have full days on road for up to 10 hours (i prefer to ride only in light) and break days without ride, doing sightseeing and all the tourist stuff, most of all, i'd like to see iran.



the following are my concerns

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border crossings:

wagah border india to pakistan
pakistan to iran (on the way from quetta to zahedan)
iran to turkey (maku to dogubayazit)
turkey to greeceb (istanbul to thesaloniki)
rest in eu and schengen zone should not be complicated

how long does it take and how complicated it is?
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visas:

for pakistan ad iran i will have to obtain before leaving, in delhi, it should not be complicated.

may i get visa for turkey on border crossing from iran? at least Visa & Health Information (skyteam.com) says so, but it is more about arrival to the airport with all the facilities, etc. or should i obtain visa in embassy in india in advance, heas anyone reliable info about that?
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carnet:

any info on obtaining carnet for india registeres vehicle in india? i am a resident in india, therefore no problems with ownership of indian vehicles.
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route:

here it is for your judgement below are the "days of ride" with distances and time estimations. any comments for that, are they realistic? any suggestions for corrections and for places to stay for "days of breaks"?

1. delhi - amritsar, 490 km, 8-9 hours
2. amritsar - lahore, 52 km (on a safer side, most of the day dedicated for border crossing)
3. lahore - multan, 339 km, 5-6 hours
4. multan - quetta, 530 km, 8-9 hours
5. quetta - juzzak, 620 km, 10-11 hours
6. juzzak - zahedan, 104 km (most of the day for border crossing)
7. zahedan - bam, 324 km, 5-6 hours
8. bam - yazd, 561 km, 9-10 hours
9. yazd - qom, 494 km, 8-9 hours
10. qom - babol sar, 356 km, 5-6 hours
11. babol sar - chaf, 266 km, 4-5 hours
12. chaf - ardabil, 314 km, 5-6 hours
13. ardabil - tabriz, 207 km, 3-4 hours
14. tabriz - maku, 250 km, 4-5 hours
15. maku - dogubayazit, 60 km (most of the day for border crossing)
16. dogubayazit - bayburt, 401 km, 6-7 hours
17. bayburt - sinop, 614 km, 9-10 hours
18. sinop - istanbul, 688 km, 10-11 hours
19. istanbul - thesaloniki, 609 km, 8-9 hours (provided border crossing is not too complicated)

rest in europe - greece, bulgaria, romania, hungary, slovakia, poland, etc. is pretty clear, almost riding around home anyways

so, i have ~20 days of cruising and could add 10-20 "days off" to that, my prioirity is iran, then pakistan, then turkey, waiting for suggestions
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any other info on the mentioned route:

• road conditions?
• security situation?
• do's and dont's?
• insurance requirements in the countries to be crossed, where to get it and how much (i suppose, i will not be able to enter eu without insurance with india registered bike)?

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thanks in advance for info and see you on the road