Iran to Pakistan via Balochistan
 

Fellow travellers,

if the covid- and geopoliticial situation allow it, I will be starting my Berlin/SEA/South America trip in June 2022.

For Central Asia my initial plan was to do the Stans and travel the Pamir Highway, crossing the Irkeshtam Pass and enter Pakistan via Xianjiang. However I am already now doubting that China will open it borders for overlanders by the next fall and therefore I am considering the possibility to enter Pakistan straight from Iran via Balochistan.

I know this is a quite risky passage where an armed escort is mandatory. Nevertheless, has anybody in this forum travelled this region previously? I would be very interested in hearing about your first hand experiences.

Thanks in advance!
Carl

I've driven it a number of times (never with escort), and been to other parts of Balochistan. There have been a few incidents over the years but as always these lead to the perceived risk being far higher than it probably is. There is an active insurgency in the region (the Balochistan Liberation Army vs. Pakistani authorities) but as an unannounced tourist passing through you are not going to become a target except by very bad luck. It's the most common route to India and foreign travellers commonly use the route (before covid closed the borders of course).

On another note, I seriously doubt you will get to SE Asia next year via Pakistan / India. Burma is very unstable and even if covid disappeared tomorrow, I suspect it will be some time before the India / Burma border is open for tourists. Just my opinion, anything could happen of course.

EO

Thanks a lot for sharing this. It encourages me to proceed with the planning of Balochistan as an alternative route.

Good to know also that you have managed to travel this region several times without an escort, I indeed thought it was a must nowadays.

And for Myanmar, I agree with you. I remain optimistic that it will be possible to overland to India somehow next year but from there I will most probably ship my bike either to Malaysia or Thailand and take it from there.

Once again, thanks for your input.

Hi
I reside in Pakistan and extend a warm invitation for your visit. Overall, its safe as long as you have the required documents. Once any foreign national enters Pakistan through Iran, they will be required to register themselves with the Police & Border and will be escorted till Quetta.

Do let me know if your plan materializes. I dont know if im breaking any rules - check videos on youtube by user wildlens by abrar, he came from Germany to Pakistan on a motorbike.

Thanks a lot. I will come back to you should the Balochistan plan materialize. I did watch some clips by Wildlens by Abrar, nice footage. Could not really follow the content due to the language barrier but nevertheless interesting :)

Ah yes, he posts in Pakistan's Urdu language but most of his videos have subtitles in English

covid
 

i don't know about SEA but my friend doing Argentina to Alaska as i type this letter & he is Indonesian, he got stuck for 8 months in Argentina last year, cos of covid 19 now he is in costa Rica it seems everything is Okey for him to cross but every border he took a PCR test, only in panama he gets quarantine for 5 days because he came from Colombia, hotel n food panama government paid, follow his channel wheel story his name is mario iroth. but he talk in bahasa indonesia also he make video every crossing border n PCR test. he ship his honda africa twin from bali to argentina for 1500 us dollar

Me Toooo
 

Hey mate,

I'm also hoping to travel through the Middle East next year as I want to drive from the UK back to Vietnam. This blogger has been quite useful, however, I would still like to speak with the foreign office before making any plans.

https://www.lostwithpurpose.com/paki...sion-overstay/

Relax. It is easy and the only real danger you face is freezing your arse off in winter or baking near death in summer. FYI forget Burma. It's going to be a long wait for that one to open up again. Plan on shipping Mumbai Port Klang.

Haha I hear you. And yes, sea fright. If I manage to arrange the shipping from Chennai it would be ideal otherwise from Mumbai.

Great link, thanks a lot. I thought I had found more or less all bloggs on the topic. I´m quite set for Balochistan at this point and I also want to stay longer in the north of Pakistan so the information will come in handy.

Seriosly? There's no shipment from the east coast (let's say Kalkata) to Thailand?

Wauschi

Talk to ANY experienced agent and they will tell you to avoid the EC ports of Chennai and Kolkata all costs. In addition look at where Bangkok port is on the map compared to PK.

interesting. The reviews in the shipping section for Chennai/Port Klang are indeed rather poor or average. Cant find any for Mumbai though. If you know about a good freight company seated there feel free to share.

I am planning a similar trip, incidentally also starting from Berlin.

I know a few people who have just recently entered Pakistan from Iran so I am planning the same route. That means central Asia will have to be a loop.

I am hoping that by the time I get there the India-Pakistan border is open again. And I am definitely not expecting Myanmar to open up again, even next year. That sounds like crossing through Donezk right now.

Cheers,
Benjamin