Dear overlanders,

I just returned after an amazing trip travelling overland from Europe to Nepal. Since I did my research before departure on the internet forums, I want to share some of my experiences.

Route:
Netherlands-Germany-Poland-Ukraine-Black Sea Ferry-Georgia-Armenia-Iran-Pakistan-India-Nepal. Most of the overlanders decide to travel via Turkey. Of course a great route as well, but I think Georgia/Armenia were maybe the best parts of my trip. Nice mountain roads, almost no traffic, great off-road possibilities, beautiful historical places to visit. The hard part is to find the exact ferry times. Please contact UkrFerry, and email with mister Vladlen Tarasenko. His english is good, and he is a reliable guy in Odessa. His email address:vyt-ukrferry-tour@mail.ru and company's address:

"Our exact address: SUBSIDIARY COMPANY "UKRFERRY TOUR"; Ukraine, Odessa, 18, Schepkina street, office 1, the second floor. For information: on a ground floor bank "PIVDENNYI" is located. For your facility: The office is located at the crossroads of Schepkina and Preobrazhenskiy streets. This is a 10 minute walk from from Deribasovskaja street or 20 minutes of driving by car from railway station."

The ferry is great fun!

Second big thing to think of doing this trip is of course the safety situation in Iran-Pakistan area. If you start your research, you will find out Balochistan is the danger area. This starts actually in Bam (Iran) and continous to the border (Taftan) and all the way to Quetta and beyond. I had great doubts before and even during my trip if it was wise to do it. In Bam I decided to visit the overlanders-hotel and talk to the owner. Here I decided to continue, and I enjoyed every single bit of the journey! The situation is absolutely not safe. Travel wise, and get your information from the local police and people. Respect this information, and don't be a hero. I stayed in the same hotel as the kidnapped Swiss couple, and learned they decided to ignore the police advices... The police was very helpfull to me. On the various police checks they insist on escorting you. I had escorts all the way from Bam-Taftan-Quetta-Sukkur-Multan-Lahore! These escorts are free of charge, except for a lunch or some small contributions.

The road from the border to Quetta is long. Most bikers decide to do this in one day. I was very happy to stay in Dalbandin. There is a good hotel there to spend the night. This allows you to drive more at ease and enjoy the great great beauty of the trip! Border to Dalbandin: 6 hours, Dalbandin to Quetta: 6-8 hours. Quetta was really at war at the time I was there (april 2012). Very tensed and a lot of police and army on the road. 4 attacks in the week before my arrival killing 20 people... And last week we received the awfull news about the the killing of the red cross doctor. So again, the area is not safe, but in the meantime it was the best part of the trip perhaps because of the great natural beauty.

I was travelling as a single driver and enjoyed every single bit of it. Hope many people more can enjoy this. Such nice people on the road, especially in Iran-Pakistan and of course in Nepal! If you have questions, I am happy to assist. For those who are Dutch, have a look at dirk.waarbenjij.nu

Cheers.

Dirk

Hi Dirk

I am travelling the Turkey- Iran-Pakistan route. After the death of red cross guy the other week it shook up my plans a bit. I now have plan B going across Caspian and heading to China for the KKH into Pakistan.

Of course my family is not happy with me planning to go through the Iran-Pakistan route, and I was not so keen after recent events but a part of me still wants to do this.

If I change the plan to head north to china, I'm concerned about the additional time needed ( I have to be back at work later in year)

I just seem to be going in circles at moment, not getting anything acheived although I am applying for all possible visas in meantime.

I know this is not best way to guage or plan but if you had choice between Bam - Quetta or KKH into Islamabad what would you think best in general?

__________________
Steven
Perth to Perth 2012

Hi Steven,

I totally understand your difficulties, I had exactly the same. The region is not stable at all. So what is wise today, might be foolish to do tomorrow. I met quite some travellers who didn't have the visa in time, and they were forced to ship their bikes. Not quite the excitement of overlanding...

I wouldn't dare to answer your question. It shocked me as well to hear the news. Although I was escorted the whole way, I'm not sure if this made the situation more safe. I think it will be a serious risk always to take the BAM-Quetta road. My plan was to prepare all the visa etc, but not be determined to do it. I talked with the locals on the road, getting closer to Bam and the border. At that time I felt safe, continued and enjoyed avery single bit. But I'm not sure if I would do it again, guess I would have the same mentality again.

It will definitely take more time to take the KKH way, but for sure it will be beautiful! I don't know how safe that way is though. My embassy recommended to take this route btw, they thought it was crazy to take the Bam-Quetta route....

My advice: try to keep both options open, and play by the ear. The locals know more than all of us. I wish you a safe and great ride!

Hi guys,

Im in Brasov, Romania at the moment and plan on crossing through the Taftan border at the start of June.... Also nervous about this but its kinda a necessity for me as im going on and crossing into China via Tibet (if our tour group gets 2 more aussies that is)

What is your time frame for entering Pak?

Cheers

Hey all - I am considering london to india this summer on my Africa Twin, a very long standing dream, but I am cautious about the Iran/Pakistan issue, for obvious reasons. Dirk - do you feel that most of Iran is safe and if so, what do you think about heading south to the coast and crossing via Karachi, is there a route into India that way or does one have to go out at Lahore? Any other good sources of info for researching routes would be great, thanks!

HI piersb there is only 1 point you can cross into india from pakistan and that's through the wagha border near LAHORE, i think there are 1 or 2 other places to cross but they are only for locals

nomad.r

There's only one crossing for bikes between Indo Pak and that's Wagah. The other one is for trains at Monabao.

BTW the bikers hesitant about Balochistan can always load their bikes on train and cross the unstable parts this way. Safe but you'll miss a lot.

Cheers

The only logical route is the one I took. You'll be escorted all the way. BTW, Pakistani authorities do not allow you to take a different route, so South is not an option. I agree by train you'll miss some great fun. On the other hand I've seen the rail, and it seems to be a great way of travelling as well!

Hi, Did you have any issues crossing into and exiting Ukraine?

Hi Dirk,
I am considering india europe overland trip this oct,2014. But i am quite nerves too and want to know if it is safe to stay for a night at Quetta city ?
How was your experience travelling on road bewteen iran and pakistan?

Hello there
We are on the way to Georgia ,started from Greece, and we are planning to head to Australia all the way through Iran Pakistan and India.Please let me know more about the crossing from Iran to Pakistan . If you like contact me at info@overlanddiaries.com or via the web site Overland Diaries. Thanks for the help........

India to UK I went on my 1994 350cc enfield. The route I chose was India Nepal China Krygyzstan Uzbekistan Kazakhstan Russia Finland Sweden Denmark Germany Belgium France Uk.
I had to skip China due to exorbitant costs and a rule that 6 persons of the same nationality have to travel together. We went from Russia to Finland as we were not allowed in Ukraine.

Did it last year in June

Am driving with my family of 4 from Bangalore to France this April.
And facing a similar dilemma. China leg is extremely expensive to the verge of jeoprodising the plans.
Plan was India>Nepal>China>Kazakh>>Russia>Schengen.
China leg is from Zhangmu(Nepal Border) to Khorgos(Kazakh border).

If you avoided China how else did you route your tour? Am looking for shortest, cheapest way to overland into Kazakh from India. Any help will be greatly helpful.
Also, is there a way to enter Kyrgyz from the Ladakh side?
Thanks,

Hi guys

done the route from Moscow to Connemara Ireland on HD Softail 2007 and then back through Turkey and Iran to UAE. Now considering the next spring cross Pakistan and further India Nepal

The time is limited as usual and the agenda is tough

I understood from forum there's no chance to escape escort from Bam to Quetta, and no chance to do the mirjaveh ride to Quett within one day

there are some talks on getting the sort of special permission in quetta and it could take half-a-day.... Is it true or not? I was only planning to pass iran-pak border in the morning and reach quetta in just one day, than one day ride to multan and again one day ride to Lahore

is it possible?
Dennis