hi everybody..

me and my girlfriend are currently plannig a trip from australia back to europe.

and are a bit stock with how we get on from india to the stans.

we where looking into kashmir and guide through china and into kyrgystan via the kharokam.
but
as we are both european citizens and living in australia it seems to be close to impossible to get a pakistan visa as you have to apply in your home country.
and second of all the guide through china seems expensive..
so the options i see is

1:shipping from mumbai to iran and enter the stans from there.

2: airfreight from delhi to kazakhstan or kirgistan?

3:enter china with guide from nepal (but again seems expensive).

so my question is does someboddy know of a way we didnt think of
or do anybody know if its possible to ship from nepal to kyrgystan ?..
....

It's not impossible. I'm from the Netherlands, tried to get my pakistan visa in Australia but did not work out. I crossed the ditch and applied in New Zealand, was no problem. New Zealand is not far and flying is cheap with Jetstar. It's worth considering. New Zealand is very nice to go to anyway! It took only a few days. Email the High Commissioner in Wellington first.

Otherwise: don't know how much time you've got, but otherwise you could send your passport home and have a agent arrange the visa for you. But going to NZ might end up cheaper with all the couriercosts

Anyway, interested in this. I'm going Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran and was planning on Turkey, but if i've got enough time I might want to do the stans as well!

Good luck!

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www.waarjijnunietbent.nl

Nepal to Kyrgyzstan is most unlikely. Two small countries with no direct flights.

A better bet is Delhi to Almaty in Kazakhstan. There are direct flights. (Air Astana for example)

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I traveled the other way a couple of years back, and flying was my backup in case of trouble with China. As Colebatch mentioned Delhi - Almaty is easiest, Delhi - Bishkek could maybe also work.

Maybe things have changed, but the Pakistan visa was probably my easiest visa ever. Maybe see if you can FedEx your passport home, and have someone apply by post to the embassy in your home country (having a second passport helps a lot ...). The Karakoram is truly awesome, and definitely worth traveling in its entire length.

China on the other hand is a bit of a nightmare, both to organize and with respect to cost. To keep costs down if you do want to go that way, Pakistan to Kyrgyzstan would be fastest (via China). And don't pick Tourogat, it's more expensive than the other pass (can't recall the name right now, but you will find it on the HUBB). The scenery Karakoram, Chinese plateau, Taklamakan, Kyrgyzstan is awesome though.

The other option, if you have a lot of time, is Pakistan - Iran, then up into the Stans and do some kind of loop. Here the Turkmenistan visa can be tricky (same if you want to go Stans -> Iran), as to avoid hassle with guides and such, transit visa is the only option. Not sure if rules have changed, but it used to be 4 days only, fixed dates (!!!), fixed route and requires you to have visa for the previous and following countries.

I know another Hubber who air freighted from Delhi to Dubai then took the ferry to Iran only last month (August 2014).

Message me if you would like his email to get his contact in details in Delhi.


Cheers,

Zac

zalderman@hotmail.com

Last year as China is a total rip off in terms of money I flew my bike from Delhi to Bishkek. Not a successful one but last month a rider in contact with me flew successfully with his bike to Bishkek for 2100 USD. I paid twice the amt n got my bike from Navoi in UB instead of Bishkek for reasons we do not know. I know of the agent who last month successfully sent the bike fro Delhi to Bishkek

No logistics available from Nepal at all.

Just another approach if you do want to go via the KHH. See if your home country will issue a concurrent passport (many western nations do). Send one passport home to get the Vis, whilst travelling on the other.

Also double check with the Pakistan Embassy in Australia. If you have some sort of resident status, you may be able to apply here.

Hey, I'm in the process of trying to figure out the shipping from Delhi to Bishkek or Kazakhstan. Do you have the contact info for the agent the other rider used? Thanks

Yep will post tomorrow.

Y.p.uniyal

activair airfreight india pvt. Ltd.,

e-63, south extension part one,

new delhi – 110 049. India

tel:*++91 11 24619915, 24607606

fax:*++91 11 24646482

mob:*++91 9891321063