Indian Visa update
 

I spent two months in Pakistan back in 2006 and agree totally with Luckno's first post comments regarding the people and the north. (Great post by the way!). What an adventure Pakistan was - SWR Chapter 7
We managed to ride to Quetta without an escort but weren't allowed to continue directly to Peshawar. Instead we de-toured via Sukkur, Muktan and Lahore. We inadvertently picked up an escort in Sukkur but managed to loose it with a very early start from Multan.

OK, I digress, just the thought of Pakistan conjures up so many great memories. My real reason for posting is this -

The Indian visa two month rule (mentioned in post 1) was revoked by the Indian Government as of December 4th 2012. See HERE

Great post! Well written. Knowledgeable.
Thank you

I thought I would add my Pakistan visa story...

turn up at the Gerry's Pakistan visa place in Bradford yesterday. They are v nice and I am seen to in 15 minutes with a cup of coffee. Free

Yes, papers in order. Bank statements check. LOI check. Itinerary check. Letter from employer. Oh yes

But sorry cannot accept your application. We don't accept applications from Lincoln here.

For those of you that don't know Lincoln is an inoffensive little place best known for its 11th century cathedral and racetrack at Cadwell Park. Today I went to their Manchester visa office

Gerry's Manchester
 

My wife and I completed our Pakistan visa application at their Manchester office on Saturday.
They were happy with all the paperwork but seemed more bothered about where we had come from as the lady behind the counter had not heard of our hometown in County Durham. She said our application should be ok as we were from the North East but they are unable to accept applications from London or the south. Didn't understand why but hopefully ours will get sorted.....fingers crossed!

Jaime

Visa
 

Well only 8 days after submitting our papers our Pakistan visas have been issued. Just been to collect our passports from Gerrys in Manchester complete with a lovely 6 month visa valid until December 2015. :clap:

Excellent.

Just for information, you had to give an itinerary when you applied for the visa ? did it raise any concern from them ? at one point they were discouraging people from crossing Baluchistan; what itinerary did you give ?

Thanks,
Laurent

Hi Laurent

We were completely honest with our application. Said our entry was through Taftan from Iran and exit through Lahore.

I put an itinerary together with a list of places from Taftan to Lahore and said that we would drive using our own vehicle, the places listed matched the LOI from Snowland.

Thanks
Jaime

A Pakistan map
 

Who will be first in İstanbul on the way to Pakistan?
Sorry only 1 set available..

Please give me your hotel name via hub message and I will bring the gift of my friends from Newquay to you.Thanks Mr.Keith Hooper.

New Pakistan map (Reise.. 1:1,3 mil.)and sticker flag.

All the best..

Hi Jamie - this is really promising info. I'm about to send my application off to head in the other direction and was worried about not being truthful about the mode of transport and route.

My biggest issue at the moment is the LOI. Do you have a contact for Snowland? I sent them an email, and it was re-directed to travel-culture.com, who initially seemed helpful but when push came to shove, they've stopped replying to emails. I've also sent an email today to Lost Horizon Treks, but am yet to hear back from them.

I also heard today from another Australian who recently completed the journey, who told me that he was completely truthful with his application, and did not submit a LOI

Does anybody have any contact information for the MAP (motorcyclist association of Pakistan)?

Hi James

We had to have an LOI for the visa agent to accept our paperwork, they had a checklist stapled to the front of the pack with what was required.
The email address I have for snowland is snowlandtours@gmail.com the guys name was Kamal Hussain.

The motorcycle association of Pakistan guys are on Facebook. Post on their page and you will get loads of help. They will probably be able to sort out your LOI - they told us they had done many in the past. The page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAPakistan/

Pakistan is an awesome place, the people are amazing and the scenery in the north is breathtaking.

Hope you get sorted

Hi! All,
I passed through Pakistan and India Sept and Oct this year (2015). Wanna to share some experiences for others going thro these countries.
Entering India from Myanmar at Tamu/Moreh border was quick and easy with the help of Myanmar tour guide (I used Burma Senses Travel & Tours). The road in Nagaland India is interesting and scenic. No issue on security.
India as we all know; 'India is a crazy country, only crazy people go to India'.
Pakistan; the usual caption; 'you cannot go there bcoz of security reasons'. I took a popular local route from Islamabad - Abbotabad - Naran -Muzaffarabad - Gilgit. But I was denied going from Muzaffarabad to Gilgit becoz I dont have the No Objection Certificate (NOC). So, I have to back track and via the KKH to get to Gilgit as this way NOC is not req. I strongly recommend you, get the NOC for travelling Muzaffarad to Gilgit. Then make a round trip Gilgit back to Islamabad via the KKH. You wont regret it.
The other route that will require NOC is from Quetta to Taftan the Pakistan/Iran Border. Also, they provide escorts all the way. This escort business is more politic than real security reasons. I was escorted even to go to toilet!
Hope this short info help.

Amzah

Just a quick follow up on the last post - I came through Pakistan in Nov/Dec this year. Certainly agree with the sense that the security escort is political as much as anything else - i.e. a combination of ar$e covering and justifying their existence. This might sound naive, but that was the feeling I got based on speaking to both them and locals.

Rode down the KKH from Kunjareb and never once felt unsafe; just sad that whilst it's an incredible place to visit it's also difficult to explore fully because the police insist on following you everywhere and, in one case, from even speaking to locals.