Am looking to travel through Iran into Pakistan June/ July this year. Was thinking of crossing the border in the South. Have increasing concerns looking at the area and wondered if anyone had recent experience?

Thanks

I believe there is only one border crossing open for infidels, the Zahedan- Taftan crossing. This was the case in Nov '08, and I havn't heard anything to change that.
Remember to fill up petrol in Zahedan, last chance at roundabout outside town. If you arrive before the gates close ( 5 pm?) you can sleep in the secure zone on the border, if you stay with the police in Zahedan you get no peace, and maybe scratch a lot afterwards. There is a hotel, but I was told that it was really bad.
You have to show your bike documents in the little hut just past the first gate, then again at all the other offices. Reckon two hours at least, be polite and patient, nothing else helps. I changed money on the Pak side, bargain hard, Iranian is worthless 50 meters from the border.
It's comical that Iran with all their computers and office staff are so inefficient, the Pak side is relativly quick. Liability insurance is not easy to find, but might be a good idea. It's 250 km to Dalbadin, then the road gets reallly bad for the 200 km to Noschi, and then better to Quetta
Good luck
Peter, in Oslo

Peter,

Thanks for this. I was hoping to cross further down to keep distance from Afghanistan. Although maybe it doesn't make much difference. How did you find it there and around that area? We'll be travelling in a 4x4 van. It's our first trip in the van. We're driving from London through eastern europe, turkey, iran, pakistan, india etc to SE Asia

jo - travelling with marky 116

The border further south wasn´t open for foreigners in November 2007. That may have changed, but I actually doubt it. This is because the areas in southern Baluchistan near the coast from the Iranian border to Karachi are practically under tribal law, and the government has very little control over them. And there were also some severe floods a couple of years ago, which destroyed the few roads, not sure if they have been rebuilt. You may also need special permits to enter those areas.

The route from Zahedan to Quetta wasn´t so bad, we even didn´t get escorted but maybe 100 kms in all of Pakistan (that could be different now, though). I would think that this route is also the safest one, if you want to go from Iran to India. There were regular checkpoints on the road, so at least it seemed like the government had some control of that route. I would try to do it in one day, ride/drive in daylight only, and if impossible, then stay overnight in Dalbandin. Didn´t seem like there were many possibilities between it and Quetta (we actually ended up spending one night inside a police station in Nushkin, 130 kms west from Quetta, but this is not recommended!)

I stayed in Dalbandin. I camped in a courtyard behind the post office, which had a locked gate, and I believe a guard.

If i remember, this should be it. (I was there 10/2007)

Google Maps

We went through this border In April 2007 in a Land Rover, the iranian side was very long winded but the Pakistan side ws great and the border guards and customs officials were very nice. The road to Quetta was ok, if a bit bumpy in places, also look out for the hidden little speed humps, we missed a couple of these and hit them at full speed! Not fun. They are usually on the road before and after the railway crossings.

I would agree with everyone else in that Dalbandin is a good place to stay the night, we managed to camp in the courtyard of the local prison, again the guards were great and we felt very safe. I think there was a hotel in town but it was closed when we went through. A good way to find information about the Pakistan side is to stay at the Silk Road hotel in Yazd, there are always bikers staying there who have come the other way, really they are the best source of info.

Also one more thing. When we entered Iran from Turkey we were told to get an Iranian number plate. We messed about in Tabriz for ages trying to get one which proved impossible but we did get a signed waver from the local traffic cops. Its a good job we did because the Iranian border guards asked us where our Iranian number plate was and by the looks of them they expected to get some money from us when we didn't have it. luckilly we produced the signed waver and they allowed us to pass in Pakistan with no other problems. Oh yea and try to avod any police escorts they are a real pain in the bum, they extend your journey time by 10 times and in my opinion only serve top draw more attension to you. Oh yea and there is a real nice cheap hotel in Zahedan, cann't remember the name but it was on the final roundabout as you left the town on the way to Pakistan (I think....)

Hope this helps

Jason

Hi there,

We did cross in November 2008 this border and did stay one night in Taftan. There is one "hotel" in Taftan but it is dirty just like Taftan itself.
We did not experice any corruption and did not need to change our numberplates on the motorbikes.
Perhaps you can find some more info on my website: Going East - Home

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Hi all

I really don't know why I'm replying to this thread as our experiences when crossing East at Mirjaveh/Taftan on 23 August 2007 were so similar to everyone else's!

A couple of things though - we had teamed up with 2 other overlanders whilst in Iran so that we could do this part of the journey in a convoy, as we had had the fear of God put up us by what we'd read and heard about the Taftan-Quetta road (Pakistan travel advice see the Baluchistan bit and it was no different in 2007). Our understanding was that this was the only practicable route through Baluchistan, the more southerly routes being much longer, in worse condition and even more prone to holdups.

We were given a police escort from just outside Zahedan to the Mirjaveh border crossing. We got delayed quite a lot by the bureaucracy when we left Iran and by the time we reached the Pakistani side it was too late to continue east that afternoon. The Pakistani border people were nice to a fault and we had a pleasant evening with them and some engineers who'd come from a nearby Chinese/Pakistani joint mining venture. We slept in our vehicles no problem at the customs post; there was a PTDC hotel there, but it looked so unreservedly sh1te from the outside we'd have expected to BE paid to sleep there even if it was open.

The next day, we headed East and spent the night more or less involuntarily cooped up in Dalbandin police station. I must disagree about the 'being made to feel safe' bit, though - we asked what all the other prisoners were in for and apparently it was just about everything including rape and murder! True we were safe from outside attack, but there was nothing between us and the prisoners inside the compound.

The next day, we continued to Quetta. Nothing happened to us on this journey, and I also remember stopping at all the checkpoints along the way to sign in and noticing that a Polish biker had done Tafan to Quetta in 1 day a few days before we came through - he'd signed into the last checkpoint before Quetta at about 10.30 PM!

If you want to see what the 600 km drive looks like, plus a bit more text, have a look at the Pakistan part of overlandcruiser.net

Lastly, we crossed into Iran from Turkey at the Sero border crossing at the end of July 07. We did not get hassled in any way about having Iranian number plates, although we had to get temporary plates for Libya and Egypt.

Mark

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I've approached the souther border crossing (Pishin - Mand) from both sides, and it's 100% definitely closed. There are no formal immigration / customs facilities on either side.

The middle crossing close to Saravan in Iran can't even be approached. The area is deemed highly 'dangerous' - the police wouldn't even let me go into Saravan city.

So Mirjaveh / Taftan is definitely the only legal border crossing. That said I'm sure you could befriend local Baluchis (lovely people, ignore what Iranians say about them) and go across illegaly (it's totally wild here), but if you were caught by the police, you'd be in BIG trouble, they might even shoot at you. And there would be the carnet problem.

Don't miss out on the genral area though, the coastline between Chahrbahar in Iran, all the way to Hub Chowki in Pakistan is wonderful. Beris (Iran) and Gwadar (Pakistan) are especially wonderful places to visit, stunning beaches and super friendly, warm people.

The police will insist on escorting you on the Pakistani side, and generally treat you with suspicion on the Iranian side though. Pakistan's Makran Coastal Highway is one of the great drives in Asia, in my opinion.

The Mirjaveh - Taftan crossing is easy, the drive from Zahedan to Quetta is not dangerous, just boring. There is a very good, cheap hotel in Dalbandin - the Al Daoud (in Dalbandin city) which makes a good break. Where you pick up escorts depends how obviously foreign you look. The Iranians generally escort you from Bam to the border, though I slipped through and was only stopped about 40km short of the border. Pakistani police usually escort bikes, but not always cars. Both times I've driven the route, I received no escort. I'll be doing the trip again a month from now, if you're around?

Good luck

Daniel

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Just to throw in that I drove from Iran to India through Pakistan and never received a police escort at all, though I didn't go the 'usual' route after Quetta...

Why did you all camp in Dalbadin? There are a few very good local and VERY CHEAP hotels right as you enter town on the right hand side. And they let me put my bike inside too. Lots of parking space in front for those on 4 wheels.

Also, when I crossed to Quetta, there was a LOT of sand on the road and with the bike that was a terrible hassle. Sometimes these sand drifts were a foot high. I took me forever.

Here's the lat/lon for Hotel Bloomstar in Quetta. Great parking, food not so safe. main

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I didn't either, I tried to cut to Bannu and go that way to Peshawar but was dissuaded by a gas station attendant who said the Waziristan areas were off limits to foreigners at the time (2007)

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Hi
I live in Zahedan , Iran near border of Pakistan .
When passing through Iran , you're most welcome to
stay at my place in Zahedan , last / first city in Iran when you go to / come in from Pakistan .

Soroosh

Soroosh, A very kind offer but you may wish you never made it as it looks like there is a fair few of us heading your way during the course of 2009/10
Pete

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Since there are next to no decent places to stay in Zahedan, this is very welcome for future travelers. I suggest a small website (I can host it) with your services and a price of around $8/person/night. Might make for a nice business. I wasted a day trying to find a place in Zahedan ... wish I had the option you just offered.

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