Transiting Iran with a guide
 

Long shot, but I'm looking to travel through Iran to Pakistan at the start of November. I'm from the UK so I get shafted with having to pay for a tour guide for the trip.

I've been quoted around £2000 for all expenses (bar my food/fuel) for a 7 day transit. I'm sure this will shift and can hopefully be negotiated.

If anyone else is looking at passing through at a similar time it'd be great to group up and share costs.

Hi Josh

Can't help I'm afraid but I'll be crossing Iran next year and am interested to
know how you get on (see my thread). What's your big plan?

Chris

Cheers Chris, I'll try and keep this thread informed.

My grand plan is to get from UK to NZ along the ground and seeing as many things as possible on the way. Not much of a goal except that. The hopeful route is Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thai, Malay, Indonesia, Aus, NZ. We'll see

I'm considering shipping over Iran though as the price is just way too much of the budget. Shipping gets expensive fast too though...

Cool, same route as me. I was planning on stopping in Thai but who knows maybe I'll keep going! I haven't yet done my costings for Iran but may just suck it up for the experience. Can you chuck your bike on a train?

Chris

@ joshuwaa (et chris.w)

Hey chaps

I recently completed that whole trip in reverse (NZ -to- UK).

If you need any help or advice .. just ask. :thumbup1:

cheers

Keith

Hi Keith, I'm planning your route next year. Perhaps you could help me out a little? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Kai

Always willing to pass-on information and tips Kai (just like everyone in here.)

The headline story of my NZ~~>UK ride is outlined in the pages of my travel blog - click-on the signature link below - but if you need any additional info or undisclosed gaps of the story filled-in, then needless to say, please do not hesitate to contact me via PM or email.

atb

Keith

Hi guys, just letting you know I'm delaying my trip until April for various reasons, Iran being one. I'll likely now be crossing in May 2017 so I'll be poking around nearer the time to arrange something similar. Hopefully you guys can find a solution!

Cheers for the responses

Your experience from Iran?
 

Hi Keith,

Would you mind sharing highlights of the Iran administrative adventure?
Carnet / nocarnet
Escort / no escort (guide)
Any valuable contacts

We are planning short blast 10 days from Cyprus in late April 2017 and are in phase of information gathering.

M.

Hi Momirj

I am British and travelled 3,000 km independently, by motorcycle, up through Iran – from the Gulf city of Bandar Abbas up to Norduz on the Armenian border – in June of 2014.

I applied for my Iranian visa during the early part of February 2014, just before new rules were introduced requiring British travellers to be escorted by an approved guide.

With the 'no guide requirement' I travelled completely unrestricted. No Iranian authority ever questioned or challenged my right to go unaccompanied wherever I pleased throughout Iran, during the currency of my visa.

As far as I am aware, the need to be escorted by a guide now only applies to British and Canadian citizens; and for US citizens, for whom it has been a requirement for many years.

If your nationality is Cyprian then you are probably exempt from the need to be escorted by a guide, but you should make sure of this first.

Before applying for you visa at your nominated Iranian Consulate, you will need a visa authorization number /code from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iran, which you can obtain through a recognised visa service agency. I used Persian Voyages, but there are several similar agents you could approach who will assist and guide you through the whole process.

A carnet was/is necessary - and I would say very essential - to get your vehicle in and out of Iran. Iranian Customs can be quite demanding though, but this probably depends on you entry and exit point. For instance, at Bandar Abbas the immigration /customs process took eight hours in total. Exiting the country at Norduz took only about 90 minutes.

Trust me, you won't need any 'special contacts' whilst you are in Iran to get by, as the whole Iranian population will want to be your friend and help you in any way they can. It really is a wonderfully hospitable country.

Good luck

Thanks Keith ! Appreciate the answer and encouragement. My nationality is Serbian (with permanent residency in Cyprus). Most likely I would be exempt from guide/escort rule.
Will however check in the Iranian Embassy in Cyprus.

As per Carnet, this will be a challenge. Out desired route takes us over the Northern/occupied Cyprus where Republic of Cyprus does not have custom posts (for obvious reasons) and therefore we can't get the Carnet stamped (I checked this few years back when we were traveling to Syria and Jordan few months before the was started).

The alternative route is to send bikes to Athens (Ro-Ro), but that adds cost, mileage and time. Not preferred option.

I'm doing my research on this subject (i.e. Iran without Carnet). Let's see how far we get.

Thanks again.

M.

Have a look at overlandtoiran.com hossein has a carnet service that might help.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yup, did that and contacted via e-mail already...

However this may be a show-stoper for us:

"Please notice this official document will be only valid for 7 days maximum and you must enter and exit via different countries, For example from Turkey to Turkmenistan".

We will be entering and exiting via Turkey...

M.

Could you not enter / exit through Azerbaijan or Armenia? They would take you back into Turkey quite quickly.

The 7 day thing does suck, you'd probably have to get a "proper" carnet to extend that I guess.

Also I should add for anyone watching this thread I'm now travelling in April and hoping to be in Iran in May, and not November, and I'm still looking for someone to share guide costs with, or a legal way around it.

I asked the Embassy about a transit visa. They replied;

To obtain visa, you will need to receive an authorization code. This code needs to be issued by Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Tehran.
You have two options to gain this code:


Option one would be if you have friends or family in Iran they can visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran and give invitation letter for you and apply for the code for you,


OR



Option two would be apply through Travelling Agencies in UK or Iran and they can apply for the code for you, and the code can be sent to us by MFA.



Either option once the authorization code is been issued for you and sent to us by MFA, then you can visit us to have your visa issued.


Regards

The Visa Section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran[/COLOR]