Any recent Iran to Pakistan experience?
 

Hi we are currently in Iran,has anyone recently been through from Kerman to Quetta ? Was it ok and when and where did you get police escort? was there any bribe needed and did you feel safe ?

hi jimed,

we traveld that way three weeks ago. we hav got a police escort from (after BAM, Iran) till Lahore, Pakistan. And there was no way arround. SOmetimes Really annoying with that Escorts. But they do there Job.

At it all we feel safe and wished do not have the escorts. coz ist not only the escort while riding. you also get police staying in front of your hotel and follow you biside when you walking arround in the city.

thats our experience. but we was a group of 8 bikes met at the border.

our rout.

we stayed for the night at thge border- next day we crossed the border (took 5h for 8 bikers, but was okay) than we stayed somewhere at the police station for the night. next day we enter quetta. from quetta we went to sukkar in one day. and than north to lahore in small etaps.

regards

ps: no bribe- the polivemens where alsway friendly. shaking hands and making pictures. you only travel slow coz of the escorts.

Hey Jimed

I travelled with piralo - you can check out www.timeoutonbike.com for blog and pics.
Just do it and no need to worry - all the escorts are super friendly and helpful. If you can't find a hotel, you also can pitch your tent at the police station - super safe!

Route might take more time than you have planned, since the escorts are slowing you down. Just take it easy - you are on vacation.

Have a good ride!
Roland

Hi guys thanks for the info and it puts our minds at rest some what.
Cheers

Don't worry...you will be in the most friendly lands of your trip..just pay attention for the friendly escorts...they are there all for your safety.
wish you all the best and happy trips..

Welcome to Pakistan. Take it easy and enjoy.


Cheers
Omar

We crossed a few weeks ago. No trouble with the bribes thing, in fact the Pakistan border was very helpful but very crude. Everything is paper and books, no computers except one in the visa office. We were issued a police escort in Taftan who let us go about 30 miles up. We did 70 miles and then it was getting dark. We were stopped at a town checkpoint and the police were called. They invited us to stay at the station, cleared out the main office and let us sleep there. They brought us tea, chatted and were nothing but friendly. After that we had escorts all the way to Quetta. Once in Quetta we seemed to be allowed to walk around freely and had no trouble. We got left alone for a while afterwards and made about 100 miles but when we stopped for pictures someone tried to steal our gear and said they had guns. They didn't, they were just idiots but it did leave us in a bad mood.
We Had no more trouble, the ecorts were all very friendly and we always felt like they were just good guys doing their jobs. We asked a lot of them why we needed escorts and none could explain. They all tell you that it's perfectly safe but you still need to be protected. We were told in Sukkor that we weren't allowed out of the hotel but I heard the police take your passports but nobody did that to us. It is a bit frustrating but simply, the country is dangerous. It has a population of 180 million and there are 20 million AK47 assault rifles. On top of that there are millions of other kinds of weapons. The government considers pistols to be harmless so the police aren't even issued them. we were allowed to hold guns for pictures, my mate knew nothing about them but when I checked he had been given an AK47 with a full magazine and a live round in the chamber. If he pulled the trigger it would have fired. Guns are so normal there they just treat them like they're nothing special. Wait till you cross into India. You're suddenly in far more danger and things will change radically.
Also, don't drink the water, even tea and coffee and be very careful about the food. Expect stomach problems, every single person we met on the road had many issues there.

seconded!

This is so sad to read ... I spent 5 weeks in Pakistan in 2006 and only a few days with escorts. It sounds like they basically run you through the country and out ... Does anyone go to the KKH anymore? I am going to be back there in 2014 or so, coming from the Indian side this time. I sure hope things will have settled down then a bit... The police escorts, where I had them, were OK. The "worst" was from DG Khan to DI Khan. Basically rode in one straight shot but at many point I would have stopped to take pictures.

Iran and Pakistan
 

We have been given permission by Chinese authorities to ride across the KKH border to Kunjerab in Xinjiang after May 1 2012, but they said they cannot guarantee our safety or indeed recommend riding through the Pakistan side.

We have already ridden 20,000kms across Africa (now idling in Dahab, Sinai) and will be shipping over the bike to Turkey next month (Dec 2011) from Alexandria to Mersin on Chinese SOE ship and then touring South Europe for Jan and Feb and when it gets warmer a bit further north via Austria (our bikes birthplace) and then back through Turkey to Iran and to Pakistan. We are now considering a route through India to Nepal and then cross to Xhangmu in Xinjiang (China). But still open to ideas.

Like everyone else I guess, we are researching safe, but interesting routes and what permits and visas are needed. I have been searching this forum and several others without much luck and concrete information and so any "non gungho" advise is very welcome on a good route through Iran and Pakistan, and also any travelling partners who may be taking the same route around April/May 2012 would be good. If an escort is needed fine.. how is it arranged?

Thank you all,

Fang Yi and Rupert
www.facebook.com/bigbiketrip:mchappy:

Escorts on the Pakistani side are not optional. You'll be intercepted by police, local militia etc. as needed and escorted through their area, sadly at great speed and without stopping at times. It's not clear from your message above if you're actually going into China from Pakistan and to where you will be allowed to ride. I want to do something similar, but then from Laos to Pakistan, via China.

Pakistan route
 

We are actually OK with an escort and plan to enter Pakistan from Iran around early May. Ideally we would like ride with some other people if possible which I guess there will be at that time of year.

We are actually from Shanghai and both speak Mandarin fluently... Fanny is Shanghanese and I am a British citizen, permanent resident of Hong Kong and registered in Shanghai. We are in discussions with Chinese authorities who have been extremely helpful to us throughout our expedition and we are looking at options to either enter China along the KKH in Xinjiang (1st choice) OR ride through India and enter China from Nepal (2nd choice) in third week of May (we are checking calendar for an auspicious date to actually enter and will check with feng shui master).

We have to decide in advance which route we take so that paperwork for China can be completed in time... it takes 3 months or so. We will also be joined by many Chinese motorcycle clubs who follow Fanny on her blog.sina.com.cn/bigbiketrip as her expedition is followed by hundreds of thousands of Chinese (in Mandarin and Cantonese).

We have a English blog at www.bigbiketrip.net but its really just a diary for our own use. Also, Rupert & Fanny's Big Bike Trip | Facebook

:mchappy::mchappy:

:thumbup1: I'd say you guys are a wee better equipped versus the regular traveler to conquer the China question. I guess in part they probably fear that if you don't speak a word of the language, terrible things can happen to you, even in China.

Any recent Iran to Pakistan experience?
 

It is a wonderful experience.. no worries. watch this video Bam Iran to Quetta Pakistan Overland To Australia (Balochistan) - YouTube

@rupertu: Your trip and website have been an inspiration to us! We are looking at this route, Iran - Pakistan - India - Nepal - Zhangmu - Lhasa - Luming - Laos. So if we can team-up some part of it, that would be wonderful. Beginning of March we'll be leaving Eastbound from The Netherlands. End April seems to be an excellent timing for traversing Iran into Pakistan.

Hi everybody

this is a really interesting thread! And I am looking forward to hear more of you guys - because we have similar plans.

We are planning to cross form Iran into Pakistan in May or June - and then head up to the Karakorum Highway! From there we will continue into India and go for the Himalayas and Leh... then to Nepal and then either fly to SE-Asia or find a convoy through China to Laos - or maybe a miracle happens and Burma is opening up... :)

looking forward to hearing more from travellers having similar plans or that have recently done that area. we really want to go to Iran and Pakistan - but that whole Visa/Security/Escort discussion is a bit of a pain... you hear so many different things, but nothing really precise.

Cheers,
Heike & Filippo

2 Live the Dream | Heike & Filippo Travel the World on Motorcycle

hi Rupertu

you have to go thru tibet to get to china if you are entering from Nepal

nomad

Hi All and a happy New Year! I hope folks are having safe travels!

Been lurking on the forum for about 3 years now with a post or two. Finally starting to plan a trip with gusto!

An interesting thread here. Me and a mate are planning to do a charity ride from Bristol, UK to Bangalore, India in a few months and it's been great to read this thread as I have been having some concerns about our route.

We've discussed going through Iran, Pakistan, etc but with the current situation, I have been wondering if this is wise. It seems that people are doing it still, so that's encouraging!

What do people reckon on the timescale for this trip? We reckoned on about 6 weeks? We don't want to rush but also can't be away for months and months.

Also, I hope it's OK to hijack the thread...if not, I am sorry doh and I'll start a new thread! What's a rough budget for this route? We'd like to balance accommodations between cheap hotels/guest houses/hostels with a bit of luck, the kindness of the people we meet and the land we travel through. We expect to be riding mid sized trail bikes (no bigger than 650cc), packed conservatively.

Any pointers would be good. Would also be great to know of other folk travelling in these countries, so we could maybe cross paths for :scooter:, beer or just a bit of banter :)

Cheers and ride safe folks

Dave

I'm in the same situation!
This Thread might be useful!
Cheers bier

This is something I'm curious about too. I would like to enter Iran from Turkey, travel through Pakistan and then see India. However, I'm planning to do this trip as early as possible and with the Iranian elections coming up, I'm very nervous about the possibility the borders will be shut, especially to an English person myself.

I'd rather get to India through Turkey, Pakistan and Iran, rather than go the long way around.

I'm planning on doing the same, although I wont be able to start the trip any sooner then mid July. And since the elections are on March, that will be plenty of time to see if Iran will be politicly stable by August.

But from what I've read from Iranian ADVriders and on HUBB they say things are preety cool, despite all the bad media on westerners news.

Cheers bier

Same here, i will start mid April from Germany.
Planned route is Turkey - Iran - Pakistan - India - Nepal - Pakistan - KKH - Kyrgistan - Kazachstan - Russia - Mongolia ...

But things are not looking good for the iranian visa,
Elections in March, Possible threat israel, oil embargo...
I heard of some Germans that their visa has just been denied (~2 weeks ago).

The long way around would be a bad change for my route, i really want to travel iran, and as i want to go north after india, i would have to do the kkh twice (which would be nice but too expensive)? Or is there any other route from the stans to india?

i thought about going south from turkey trough northiraq, saudi arabia, u.a.e and then take a ferry, if i can't get into iran...
I've read someone's blog who actually did a similar way because he couldn't enter, but can't find it anymore. From the stuff i read on the hubb it doesn't seem possible to take that route. Any suggestions?

Still hoping for the iran visa :rolleyes2:

We are applying now for Iranian visa from the Netherlands, to enter in April. I'll let you know if we succeed.

Please keep us posted on this thread!

I haven't actually started to work on the visas as my trip is still 6 months away, I've been gathering all the documents required for the visas's and the dreadful carnet, and start applying for them next month.
If things turn south (elections/embargo) and my Visa is rejected, I'm not sure i'l be able to do this trip, and most likely end up doing a less bureaucracy-needy trip, probably Mongolia.

HURRAH, 5th post! bier

EDIT: forgot to mention that it's no uncommon to Visas being rejected on first try, but second attempts seldom do,

Fantastic plan! I hope you realise from KKH you will be entering China which can be expensive if done individually.

Cheers
Omar

[i thought about going south from turkey trough northiraq, saudi arabia, u.a.e and then take a ferry, if i can't get into iran...
I've read someone's blog who actually did a similar way because he couldn't enter, but can't find it anymore. From the stuff i read on the hubb it doesn't seem possible to take that route. Any suggestions?]

Harry Lyon-Smith on his Enfield Vegibike took this route. But in stead of taking a dhow from Dubai or Oman to India, he flew into Mumbai if I am not mistaken. VegiBike, vegetable oil fueled diesel engine, Royal Enfield motorbike by Harry Lyon-Smith

It's seems like a real contingency plan (as opposed to the Stans option which leaves one to cross a bit of China still) if Iran gets too hot or doesn't grant us the required visa...

For China we opted for a tour from Nepal to Laos already so the North face of Afganistan is not in our plans todate.

Take a ferry from where to where?

I think the only international ferry lines in that area go between the Arabian peninsula and Iran. So no ferries to India at the moment, for example. Finding any other boat to take you to India might also be just a daydream, because it´s simply too far away.

Check out this thread:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...an-india-60227

(oh, and getting a visa for Saudi Arabia is apparently also a big pain).

edit. and this route: "Nepal - Pakistan - KKH - Kyrgistan" would mean you have to cross into China as well, which is costly, and about which there are truckloads of info on this site. Not meaning to depress you, though...!!

hi there,

i must admit that i didn't check much about the route options if iran is not working, still hoping for an open border.

i'm aware of the costs going the KKH trough china, even i'm on limited budget i planned some extra money for that.
hope to catch up with others to share the guide costs.

right now everything looks a bit difficult, Visas for Iran, Pakistan, China (and even Russia) makes me headache,
BUT i think as soon as i'm on the road (with or without all difficult visas) things will work out somehow.
3 Years ago i did Laos/Cambodia/Thai/Laos without having documents for my motorbike at all! Sometimes i wish things would be as easy as in south east asia...

thanks for the links
Moritz