13/10/2014 I cross this border (Beshmaq on the Iranian side, Beshmakh on the Iraqi side, though widelyreferred to as Penjween).

I crossed from Iran into Iraq.

Iran side was surprisingly calm. Lots of fuel trucks, but with a car / bike one drives straight to the front and the main border station.

Carnet was stamped with no fuss, though the stamp is a Persian-only one, not the normal bilingual stamps one gets from customs at Iranian borders. Very simple. Just as I was leaving there was a guy wanting the receipt for the dreaded fuel tax, but with a bit of protesting (I am a tourist etc), it was dropped. Nice since I was carrying 85 litres of Iranian diesel Going back to the fuel control station would be hell as it is in all the chaos of the lorries, and nobody would speak English etc.

On the Iraqi side, everything was calm and organised. I queued for my visa stamp (it's now 15 days visa-free for most nationals), no problems. Customs issued some kind of entry certificate for the car (1993 Toyota Hilux 4x4 Diesel). This was very simple, I just needed photocopies of my passport, vehicle registration document and IDP (I am sure a domestic license would be fine). It cost IQD 22,000, which is about US$ 20.

Then I was free to go. Driving standards in Iraqi Kurdistan is better than Iran (not saying much admittedly), and the roads so far are all good!

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.