Need more advice!: Riding trough Pakistan safe?
 

Hi everybody,

I am leaving on July 5 from the Netherlands to, hopefully, nepal. I try to get people to travel with me through China and into the north of Pakistan to reduce costs. But I do not know if I can get enough people for this. See link:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-october-97157

Otherwise I have to go through south Pakistan, how safe do you guys think it is to travel through Pakistan? :scooter:


I have talked to a number of people and they indicate that it is possible, etc. But the government in the Netherlands says that you absolutely can not go through it. You always take a risk but how big is the risk with the trip according to you?

Gr Jasper

I think it would be very unwise to attempt to ride through Pakistan. I was there 3 years ago on business, and did not feel comfortable at all.

In the previous 3 years, I was in 60 different countries, including Somalia and North Korea - and Pakistan was the country I felt most unsafe in.

Michael

I was in Pakistan for a month last October and felt perfectly safe, I was mostly in the north on the KKH but did travel down to Lahore before entering India and did not have any problem.
I have no recent experience of the south but understand that you cannot travel there without any escort which will be provided by the police.

Safe? I felt safe when I crossed it in 2017 from China to India.

Hundreds of tourists cross it every year.

A lot of friends of mine crossed from Iran to India in the last few years (one of them last december) and nobody reported anything bad, except for the time wasted waiting for the escorts in some regions...so...

Can we say that Europe is safe after all?

I've been reading a Facebook blog by Ben King (search "The King on the Road"). He's back in the UK at the moment to get his Pakistan visa renewed because he loved it so much there he ran out of renewals in country. His bike is still over there and he'll be going back shortly to continue his travels.

You will get an armed escort through the badlands of Balochistan (the Levies) and this is mandatory, for your safety. But once you have cleared the area considered dangerous you're free to go where you want.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_Levies

I have spoken to many people who visited Pakistan in the last 2 years. Every one of them thoroughly enjoyed it. Apart from the compulsory escort in Balochistan which can be a pita.
1 know of at least one guy who planned to just cross Pakistan in about a week, without too much fuss. He ended up spending several months in the country because he liked it so much. Even scored a job as a beard model for a local beard care brand and ended up on national television. :D

Hey everbody,

Have just seen the facebook account of '' the king of te road ''. 17 weeks ago he was driven trough Balochistan. I do read about the escorts and about the police. It all went well with him. On the other hand, it is called Taliban area. Hard choices. Traveling through China I have to find 3 other travelers who want to share the costs otherwise it is too expensive ... Someone tips? or other options? Boat, airplane etc.?:scooter:

We drove Iran - Pakistan - India last autumn and it never felt unsafe. Even in Quetta it didn't feel unsafe - only a bit strange because of all these anti terrorism special forces and a tank car for the tourists without own vehicle. At that time you were not allowed to go anywhere on your own until Lahore. Then you can drive up north without escorts. We were lucky and could get rid of the escort in Multan, took a shortcut via Faisalabad to Islamabad, but unfortunately ended up with more escorts until Islamabad, the next day. Pakistan has the friendliest people in the world. The police in Belochistan was very professional. Of course, there still remains a little risk, but for us Pakistan was our highlight of our trip so far.

Could you explain a little more? Where were you and what made you feel unsafe?

I fell in love with Pakistan in 2003 as a backpacker, and went back in 2008 in the early days of a 4.5 year trip by car around Eurasia. Pakistan is by far my favourite country, I spent a year there in total in 2008 and 2009, stopped and lived in Hyderabad in the south and taught in a school, made life-long friends and so on. The southern province of Sindh is a real hidden gem with fascinating Sufi culture and some very laid-back and friendly people. Reports that this area is dangerous stem from the 1980s and are totally out of date.

For a traveller, Pakistan is really a fantastic country; the people are amazingly friendly and warm, the vast majority will do whatever they can to help you and look after you in their country. It's full of history, amazing landscapes and (unlike India) is unspoiled by tourism. There is real adventure to be had; in some places in the west it's pretty wild, though very few areas are really unsafe.

Pakistan is not without it's problems, but people love to exaggerate. Government travel advice is really aimed at expats living in an area rather than travellers passing through. There are certainly dangerous areas in Pakistan, roughly along the Afghan border north of Quetta up to around Dir. There have been occasional incidents on the Taftan - Quetta highway, but hundreds of Westerners in foreign looking vehicles, some with children, pass this route without incident each year. The really dangerou areas are well off your route (unless you are heading to Afghanistan, a great adventure) and you will be denied entry to them. For the most part (Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan), Pakistan is extremely safe.

One real problem are the escorts, which must be very frustrating. Either you have to figure a way to get away from them, or enjoy the limited areas in which you are escort free.

If you want a holiday, go and sit on a beach in the Maldives. If you want an adventure, head straight to Pakistan.

EO

Hi everyone,

Thank you so far for all your beautiful advice! I prefer to hear their opinion from as many people as possible.

I am not looking for a holiday but I am not looking for too much danger;) However, there is actually no other way to Nepal / Inda than via Pakistan.

I'd love to hear more from you. I still have time to decide, because I do not have to apply for a visa yet.

There is also a ferry from Iran to India, if you really don't want to go to Pakistan.

Are you sure about that? Can you post a link to more info?

Check with Abijith Rao. I believe he took a boat from Bandar Abbas to India on his return trip.

I can't be more agree with crisidsto and eurasiaoverland.

Between last September and October, in the way from China to Iran, I couldn't spend more than 6 weeks, unluckly for me. I wish I have had much more time to explore this wonderful country with so lovely, warm and helpful people.

Visit Pakistan was for me one of the most intense experience at the moment, travelling 50.000kms for the past 4 years around asia solo by motorcycle.
I have to say that travelling is not only what you find in the way: it's your own actitude, so be positive and have "Another good day".
The attachment (a stop somewhere close to Jacobabad) is just an example: look at their faces, I have nothing more to say.
Enjoy out there!

The good people of Sindh :) glad you made it so far south :)

As far as I heard, you have to go to UAE or Oman first and then put your vehicle on a cargo boat to India and you have to take a flight. This will be much more expensive than driving overland, though.

OK, you can ship a car from any port to pretty much any other, but that's not a ferry.

Fantastic that you all react. Still find it a difficult choice. But on the other hand, I may be too cautious;)

At the end of next week I have to finish my route, so I must have made a choice then.

:scooter::scooter::scooter:

If you want it a little bit safer, just go through China to North Pakistan. It will be much more expensive, but you would skip the more dangerous parts of Pakistan.

Yes agree and the route is also more beautiful because you can go through the Pamir. Only then do I have to put together a group of at least 4 people who also want to cross the border with China at exactly the same time to keep it affordable. If you cross the border with 4 people, it will still cost you $ 1150 .... And that for only about 500 kilometers

Pakistan - a hidden gem
 

Hi Jasper,

We went through Pakistan in 2010 from Iran towards India and its still one of the highlights of our trips. I am working at our website 2 for the road – “Dream as if you will live forever; Live as if you will die today.” for our next trip and have posted our old stories from that 2010-2011 trip, they're in dutch.
The police escorts are common and they do it since a long time, they are very friendly and it didn't bother us much. At the karakoram (and actually from Multan on) we were free. The country and it's people and nature are a true hidden gem, don't miss out!
Of course there are some incidents, but if you listen to your gut and the people, it's no bigger problem than other countries.
Get into contact with the motorcyclists association of pakistan, they have a group in facebook, very helpful, friendly and joyful people.

Thank you all for your open and encouraged answers. I made my decision, I choose to drive through Pakistan. I had contact with people in Quetta last week and they told me about the safety situation. I'm going to keep an eye on the news and we're going on an adventure;)

Need more advice!: Riding trough Pakistan safe?
 

Next year 2020 I do the same route :) Iran Pakistan India Nepal.
Good luck Jasper

Aah cool! If you did it now we might be able to drive together for a bit.:scooter: Good luck with the preparations!:thumbup1:

Hi all,

Two friends and I are travelling to Pakistan this summer.
Does anyone know what the situation is with the transit visas? I've read that they are not being issued in Tehran since the beginning of 2019.
Has this changed, or is it likely to change soon?

After reading all these amazing posts on the Pakistani people and nature it would be lovely to be able to drive through it!

Warm regards,
Marte