Plan "B" for Pakistan?
Im planning to go from Iran to Pakistan, then on to India in about mid-October. I hear theres some election coming up, which might heat things up nicely right about that time. And now in BBC they said theyre thinking of declaring a state of emergency in the country. That really does sound promising!!
I know that it may not be time to jump to conclusions just yet, and things may change for both better or worse in the coming months.. but WHAT IF it just so happens, that Pakistan has its land borders closed at the time that Im planning to travel thru there? Or maybe just the border with India, at Wagah, as I understand its the only international one between these two countries... and they arent the best of friends to say the least. Or even if the borders remain open, there could then be other things making crossing the country too dangerous or complicated.
So, is there any reasonable option, if the need arises, to skip Pakistan entirely, and still get to India?
The first thing coming to my mind would be freighting the bike from Iran (Tehran, maybe), or perhaps even Turkey, but I havent got any information about that, and I figure it could turn out to be quite complicated, and costly?
Going thru the ´Stans (and I wont go to Afghanistan) might be possible, but wouldnt really help, as you´d then have to get into China (lots of extra problems) and even then you´d have to go to Pakistan on the Karakoram Highway. I dont think you can go straight from China to India.
Someone mentioned that there might even be a passenger ferry going from Iran (or somewhere else in the Persian Gulf region) to Mumbai, but I think this information might be well outdated. Anybody have any recent info on that?
I am not pushing any "panic button" on Pakistan yet, in fact I would like to stick with my original plan, and I would like to see that country with my own eyes. Many times it actually turns out to be much better than the picture the media paints you! Im just trying to find out in advance, if there are any options, in case the worst happens.
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