First of all, I am new on this board (as you can see) so a lil intro of myself… my name is Ahsan currently in London. Working as a travel consultant right now.
Alright guys.. I was in Karachi last december and since I have come back cant stop thinking of it lol.. so one day as usual i was talking to a czn of mine and we suddenly came up with this idea of going to Karachi by road! yes it sounds wierd in todays world but we have decided to give it a go.. I was wondering if I can get some infos and help for our expedition from you guys. The biggest problem is route planner.. here is the list of countries we would have to cross and which we think are safer and shorter
France
Germany
Austria
Hungary
Bulgaria
Turkey
Iran
Now, we can get a satnav for our way upto turkey and that would be fine. But what after Turkey??? I think there was an highway called RCD from Istanbul or Ankara to Karachi via Iran but not sure if its still open? Also, in all cases I’d like to avoid crossing the border from Zahedan into Quetta and onto Karachi as i think current political climate in those areas is not safe enough. Makran coastal Highway sounds much quicker and safer which start from Jiwani and takes you to Karachi along the coast.
Does any1 here know how can we get cross borders from Iran near Jiwani? or any1 have any ideas or links where i can get these info.
Hello Ahsan, I know of a couple that did a similar trip ten years ago but they didnt go through Iran. Instead they went from Turkey-Syria-Jordan-Saudi-Arabia-Oman and boarded a dhow from Muscat to Karachi. With this option you can even visit the UAE.
A bigger problem than the route is dealing with visas, carnets and border problems. Make sure you're ok with being told over and over again that your documents are not in order.
This is a very expensive trip as a lot of money will be spent on petrol or diesel and getting visa's. But also very exicting if you get the opportunity. :)
Now, we can get a satnav for our way upto turkey and that would be fine. But what after Turkey???? I think there was an highway called RCD from Istanbul or Ankara to Karachi via Iran but not sure if its still open? Also, in all cases I'd like to avoid crossing the border from Zahedan into Quetta and onto Karachi as i think current political climate in those areas is not safe enough. Makran coastal Highway sounds much quicker and safer which start from Jiwani and takes you to Karachi along the coast.
Does any1 here know how can we get cross borders from Iran near Jiwani? or any1 have any ideas or links where i can get these info.
Your help will be very much appreciated
Thanks v much
Ahsan
RCD from Istanbul or Ankara to Karachi via Iran is open.
Crossing the border from Zahedan into Quetta and onto Karachi is safe.
There is no road link to Jiwani as it is under construction however, Makran Coastal Highway is beauty to travel on.
First of all, I am new on this board (as you can see) so a lil intro of myself... my name is Ahsan currently in London. Working as a travel consultant right now.
Alright guys.. I was in Karachi last december and since I have come back cant stop thinking of it lol.. so one day as usual i was talking to a czn of mine and we suddenly came up with this idea of going to Karachi by road! yes it sounds wierd in todays world but we have decided to give it a go.. I was wondering if I can get some infos and help for our expedition from you guys. The biggest problem is route planner.. here is the list of countries we would have to cross and which we think are safer and shorter
France
Germany
Austria
Hungary
Bulgaria
Turkey
Iran
Now, we can get a satnav for our way upto turkey and that would be fine. But what after Turkey???? I think there was an highway called RCD from Istanbul or Ankara to Karachi via Iran but not sure if its still open? Also, in all cases I'd like to avoid crossing the border from Zahedan into Quetta and onto Karachi as i think current political climate in those areas is not safe enough. Makran coastal Highway sounds much quicker and safer which start from Jiwani and takes you to Karachi along the coast.
Does any1 here know how can we get cross borders from Iran near Jiwani? or any1 have any ideas or links where i can get these info.
Your help will be very much appreciated
Thanks v much
Ahsan
In 197o, myself my school friend Khalid Elahi and his Lahore based friend Qaiser Butt, took the crazy crusade of driving down in Khalid's MAZDA-626 from Lahore to London !
SIX times tyre punctures---two times chage of tyre at someplace near Tehran and Istanbul and the near HOLD UP at Koh-e-Taftaan initially--were all exciting. We could have taken Kabul route but we preferred Quetta to Koh-e-Taftaan and so forth on. Took us around 7.5 days to reach ending at Dover from Paris via Ferry!
Hello Ahsan, I know of a couple that did a similar trip ten years ago but they didnt go through Iran. Instead they went from Turkey-Syria-Jordan-Saudi-Arabia-Oman and boarded a dhow from Muscat to Karachi. With this option you can even visit the UAE.
A bigger problem than the route is dealing with visas, carnets and border problems. Make sure you're ok with being told over and over again that your documents are not in order.
Muscat to Gwadar is only like 17-18 km by ship - and Gwadar is a place truly worth seeing if you make this trip. Worth stopping over there and there is PC Hotel.
Get a sponsorship from renound companies which will help you to get visa's and will cover your travel expenses.
But you must get all your visa's from country of origin before travelling.
In 197o, myself my school friend Khalid Elahi and his Lahore based friend Qaiser Butt, took the crazy crusade of driving down in Khalid's MAZDA-626 from Lahore to London !
SIX times tyre punctures---two times chage of tyre at someplace near Tehran and Istanbul and the near HOLD UP at Koh-e-Taftaan initially--were all exciting. We could have taken Kabul route but we preferred Quetta to Koh-e-Taftaan and so forth on. Took us around 7.5 days to reach ending at Dover from Paris via Ferry!
Can you please confirm that did you trip take 7.5 days from Lahore to London? :)
Can you please confirm that did you trip take 7.5 days from Lahore to London? :)
I do hereby--keeping the fact in mind that we idn't do the tourism stuff...and stopped hardly for a few hours as nap time for each of the driver who also slept at the back seat.
If any doubts...I may request Khalid and qaiser to confirm on their emails that i copy paste here...
BTW---the time I alone took to reach Rawalpindi from karachi in my DATSUN 1600 from karachi in 1975..was 14 hours!
14 hours - impressive! Hope you didn't get any speeding fines along the way! Lol! :)
Thanks for that info' as I am planning this trip too but it is working out very very expensive. More than I thought it would and what some travel agents told me. But I will think of it as a mini-world trip of mine as I want to stop along the way and do sight-seeing.
Also if you are planning this road trip, you can get the driving directions from london to karachi using Google Maps. The distance is also roughly 6400 km but this varies depending on the route you take.
I'd just like to add, that please keep emergency supplies like first aid, flashlights, blankets, water, food bars, energy drinks, chargers, maps, phone numbers, phone cards, of course your cell phone, stuff to bribe people on the way for quick favors, etc... with you.
Wow, i'm all for road trips, and i've done many in my time, but never done one of this size!!!
I remember watching Charlie Boorman (Ewen McGregors biker friend) and he did a programme called 'by any means' which was about his journey starting from ireland and aiming to get to australia 'by any means' of transport possible... was such a great programme:)
Good luck, and use GS as a blog to keep us updated! :)
Hello Ahsan, I know of a couple that did a similar trip ten years ago but they didnt go through Iran. Instead they went from Turkey-Syria-Jordan-Saudi-Arabia-Oman and boarded a dhow from Muscat to Karachi. With this option you can even visit the UAE.
A bigger problem than the route is dealing with visas, carnets and border problems. Make sure you're ok with being told over and over again that your documents are not in order.
Hello HSK
We at one point did think of going to KHI via saudia (for umrah) but going through syria and jordan nowadays gives quite a good scare.. also it would mean a visa for syria, then jordan and then two visas (one visit visa and second umrah because on umrah visa u can not enter saudia except from Jeddah).. it must have been fascinatin for them to go through those countries and i wish i could aslo but believe the visas and stuff would make it alot tougher.. but do let me know if I can enter Saudia by road on Umrah visa and also if you have any current update on Syria whether its safe or not... and thank u v much for the info :)
