travel to india overland

muffti

i will travel to india with my bus starting in switzerland around end of april.
somebody have the same way at the same time???
sorry my english is not the best.

marco

iyers

I recommend driving through the middle east to India. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, then India is a scenic route.

machadinha

Iraq would probably be very welcoming at this moment in time too.

As in not need I add it. What route are you planning to take at all? I'm sure it's doable somehow but in general I hear most entry routes are impossible or at least extremely difficult.

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muffti

Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India.
for the moment they are no problems to enter in all this countrys.

marco

claurianta

Just whatever you do, make sure that while in Baluchistan (eastern Iran, western Pakistan) do NOT travel when the sun is down.

muffti

thanks for the tip.

for shure i will not drive by nigth in this aera

marco

mahmud

You can plan as : Afganistan-Pakistan-India-Bangladesh-Nepal-Bhutan

iyers

Travelling through Pakistan is very dangerous (Western Pakistan especially is loaded with terrorists), definetly keep an eye out for the throat cutters.
I would have preferred Russia, China then India.

lonelyaztec

If you are coming from Switzerland, then, you have to enter thru Pakistan, and Pakistan is not safe.....

Other options are entering into India from China - impossible ( moutains are too high and there are no roads )

Nepal - still there is problem

Bhutan - can't get here, again because of mountains

To enter through Bangladesh, Burma, you have to circumvent the Himalayas......tough thing....

Pls. take a flight to India and come.

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muffti

ok pakistan is not so save, nepal to, from china is not possible so what i do???
lets try pakistan. no joke, because i whant to come with my bus to india and not by airplain.

marco

Shiver me Timbers

Don't mind these people, Pakistan is quite safe, for info on the trip see this thread .

You have a few options: the 'classic' route - Turkey/Iran/(Afghanistan)/Pakistan

Through Central Asia - Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan/Kyrygzstan/China/ Pakistan

If you really want to avoid Pakistan (you'd be missing out BIG time), there is an illegal route from Western China to Tibet and onto Nepal, it's very tough and challenging, so why skip Pakistan?

For more info PM me,

Cheers!

Conor.

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Pakistan Tips

Shikari

Hi Muffti
There were similar warnings about Pakistan on the thread that Conor referred to. All by people who had never travelled in that area. From my research on Thorn Tree, Pakistan Travel Forum and this forum it would seem that Baluchistan is reasonably safe as long as you take sensible precautions such as not travelling at night in this area.

iyers

I would recommend reading the state department travel warning regarding pakistan. If you can be perceived as American, better watch out.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_930.html

Shiver me Timbers

How about listening to those who have been there?

machadinha

He's Swiss however it seems so why bring in the State dept.? Maybe having kids tug at your blonde hairs would be more of a concern I agree traveling overland wouldn't be my first choice right now but he must have given it some thought don't you think. I hear Pakistan is supposed to be wonderful really (lots and lots of historic Sufi places if you're into that, Iran even more so of course but there seem to be restrictions on extended stays and/or traveling around too much, seems to change all the time too), Baluchistan and Sind might require some normal caution as others have noted. It was more Iraq and Afghanistan that had me wondering but if you can circumvent them... Even Afghanistan has a slow trickle of travelers again it seems, although I hear some areas are simply off-limits, officially if not practically. I think crossing legally from China into India is next to impossible (old enemies right) and if you'd have to circumvent Tibet first it's much further then you might think and difficult terrain, a friend of mine did it by public bus and it took weeks literally, including illness and robbery and what have you, she made it through alright but that included being whisked away to a coastal Chinese hospital by a friendly police officer at some point I think when she had zero money left after said robbery.

One point of consideration might be vehicle entry regulations if you haven't looked into it yet.

Anyway Muffti was asking for a companion not a map so --- good luck to you and let us know how you fare