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On my upcoming trip I'll be starting in Asia and would love to travel overland to Europe, especially via Iran.

Usually I'm not scared or intimidated by "dangerous" destinations. China is a breeze and I'm not at all fazed by Iran, having met lots of lovely Iranians and a few travellers who had great times there.

But last time I intended to visit Pakistan from China I was told the Hunza Valley area had no terrorists and was perfectly safe. But a few weeks before my trip there were ten tourists murdered by terrorists dressed as police at a mountain in Gilgit province, quite close to where I hoped to go.

Violence directed specifically at foreigners, westerners, or tourists is one thing that does put me off a destination.

But this doesn't necessarily put me off a whole country if I can be reasonably assured that I only have to avoid certain areas.

So is there a particularly "safe" route from China to Iran via Pakistan (and not via Afghanistan)?

hippietrail
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2 Answers2

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You can take the N10 (Makran Coastal Highway) all the way across the southern coast of Pakistan and it will put you in the south of Iran, completely by-passing Afghanistan.

To get to it though, you'll have to travel from China through India and cross into Pakistan. If you fancy a journey through Pakistan itself, you can cross at the Wagah point in Lahore (the provincial capital of Punjab, Pakistan). You can get to it from Amritsar in Indian Punjab.

From Lahore, you can take the highway (or fly) down to Karachi (the largest city in Pakistan), and then just take the road to the port of Gawadar.

The journey will take you through a national park and a wildlife sanctuary. You will cross the border at the city of Taftan, which will drop you in Mirjaveh in Iran.

Update:

I recently returned from Pakistan and the passages are still there, but due to the recent events in the North a police escort must be requested for foreigners crossing land borders into Iran and Afghanistan.

hippietrail
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Burhan Khalid
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Safe and Pakistan don't go together unfortunately. A foreigner in that land looks more like a pay cheque of a life time rather than a tourist. Kidnapping for ransom is big business in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To get a good idea of any country's state of tourism and safety it is a must to check dedicated communities/forums for that country and a quick search only brings up one that fits the definition of dedicated. Looking at the only Pakistani travel forum and a quick glance at some posts only reveals that tourism is non existent and security situation is the only thing to blame. I would strongly advise against going through Pakistan.

PSC775
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