it’s been 2 years since i travelled pakistan. when i was to decide whether i dared going, there wasn’t much info on the web and being able to read fellow backpacker’s experiences would have helped me decide. that’s why i thought to share my story but meanwhile many other blog posts appeared on the web, so i won’t continue my story, instead find 6 stories here:
https://www.lostwithpurpose.com/report-crossing-the-border-from-iran-to-pakistan-at-mirjaveh-taftan/
https://atthehandlebars.com/crossing-balochistan/
in dutch: https://www.motoravonturist.nl/reizen/admin/van-maasland-naar-nepal-pakistan/
in german: https://mortenundrochssare.de/belutschistan-pakistan-levies-quetta/
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my 5 cents after having read above blogs:
– did i feel safe?
yes. the worst was when sometimes- though never intended- a gun of my guards pointed my way. (in belochistan and in some places in gilgit the police/army is required to escort you (free of charge*))
once i told the officer that i bothered the gun on his lap pointing my way and he flipped it around, so then it pointed to the car driving behind us, well. (we were in the open back of a pickup truck)
* some travellers apparently got asked for gifts by the levies, though no one asked me.
– i didn’t get to stay in dalbandin, like some fellow travellers. instead i got all the way from taftan to quetta in one day.
– visa for india has to be obtained in a travel company’s office in lahore,
not in the embassy in islamabad. the company forwards your application for a fee and the embassy only deals with that company (as of 2017), not with you. i tried to leave my application at the embassy myself and got rejected.
– getting to stay in a 3$ hotel for the locals is a pain in the ass, they won’t let you but you’re a tourist so they’ll try to be nice about it. there seems to be some law that tourists may only be accepted by hotels that meet certain security standards (or pay certain taxes) and those hotels are from 15$ onwards. my cheapest find were 2 hostels in lahore at around 10/13$. of course being invited to stay at home with some local will be cheaper 🙂
– i got interrogated (that means, i had to drink a tea) by (with) police when i stayed in a couchsurfer’s place. (during his absence: he invited me to his villa and his staff was to serve me but he was absent, the whole couchsurfing experience felt weird)
->they told me i had to leave the person’s place and i did and later that night 2 officers (i’m pretty sure that was secret service) bothered me in the hotel. they wanted to know my connection with the couchsurfer and tried to prove i was an indian spy. (i knew i should have camped somewhere that night instead of checking into a hotel, but it gets cold in pakistan in february.)
-> i would stay over with locals again but next time i won’t tell the hotel owner when i leave the hotel in order to move to my local host. he got angry and told me it would be illegal to stay with locals and i think after i left he called the police on me/ my host.
bottom line:
would i travel pakistan again?
yes, but.
-> not alone as a solo male with dreadlocks and unshaved beard. 🙂
-> next time i’d get a female friend to accompany me and it will look like a couple and less intimidating to officers.
-> i’d definitely(!) not tell the hotel guy where i’m going if i intend to stay with locals or wildcamp.
-> if transiting to india, i’d get my indian visa in advance. it’s possible in lahore but possibly tedious.
title image: https://flic.kr/p/PeLit cc by-nc-nd 2.0