Hello,
Has anyone travelled the Zahedan – Quetta (or vice versa) route in the past month or so?
Please share any/all first-hand stories and information.
I am particularly interested in knowing:
I really want to travel through this region en route to India and plan to do so starting December 25th. That said, I may re-assess my plans if the risks associated seem intolerable.
Thanks so much for your help!
Cheers
TG
Has anyone travelled the Zahedan – Quetta (or vice versa) route in the past month or so?
Please share any/all first-hand stories and information.
I am particularly interested in knowing:
- During what dates did you travel?
- What was your method of transport? Public bus? Pickup?
- How was your experience with the police escort?
- Did you travel at night? If not, where did you sleep in transit?
- Where did you stay in Quetta?
- How long did you spend in Quetta?
- Did you respect the curfew in Quetta?
- How did the level of security feel overall?
- Was there any evidence of Taliban activity?
- Would you do it again?
I really want to travel through this region en route to India and plan to do so starting December 25th. That said, I may re-assess my plans if the risks associated seem intolerable.
Thanks so much for your help!
Cheers
TG
1
Hello,Please see my response below
During what dates did you travel?
Dec 19/20 - Quetta - Zahedan
What was your method of transport? Public bus? Pickup?
Sadar Bahar bus Cost 1000 PK Rupees
How was your experience with the police escort?
Not too good. He was trying to get more money from me
Did you travel at night? If not, where did you sleep in transit?
Yes On the bus
Where did you stay in Quetta?
Bloomstar Hotel
How long did you spend in Quetta?
1 night
Did you respect the curfew in Quetta?
I wasn't aware there was a curfew
How did the level of security feel overall?
Good
Was there any evidence of Taliban activity?
No
Would you do it again?
No. Too much stress getting the NOC (no objection certificate) in Quetta. You need the NOC to travel the Quetta to Taftan route. It took me 5 hours to get it.
3
I am also planning to do this by bus in the Zahedan - Quetta direction, so any updates would be appreciated.My timeframe would be a few days to 1.5 weeks from now.
Do i need a NOC going this way? If so, can i get at the border?
I think it would be nice to have a companion for this trip, so send me a PM if you want to team up.
4
Did anyone travel by train as mentioned on Seat61?I'm thinking of doing this trip in April/May, maybe travelling with my girlfriend. Any experiences as female travellers?
I read on this blog (@tgair did you write this?) about extensive police escorts, is there a way to avoid those without flying?
5
Train hasn't run in a long time and likely won't be up anytime soon.There were some female travelers registered in the ledgers at police check points, but I haven't encountered any in person.
I wrote the blog.
At this time you cannot avoid police escorts and I don't think you would want to. Flying would be your only option to avoid them.
Look into Pakistan visas first. They stopped issuing them recently due to the upcoming election. Hopefully that will have changed by the time you are traveling.
Cheers
TG
