Crossing from China to Pakistan on the KKH

heledd - nasty! Sounds like I was lucky in that respect. Good to have the warning, thanks...

Okay.

Hey Tim, I'm being pedantic, but only one photo is required by Pakistani immigration.

stop spreading erroneous information around mate...wink wink :)

Steele (from Karimabad)

Edited by: Milkjug

Thanks for this helpfull information.

Does anybody know the prices of a Pakistan visa and if it is hassle free for an EU citizen (Dutch)?
Is this a 1 month visa? I've also heard rumours about a kkh transit visa.
If I am not mistaken the border closes definetly at the 1st of January till may or so, if the road has not snowed in before that time?

I am now in central asia and on my way to Nepal, since Tibet is closed to foreigners I think the kkh is my only other overland option.

Niels.

No idea about the price of visa for EU citizen and I don't think one could have lot's of problem to get Pakistani visa.
If you re in central Asia then get a LOI from your embassy in the host country.
The official closure date of Pak/China border (Sost) is 31st of December but if snows before then it could be closed.
Visas on arrival re delivered in Pak/China border for a month initially but later you could extend up to 6 months in Gilgit,Skardu,Chitral as well as in Islamabad.
Have a good day.

Visa prices vary by country - just about every country in the world seems to pay a different price for a Pakistani visa at the Sost border. I would guess that you are looking at something between 30-60 USD, which is what most other European nationalities pay. The visa is a 1 month visa. It is very easy to extend this once you're in Pakistan - Gilgit and Lahore are meant to be good places to get visa extensions (Islamabad is a bad place to get a visa extension). Visas can be extended for AT LEAST 6 months, and 3 month extensions are straight-forward.

Giora

Bonjour mse amis,

It is expensive for American travelers, rest of the nationalities, 30 to 60 US $ at Sust.

Better to make it before the last week of November, the climatic conditions, of the mountainous regions of Pakistan worsened since 2004, very hot summers and harsh early winters.

Enjoy the marvels of Pakistan.

Photos of treks from Everest and Pakistan,

Travel tips for Pakistan

Thanks,

Because I'm going to be short on time to get to the KKH in time, I've also been looking into getting through Tibet to Nepal.
Does anybody know if it is possible to enter Tibet to Lhasa with a permit from the west (Kashgar or Urumqi)?
I've heard that the only possibillity is with air or train travel, but I don't know if there are any trains from there, and I like to consider air travel as my last resort. Maybe stay in Lhasa a couple of days and then travel on to Kathmandu without visiting other places in Tibet to keep my expenses down. Will the tourguide I require join me in Lhasa and will it be a problem to exit Tibet to Nepal? I guess I will have to hire a vehicle to get me to Nepal.

This is if the friendship highway stays open off course, I couldn't find any information about it closing or snowing shut.

Niels.

All the luck.

I'd seen some ads in Thamel for Lhasa bus service.

Steele - shit, hoist by my own petard there - I was, I confess, passing on secondhand information (from some Americans who managed to get the VOA without any photos by smiling sweetly at the immigration guys and saying sorry). I hang my head in shame... Hope you guys are having fun.

kneutel - There is a road, the notorious Highway 219, from Xinjiang to Ali in the extreme west of Tibet. It's a sort of holy grail amongst hardcore cyclists, and foreigners have certainly managed to travel along it in the past. There is even an infrequent bus - which takes three days and only dumps you at Ali, still several days from central Tibet, Lhassa etc...

However, the road has never been technically open to foreigners. Cyclists have managed to sneak around checkposts in the night, and people on buses or trucks have, it seems, had a blind eye turned at times of tranquility. However, given that the political situation in both Tibet and Xinjiang is a little fraught at the moment, the chances of being let through are, I think, very slim indeed.

The road starts just beyond Karghilik, east of Kashgar. Last week I took a taxi from Karghilik trying to reach, not Tiet, but the valley of the Upper Yarkand River, about 250 kms along this road. About 180 kms out of Karghilik we ran into an enormous and very serious checkpoint. There was absolutely no chance whatsoever of me getting past, even when I offered to surrender my passport with them to continue for an hour or so.

Also, this is not a good season to be travelling this road - conditions are rough, altitudes extreme and at this time of year the temperatures genuinely life threatening. And given how long the journey would take it would probably take less time to get to Nepal through Pakistan if you hurried (which you shouldn't! Pakistan is worth as much time as possibe...)