I would say, they are being extra efficient. If you are in Sydney or in the capital or you can personally go and apply for Pakistan visa in embassy/high commission..I would ask you to go for it. You should trust on what embassy website demands and not what a travel agency demands. I hope you can show source of income for last 3 months, they might not even ask for that but having one is a good idea. With this source of income, its fine to have an address of a hotel, or LOI from a tour agency or even an invitation letter from a Pakistani with his address and telephone. its not only my idea, I am sure it will work this way. Or yeah may be wait the hotel.
In any case, if nothing works, I will be in Islamabad on 10th Dec, we can share contacts/fb/cs IDs and if we both agree, I can send you an LOI.
There is a daily bus service from Lahore to Delhi but I don't have updated fare. You can ask PTDC, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.
If you want to cross on foot, As far as I know, there is no scheduled buses leaving for border by LTI (Lahore Transport Authority), only option is either take a taxi or Rikshaw.
Rikshaws are more common in Lahore than taxis (In Islamabad, there is no rickshaws, only taxis) and a rickshaw from let's say the city center to border should charge may be about Rs. 200 may be. Its all about negotiation and they can demand quite high because you are foreigner and also because on their way back from border, most probably they will come empty. But you need to negotiate with them.
If you want security, take a registered cab like metro cab , they have fixed rates per kilometer and they will pick you from your location and drop at the border and they are really reliable, I used to use them in Lahore and Karachi for my official trips. I am not sure about latest fares, but it should be somewhere between Rs. 700-1000
Shukriya.
I will wait on a few requests I have made to hotels in Islamabad for a LOI. I will also wait a few days on my Pakistani contact who is due to respond re LOI.
The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation advised me that the bus costs 4000 which is a lot for a short ride. I am happy to take a rikshaw or taxi to the Wagah border then change on the other side to get to Amritsar. I can speak basic hindi and have experience negotiating price in various cities of India, so I assume Pakistan is similar. Are they auto rickshaws or bicycle? I guess it may be a bumpy ride, though it is not too far.
Question: To travel from Islamabad to Lahore can I take a train? If so how do I do this? e.g. I understand how to book trains in India through IRCTC and I use my relative's Indian debit card to make the booking as they dont accept non-Indian cards. But how is it done in Pakistan? Is the station in Rawalpindi? I love to travel on trains hence why I am considering train vs taxi.
The bus fare PTDC is talking about is all the way from Lahore to Delhi.
Spoken hindi and urdu are quite similar, so that would be good for you. There are no bicycle rickshaws allowed in Pakistan, these are auto rickshaws. Road is nicely built on Pakistan side, no bumps. I don't know about Indian side.
There are two small railway stations in Islamabad (Golra and Margalla) with fewer trains and in Rawalpindi with more frequent trains, both fast and slow for Lahore. Green Line is a fast train that leaves Islamabad's Margalla station daily for Karachi and stops at Rawalpindi and Lahore. Free meals, WiFi and other facilities are onboard. Takes about 4-6 hours depending on which train you take. You can't buy online ticket at the moment, but you can pay with any card at the railway station ticket counter, even a foreign card, although in August when I wanted to use my credit card in Multan, they didn't had the facility there but in the past I have used my card in Lahore and I am sure you should be able to do it. I just checked, I think their website is down at the moment.
In Pakistan, buses are more preferred, frequent, luxurious and faster than trains and road network is more developed than railways. Islamabad and Lahore are connected with a very nice 6 lane motorway (M2) with free 4G WiFi coverage and buses leave for Lahore almost every moment. You can book online bus ticket from http://www.daewoo.com.pk/ , which is a very nice bus service all over Pakistan.
Some other nice companies are http://faisalmover.com/ , http://111bus444.com/ , avoid other companies I would suggest.
Emeff - Do I need to book for that bus?
Alternatively, is it easy to get a taxi? How much approximately?
You don't need to book the local bus from Lahore station. It's like any suburban service -- you climb onboard and pay the conductor. It will cost you less than a dollar. The service runs every half hour or so, depending on the time of day.
I did once take a taxi from Lahore airport to the border, but I can't remember how much I paid. It did seem like a lot in terms of local costs, but that's probably because I was a foreigner with no idea of the proper cost for that journey. Also, I paid more because I chose a taxi with AC.
But really -- it's not that complicated to get to the border. Taxi, rickshaw or bus -- it won't take you long. Just make sure you get there in good time before the border closes. I recommend you aim to get there by 13:00, because sometimes power outages can close the PK immigration office for about an hour. From memory, in winter the border closes at 15:30 (PK time; there is a 30-minute time difference between PK and IN). Getting stamped out of PK takes very little time. Getting stamped into India takes much longer, with many forms to fill and stamps to get.
As you approach the outer gates of the border zone on the PK side you will be approached by freelance porters who will offer to carry your bags. They won't quote you a fee for this service, they will say 'as you like' and wait to see how generous you are. Decide in advance what you will do when approached.
You will also find freelance moneychangers waiting in the border zone on the PK side. In my experience, they offer quite a decent rate to exchange PKR for INR. But you need to have some idea of the rate before you accept such offers, of course.
NB: if you plan to watch the border closing ceremony from the Indian side, you will need to find somewhere to stash your bag. When crossing the border, you will need to exit the immigration zone and then re-enter it to queue with the throng of Indians that come every day. You cannot take a bag into the viewing area. When I crossed I entrusted my bag to a taxi driver from the Sikh taxi cartel that waits for travellers. If nothing else, it guaranteed him that I would use him for the ride to Amritsar.
If you view the closing ceremony, you can either join the crush of Indians in one of the public stands, or you can show a non-Indian passport to a guard and get ushered into the 'VIP' area to sit with the large number of smelly backpackers and other foreigners who make the day trip from Amritsar.
Have you come across OCI before? It is not a citizen, it simply allows unlimited entry into India. The processing time given by CIBT is 2 weeks.
If you have an Indian parent, this will complicate your visa application. You should get in touch with the consulate in Sydney or the embassy in Canberra and discuss this with someone.
Hi Emmuff,
My parents are the same as me - Indian by birth, Australian citizens.
I thik for now I will proceed with the application as planned which should take no more than two weeks to process. My application is sent to the embassy in Canberra so it goes to the right people. CIBT is the intermediary who checks the application.
My parents are the same as me - Indian by birth, Australian citizens.
I think this will delay the processing of your visa application by several weeks, at least. But please report back on your experience.
Thank you all for your help.
I got my passport with visa today. It only took one week to process!
My hotel booking in Islamabad was enough as a letter of invitation.
Hi -
Can you point me to a good resource for the rules regarding security escort requirements?
Thank you.
Alexa
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