Europe to South Asia over land
From MaxTravelz
Contents |
Overview
There are several ways to go from Europe to South Asia overland.
All require some caution. Roads are poor in many areas and some are impassable in winter or in monsoon season. Various mountain and desert areas can be quite dangerous if appropriate care is not taken. So can some of the inhabitants. Most are friendly, curious and helpful, but the traveller needs some understanding of local customs and must take some care not to give offense.
Options
The Silk Road
- Istanbul to New Delhi over land: Turkey - Iran - (Afghanistan) - Pakistan - India
- Alternatively: Turkey - Georgia - Azerbaijan - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China - Pakistan - India
- Alternatively: Turkey - Georgia - Armenia - Iran - (Afghanistan) - Pakistan - India
See also Silk Road
Through Russia
There are many ways to go to South Asia through Russia, but since travelling in Afghanistan is hardly possible you'll have to go through Iran or China. That gives the following options:
Russia to Iran
- Through the Caucasus, then following the Silk Road
- Via Central Asia
Russia to South Asia via China
- From Russia to Central Asia, then into China in one of these ways:
- Northwest China, road or rail from Almaty to Urumqi
- It may be possible to cross China's Western border much further South, following the Silk Road toward Kashi. This would involve some roads that have seen very few tourists.
- From the North, road or Trans-Siberian Railway to Ulan Ude, into Mongolia to Ulaanbaatar and on into China
- Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to Beijing
- from the Northeast (if you want to visit Eastern Russia), Southwest from Vladivostok to Harbin
- From China, there are several routes toward South Asia