How to Get Around Pakistan

Pakistan is crossed by air and by road, and the advisories decide which. The British Foreign Office says to avoid the railway network because of the risk of terrorist attacks, and advises against all travel on the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas, the section that links the plains to the north; Canada says not to travel by road to Gilgit-Baltistan at all. That leaves the flight to Skardu, whose airport sits at 2,230 metres, or to Gilgit, and then the road north through Hunza to the Khunjerab pass -- the one border-zone road both governments except from their warnings, up to the pass itself at 4,693 metres.

Between the cities of the plain, fly; Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi are each under high security and Canada advises against non-essential travel to most of Karachi. On any road, carry photo ID, expect checkpoints, and know that advance permission from local or federal authorities is required to travel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and several districts of Azad Kashmir, and that Canada notes additional documentation may be required for some regions. Fairy Meadows is reached only in local jeeps; the Khewra salt mine by its own railway; Taxila is 25 kilometres from the capital. No operator published a fare a scripted request could read, so none is given.

Where the advisories close the map

The British Foreign Office advises against all travel to Balochistan; to within 10 miles of the Afghan border and of the Line of Control; to the listed districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar city and Swat; to the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas; and to the N45 to the edge of Chitral including the Kalash valley. It advises against all but essential travel to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, to Sindh north of and including Nawabshah, to Dera Ghazi Khan, to Malakand, Mardan, Nowshera, Shangla and Swabi, and to within 5 miles of the Indian border away from the Wagah ceremony. Canada advises against all travel to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa except Haripur and Abbottabad (caution) and Chitral (non-essential), to within 50 kilometres of Afghanistan and 10 of China, India and Iran except the official crossings including the Khunjerab pass and the highway to it, and to the Mansehra–Chilas section; and against non-essential travel to Karachi outside the districts it lists. Insurance may be invalidated by travelling against the advice.

Entry and exit

A visa is required and must be applied for in advance; the passport must be valid six months beyond the date of the visa application; the passport must be stamped on entry, because leaving without an entry stamp is difficult, and an expired visa needs an online exit permit before travel. Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a transmission-risk country; polio certificate in some circumstances, and, per Canada, proof of polio vaccination on departure for anyone who has stayed more than four weeks, obtained within the previous twelve months. The 2019 opening -- online visas for 175 countries, visa on arrival for 50 -- is the encyclopaedia's account; the visa portal itself refused a scripted request.

Roads, air and rail

Avoid the railway network (UK). Do not travel by road to Gilgit-Baltistan (Canada); fly to Skardu or Gilgit. Advance permission from local or federal authorities is needed for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and several Azad Kashmir districts (UK); additional documentation may be required for some regions (Canada). Carjacking is a risk; carry photo ID at all times; prohibited areas surround military installations, nuclear plants and naval and air bases. Fairy Meadows: a fifteen-kilometre jeep track from Raikot Bridge on which only locals may drive. Canada advises insurance with helicopter rescue and medical evacuation from remote areas, with the local agent confirmed in advance.

Emergency numbers

Police 15, medical assistance 115 or 1122, fire 16.