Overland route from Southeast Asia (Malaysia) to South Asia (India, Nepal, or Pakistan)
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 21 Jul, 2023
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As you have already realized, the Himalayas form a giant fence between South Asia and China and the small gap between the mountains and the Bay of Bengal is plugged by Myanmar.
Getting into Myanmar nowadays is reasonably easy, crossing at Mae Sot or Mae Sai, but leaving is a problem. You need a permit from the Burmese government to leave at Tamu (this company claims to be able to get you the paperwork in a month or so), and you need both a visa for India and a permit from the Indian government to enter at Moreh.
It’s not impossible though.
Since you consider Myanmar difficult, the best route would be:
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China. There, avoiding Tibet and Qinghai completely, going through Yunnan, Chengdu, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Urumuqi, Kashgar and from there into Pakistan. The interesting part here is that you basically travel along the silk road, which is very interesting. I did that 2 years ago, it was fascinating.
If you think Myanmar is fine (I would think so), it is obviously Thailand, Myanmar, India (possibly Bangladesh) and then Pakistan.
I would consider the first route as more expensive, but more safe in terms of health risks and road safety. Since you will pass less through tropical climates, there are less risks to my experience on many levels. If you take public transports in China you might have a much more comfortable experience than through Bangladesh.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘