Howdy all. Today’s blog is a bit of ‘how to’ and a bit of recounting my experiences in crossing into Pakistan from India at the Wagah border earlier this year which I hope will compliment the ‘how to’ stuff.

Today there is only really one realistic way to cross from India to Pakistan by land and that’s via the Wagah Border which sits between the two Punjabi cities of Lahore (Pakistan) and Amritsar (India). At times over the least couple of decades it may have been possible to cross into Pakistan further south through the Rajasthan desert, in fact there was at one point a train that crossed that border, but as far as I can see those days are gone, at least for the present.

One reason you might want to use the Wagah border is simply because flying is quite the hassle from one country to another. As far as I can see right now it’s pretty much impossible though to ENTER India via land. When you apply for a visa you have to select an airport or seaport as your entry point. Can you select one and ignore it and enter by land? Possibly but it’s a bit of a risk! So anyways, I will really only be talking about going FROM India TO Pakistan today.

The problem with flights by the way is that India and Pakistan are still not on friendly terms and as a result you might be surprised to hear but there are no direct passenger flights between the two countries and PIA doesn’t operate in India airspace and Indian airlines do not fly to Pakistan. The relationships between the countries have been at best strained ever since the British partitioned them into separate entities and then ran away to let the two countries sort it out between themselves. In the 1970s they were at war, and today they both have nuclear weapons and blame each other for everything.

So essentially you are left with one border crossing at Wagah, where the changing of the guard ceremony is a tourist attraction most nights on both sides. Actual stands are in place for people to come and sit and watch as guards march around with much pomp and ceremony. But today we are interested in this border as to how to cross it.

Both countries require visas, and both can be gained electronically. India’s is easier and from memory you are able to select ‘Wagah’ as your EXIT point. You select it as your entry point when applying for the Pakistan visa, the process of which I found a bit tricky when I was asked for a letter of invitation. I had to contact a tourism company in Pakistan I found by googling it. I was unaware I needed the LOI and thought my hotel bookings were enough, and was given seven days to get an LOI or lose my money. Thankfully I resolved that in a couple of days! I’ll look to do a post on the Pakistan visa in the upcoming weeks.

Once you have your visas, make your way as I did to Amritsar. It’s well connected by rail to Delhi but I took the direct Howrah-Amritsar Express from Varanasi meaning I could skip Delhi all together! Before I left Australia I was concerned I might need some sort of extra permits to get to the border area, but as it turned out I didn’t and there was a very cheap bus, only a buck or two, basically to the border. Well, not quite – the last kilometre or two required me to get an auto-rickshaw to the physical border.

Once at the border you go through a gate to the side to the Indian customers and immigration area. There are quite a few soldiers around as you might imagine and past the building on the right is a big building which houses the soldiers working at the border. Although there are very few borders open between the two countries and at present this is the only one foreigners can use, it is a very quiet border.

The whole process out of India and into Pakistan took around 90 minutes I guess. It should have been a lot less, but I had to wait for transport across the actual physical border (in 2004 I could just walk across and I don’t remember there being as many buildings). The Indian exit is more thorough and longer than the Pakistan entrance. They x-ray all your bags and ask a few questions. But really when there are five people crossing in a single hour it doesn’t hold you up long. There was even a duty free shop which was closed!

Then I was told to wait outside for the bus. There’s a big old carpark, a few military buildings, a little activity here and there. I found a row of plastic seats that wasn’t broken next to another row that was. I waited there a bit. Then an Indian/Canadian couple arrived, another guy from Canada and I think another couple. They were all I think Indians with Canadian or US passports, making entering Pakistan easier I guess, although I am told Indians can get Pakistani visas and vice versa.

Then we waited. At least forty-five minutes, maybe an hour. The border itself was 200 metres or so away, and although around the other side of a building I could see the Pakistan flag waving in the breeze. I guess it was sort of a complex of military purpose which is why they don’t let you wander around, and that’s why I HAD to take a bus.

The bus arrived finally and drove us up to the gate which denotes you are leaving India. Passports checked for exit stamps, probably about the sixth time someone had looked at my passport to this point, and then I walked across from one gate to another, both sides had the seating arranged for the border ceremonies. After passing the Pakistan gate I walked through the middle of the seating where the ceremony for Pakistan takes place, passport checked twice before being ushered to the Pakistan immigration building.

India’s was quiet, but this was more so. Only one man checking passports. No request for the covid form I was told I had to fill out. The officer took a Canadian man’s passport he had to query and then took mine. He took the Canadian passport to a little office and then came back, stamped and handed me the passport. There were x-ray machines and a small customs area but they just told me to walk on through.

Outside the building and one more gate, one last passport check and I was in Pakistan! Here there was a small row of shops including a restaurant and even an ATM! So I pulled out some Pakistani rupees no problems and then exchanged some US Dollars as well to make sure I was good for a few days.

I bartered with the taxi drivers there and found one that seemed an ok price all the way to my hotel in Lahore, a good 30-40 minutes drive away from what feels a little remote if I’m being honest. There are a few police, a few people hanging about the shops. The taxis are not right at the border, but just beyond the shops. Is there a bus? Maybe. I took one in 2004 but it looked completely different this time around and I didn’t get any good information from anyone there. Maybe a bus. Could be coming in an hour or two. It had already been a bit of a long day as part of a long trip. I was happy to take a taxi.

I took a couple of selfies and made my way towards the taxis and suddenly the border guard who stamped me into Pakistan ran up to me. What was going on! He handed me my passport! What? I hurriedly looked for the passport I had been given, and it was CANADIAN! Goodness me, I had not looked at the passport handed to me. Here’s a tip – ALWAYS look at your passport when someone hands it back to you! It was the same colour as the Australian passport and I just didn’t think. I was extremely lucky because I had phaffed around for 20 minutes or so before leaving the border. If I’d just grabbed a taxi I don’t know what would have happened!

So there you go. That’s the border for you at Wagah. Fast in processing, the bus takes time to arrive though. But all in all about as simple as border crossings go. Check out the video which is above somewhere to see it as it happened and if you have any questions feel free to use the comments section.

Thanks as always for reading wherever you are in the world. Take care, and naturally – May the Journey Never End!