Although seeing Iran by your own car is absolutely the best way to get around, getting it in- and out is definetely not for the faint of heart...
The condition of the roads is fine, traffic is chaotic and petrol is cheap. Most importantly, you can go anywhere you want, anytime you want. Car rental is an unknown concept in Iran.
About the traffic:
Initially, is seems like complete chaos, with all drivers taking the shortest line to wherever they want to go, swerving across lanes and going on roundabouts in all posible directions. However, there is actually a system behind the apparent chaos, evident by the fact most cars are not dented. Here it is: "Whenever two vehicles collide, the one with the damage most towards the car's front is responsible."
This means anyone can cut into your lane, leaving you liable if he/she hits you.... So you brake.... to avoid your car's headlights touching the other car's side... On the other hand, the advantage of the system is that it is very easy to get across lanes when you find yourself on the wrong side, just metres before the junction; You just go and all drivers will let you cut-in without any honking protest, even buses or trucks.
On roundabouts, it seems the priority is for those entering it but just like for the motorbikes buzzing around you everywhere, you make judgment if you are good to go and just go. Everyone is very focused on avoiding to hit anything with the front of their vehicle, particularly since many are uninsured....
Do not drive outside town at night!
Now for the paperwork:
Main rule; Be mentally prepared that it will take significant time and effort. 1 - 2 days on arrival and 1/2 day on departure is not uncommon. Don't try to do it all by yourself. You need help from someone who knows the system, how to butt into lines and who speaks Farsi as well as some English to communicate with yourself. As foreign tourist you will be treated very friendly with the utmost regard. (Surprisingly, Iranian nationals not so....).
To get help, a good start is
Samira Zare from
Persiatours, who is making study of the process and has useful contacts that can help out in most places. These will need some payment, but it is worth it. (several tens of euros, depending on how quickly it goes). The whole process involves many rather small payments everywhere, that amount to a few hundred euros total.
To have before departing:
1.
Carnet de Passage en Douane: Must have. The alternative is having to leave a huge deposit at customs (tens of thousands of euros), which is not only very difficult to pay through a state bank, it is also not clear if you will ever get it back after departure, especially if you enter and exit at different border crossings. You can get the Carnet from the main motoring association in the country where your car is registered. (For NL cars, the ANWB has an arrangement with ADAC). The huge deposit still applies, but now you have certainty you will see it back, after returing the properly stamped Carnet at the end of the journey. Be aware that in different places, the Carnet often comes under different names (e.g. Triptique, KT)
2. Export license: If (like us) you are taking a foreign car back to home country, this is a particularly bad proposition. It means you will be literally exporting and importing the car at every border crossing, which will take 4 hrs to 2 days at every border. Keep the regular registration (and your local residency permit to have it legally in your name). Do get a Clearance Certificate from the Traffic Department which you will most likely need when registering the car in your home country, but do check your home countries regulations for import.
3. Road insurances: Try to have these arranged for all countries beforehand. Samira of Persiatours can help you get it for Iran, if your own green card does not cover. The challenge is that Iranian insurers only give "normal" rates to drivers with valid Iranian civil ID, which as tourist you will obviously not have. Unlike other countries, Iranian border crossings do not have agents with "Border Insurance". In our case, after getting and offer with a staggering rip-off rate, we managed to charm another agent into buying the insurance in his own name, which consumed over 4 hours.
4. Visa: Must have
5. Ferry tickets: For Sharjah - Bandar Abbas, Oasis (local and only UAE agent for Valfajr8 shipping co. and currently in process of renaming itself into Goodluck shipping co.) needs copies of the Carnet, passports, ownership certificate and visa. There is another shipping agent for the line Kuwait city - Bushehr, but Oasis was the only one willing to make a reservation by email. The actual ticketing in Sharjah takes one day (before departure).
6. Lots of copies: Make at at least 10 sets of copies of passport (ID page) and visa, as well as a few sets of your other docs. These save a lot of time.
7. Itinerary: Plot your planned itinerary on a print-out of Google maps. This helps a lot to give the authorities the confidence that you are really planning to bring your car out again, rather than sell it in Iran, dodging their massive taxation on foreign cars.
8. Folders (preferably transparent plastic ones) to keep your precious papers organized and prevent from blowing away with the wind.
9. Tools to change licence plates and make holes in new ones.
The Ferry:
1. The folks at Oasis will help you through the process excellently. Arrive one day before to purchase the actual tickets and have cash Dirhams, original Carnet, Ownership certificate and passports/visa. Oasis agency is inside Port Khalid and very hard to find without GPS and coordinates. It is an unmarked portacabin with three offices inside.
To get inside Port Khalid, you will need a gate pass, which you can get at the gate pass office. The gate pass clerk will claim Oasis' (Goodluck's) agency is outside the Port, but this is not true. Gate pass costs 5 Dirhams and a passport copy. Oasis is planning to open a new office in town, but not clear if/when that will actually happen. Do regularly check if the ferry is still scheduled to go. Due to low demand or military exercises in spring, there may be cancellations.... Buying the tickets takes about one hour and they will keep your Carnet and Ownership certificate.
With the now received Bill of Lading, you go into the Port Authority building, right-hand side after the front door and within 5 minutes they give you the Vehicle Admittance Advice (4 different colored copies) after showing your Bill of Lading. Be on time. The Port Authority closes shop at 14:00. No cost. Done for the day. Behind the scenes Oasis takes care of some more formalities.
2. Next (departure) day, you arrive at 15:00, drop other passengers at the airconditioned Port Authority building and then go with the car first to Oasis, then to Customs shed #6. Have all papers with you, some will be retained, stamped and/or signed. You leave the car there and if not comfortable with their driving skills, you are allowed to keep the key. You will be brought to the gate (in one of the other cars they do have a key of) and reunite with the rest of the travel party.
Now you can enter the "Departure hall" and after paying the guy in the office left in the back he will take 30 Dirhams for each passenger (no receipt) and issue the "boarding passes". Also your original Carnet and Ownership magically pop-up there and are returned to you. Take some time to marvel at the place and the huge amounts of freight people take with them to Iran, which are mostly their reason to go by ferry, rather than by plane.
The next interesting scene is the waiting of the entire and colorful population of the ferry at immigration, passports getting exit stamped one by one, then everyone loaded into a rattling Tata bus for the 400m to the ferry, which is patiently waiting next to the Oasis office. Somewhere halfway all this you get a call and are collected to park your car on the ferry, then brought back.
3. On the ferry: Enjoy the ride. Departs around 21:30 and you will be served your first Iranian grub. Sleeping is basic on hard couches, but get some rest. You're going to need it.
Port Khalid
Gate pass office. N25 21' 24" E55 22' 29"
Main gate. N25 21' 34" E55 22' 37"
Port authority building. N25 21' 31" E55 22' 34"
Departure hall. N25 21' 35" E55 22' 34"
Customs shed# 6. N25 21' 43" E55 22' 32"
Oasis shipping co.
Mr. Naser. +971 50 786 8280
Mr. Imran. +971 50 470 6830
Office. N25 21' 49" E55 22' 35"
Ferry berth. N25 21' 49" E55 22' 32"
On arrival.
1. Just before docking, the ladies have to put on their headscarfs & long-sleeve butt covering blouses and notice the smiles and sighs of relief from the other passengers. On disembarkment around 09:00, the car key stays with the ferry's shipper.
2. First through immigration. Men and women separate lines, but soon enough the officials call the whole family forward and you skip the line.
3. Now you have to go to South Way Shipping co, some two km outside Port Bahogan to make a payment for their destination handling and get back. This is a good time to first find a local fixer to guide you through the whole process of getting your car released from the Port, before Customs closes at 14:30.
This process involves visiting a large number of offices all across the port to collect a mindboggling plethora of papers, stamps and signatures.
Your role is to be the foreigner that enables the fixer to jump queues and interrupt officials in their lunches. If things are getting a little late, some running is also involved, but colleagues of the fixer also pop-up everywhere with cars to cover distances quicker.
Worst case is a taxi to your hotel and finish the process next day. Not a bad idea to send the travel party off to the hotel anyway, since there is nothing to do for them, but wait. Taxis are plenty available at the Port gate and cheap. Have a flexible reservation with Hotel Hormoz, if you can afford. Other hotels in B/A are no great deal. The process always works out in the end but how long it takes is unpredictable.
Port Shahid Bahonar (Bandar Abbas)
Ferry berth. N27 09' 11" E56 12' 13"
Main gate. N27 09' 17" E56 12' 25"
Customs. N27 09' 15" E56 12' 18" (here are the fixers)
South Way Shipping co. N27 09' 57" E56 13' 42"
Transit plates, the day after arrival.
Required if you are stay in more than 7 (some say 15) days, although the actual law is not clear with everyone.
Basically very simple: Make a tax payment at the state bank accross from hotel Hormoz and have insurance. With that, you can show-up at the Traffic Police side gate at 09:00, 11:00 or 13:30 for inspection and receive the transit plates. Again, as foreigner you will be treated with greatest respect and priority. To show your planned itinerary plotted on Google maps really helps here to get the Police's confidence.
For the tax payment, you will still need the fixer. The state bank is the most mindboggling bureaucratice monstrum you have ever seen. It consists of five floors of offices with people behind desks, receiving or issuing slips of papers, stamps and signatures, five cashier sub banks and locals streaming through corridors, up and down stairs and mostly elbowing at the desks. After a couple of hours, you have seen every corner of this miracle of inefficiency and walk out with the needed receipt. Good chance to observe the local dress.
For the insurance, refer to above in this article or be prepared for hardship and desperate negotiation...
Once you are given the plates and the license registration slip, the guy at the kiosk near Traffic has all the equipment to change the plates for a small fee, unless if you brought these yourself, which will be much quicker.... DONE! Free to go!!!
Traffic Police. N27 11' 12" E56 19' 51" (inspection gate)
N27 11' 14" E56 19' 55" (main gate)
Hotel Hormoz. N27 10' 59" E56 17' 26"
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| Thijs at Traffic Police in Bandar Abbas-Iran |
Exiting Iran is much quicker, but you will still need a fixer who knows who is who at the border. Plenty will approach you. Take some time to pick a good looking one that speaks some English. At Bazargan and likely all land borders, the Iranian side is a complete mess, with people pushing and shoving to get across, overworked and rude officials (none wearing uniforms) making up rules on the spot.
For example, one guy noted that our transit plates were issued in Bandar Abbas and ruled that these should be handed-in there too. Go figure... After a while the conclusion was that Traffic Police at Khoy, 160 km back was the right place to go, but after some convincing that all our visas were already voided with exit stamp, he finally put the indispensible exit stamp on the Carnet and the plates were dumped in a bin that contained many more...
After a few more inspections, the gates of Iran and Turkey opened and a few formalities later on our way to Van. Visa cost USD 20 (TL 35) and 3-months insurance for Eastern Turkey available at the AXA office (same hall as the visa window) for TL 50 in 10 minutes only. Welcome back to civilization!
Thijs Broekhuijsen
