awrite....so here are my routes from here to islamabad (not too sure abt the distances, but damn sure abt time )
Route No 1
Quetta ... Much...Sibi...Jacobabad....Shikarpur..Sukkur...RahimYar Khan...Multan...Lahore...Pindi
this is the longest route from here to islamabad, and i have travelled on it twice. when u start from quetta, road till Sibi is sorta hilly (except last 20 kilometers) distance is abt 155 km till sibi, but the route takes approx 2.5-3 hours depending upon the drive. lately, the road in between has been undergoin some rennovation so the traffic has been diverted in the dry nullahs with rocky bed. soc caution for low clearance cars, specially in rains. CNG u can get filled from Quetta and it wud take u till Sibi..or a lil ahead. road from Sibi till jacobabad is approx 160 km, and the road condition is simply STUNNING. the road is dual traffic but almost 4 lanes wide and its as gud as a runway. u can hit the speed of ur choice. the troubles area here is dera murad jamali where ppl are pretty hostile, and the road leads rite through the bazaar, so caution for ppl with pindi/punjab/islamabad number. not advised. CNG is then available at the other end of jacobabad bypass (towards sukkur) where u have to enter into the city and then drive for approx a km as there is only one CNG station there, and there u wud have to wait for approx 40 minutes for ur turn to come. then from jacobabad to shikarpur and onwards the road is a real mess. its again single road which is pretty narrow and two buses can hardly cross each other. plus the road is all broken and has huge bumps and cracks in it. so be careful while driving there. then u hit sukkur. from sukkur onwards u r on the main road (main lahore karachi highway). 2:30 minutes drive ahead is rahimyar khan. ( from quetta till sukkur it takes around 7 hours). the road leading towards RYK is ok but on the way bak near mirpur mathelo (fauji fertilizer factory) its in a really bad shape and is really bad for the car. from RYK to multan is a straight a decent run and CNG is available all along. and from multan onwards u keep folllowing the main road till lahore. from lahore u can get M2 all the way to islamabad or the second option is (which i adopt) that u take the kala shahkaku interchange, leave the M2 and hit GT road. on GT road , the road till gujranwala is totally screwed up. so many traffic diversions and drivers sumhow always drive very rash there. then gujranwala onwards, road is once again awesome till pindi and its a pleasure drive
Suggested Nite stays
if with family, one can make the first stop in panu aqil (20 km plus of sukkur) and second nite stay at multan and to pindi on 3rd day (all three legs wud be on the average of 7 hours)
if without family, one can make in two days. nite stay in Rahimyar khan
Route No 2
Quetta-----Sibi....jacobabad....shikarpur...kahmore...DG khan...Multan....Lahore...Islamabd
till shikarpur, same as route no 1. from shkarpur, take a left towards kashmore. this road ppl often take a short cut, but trust me it is not. road till kashmore is pretty messed up and under construction so it take hell lot of time. abt 7 hours till kashmore. last CNG u wfind wud be at kashmore, and from there onwards till DG khan is indus highway. but there is no CNG available there, and somehow the ride is extremely lonely and boring . dont know why. from DG khan till multan, road is extremely bad, and more often that not the bridge on the river rite after DG khan is mostly blocked, thereby wasting a lot of precious time. from multan onwards, one can follow the same road as of route 1
Route No 3
from quetta till multan...any of the above 2 routes. from multan onwards, bahawalpur..abdulhakeem....pir mahal...toba tek singh...faisalabad....islamabd
this is the route which i took the last time around when coming back. much shorter route as compared to GT road (heard its approx 150 km short). road condition is average onece u leave GT road after bahwalpur towards abdul hakeem. however, the road till faisalabad is pretty narrow and this area is famous for sugarcane fields and lots of fog during winters. moreover, the tractor trollies loaded with sugarcane are a huge traffic hazard as they are always overloaded and cover almost all the road. i have heard of many accident over there. from faisalabad, take motorway till islamabad. takes exact 2:30 minutes till islamabad.
NO GO AREAS
no nite driving in balochistan
no nite driving on pir mahal onward towards till faisalabad
Route 4
Quetta---Zhob...DI Khan...Mianwali....Talagang...Pindi
the shortest possibel route to pindi. on ur own car, takes approx 14 to 15 hours till pindi. road condition fairly good. security wise, not at all suggested as there have beeen reports of Taliban checkposts rite on the main road. moreover, road from Zhob onwards is all hilly till DI Khan and no traffic at all, which is pretty dangerous. i personally wont advise
Happy reading
any more queries, please ask