The Hippie Trail......

[CMHomeboy78]

First of all, let's define the term.

The Hippie Trail was the road from Istambul to Katmandu.

It was first done as a road trip in 1957 by Boris Lissanevitch - the legendary Boris of Katmandu.

Before that, it was only the likes of Sven Hedin and Marc Aurel Stein who were able to mount full-scale expeditions who could attempt it.

By the time I did it in 1976 with a friend riding a BMW 650 it was a route well travelled.

Paul Theroux's 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar had popularized it to the extent that there were areas in all the cities and larger towns that catered to our wants and needs. Sultan Amet; Chicken Street; Freak Street and many more. Places like that eventually became models for the tourist ghettoes that we see everywhere today.

Katmandu was the end of the rainbow, but that scene had changed dramatically with the death in 1972 of old King Mahendra and the accession of the Crown Prince Birendra.

The son of an oriental despot with a Harvard education - you can just imagine the kulturkamph that must have been going on inside his head. And it manifested itself in some bizarre actions as soon as he ascended the throne.

Ganga was outlawed; the inspiration for much of their culture from the psychedelic Newar woodcarvings to the little impromptu evening concerts at Hindu shrines [when the coughing stops, the music starts]. And the draconian tightening of visa regulations making long stays too expensive.

The hippies fit right in. They were just like another Asiatic ethnic group or tribe. Their flamboyant dress and love of jewelery; their veneration for the Sacred Herb; their live and let live way of life that didn't pose a threat to anybody except maybe some of their tightass compatriots back home.

And then in 1978 it really ended with the Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Afganistan the following year.

The Russians, with their predessors the British in mind, were determined to prove true Marx's old maxim that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

The Russian tragedy has been followed by the American farce, thus bringing it full-circle.

The trip from Istambul to Katmandu was a life-changing experience for almost all of us who did it.

It led me on to Thailand and to eventually becoming the head of a household here and part of an extended Thai family.

That's been a trip in itself, but nothing like the Hippie Trail.

[simple1]

the Blether....memories are flooding back of the sixties, since reading your post.

No Matter where we all were, and what we were doing, you would have to agree, that was definitely the best era to be in...

The "Nimbin Hippies" were the most creative in my area...to a point where it became a tourist attraction.

went to Nimbin many times now full of rubbernecks...

& sadly, heroin

[harrry]

First of all, let's define the term.

The Hippie Trail was the road from Istambul to Katmandu.

It was first done as a road trip in 1957 by Boris Lissanevitch - the legendary Boris of Katmandu.

Before that, it was only the likes of Sven Hedin and Marc Aurel Stein who were able to mount full-scale expeditions who could attempt it.

By the time I did it in 1976 with a friend riding a BMW 650 it was a route well travelled.

Paul Theroux's 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar had popularized it to the extent that there were areas in all the cities and larger towns that catered to our wants and needs. Sultan Amet; Chicken Street; Freak Street and many more. Places like that eventually became models for the tourist ghettoes that we see everywhere today.

Katmandu was the end of the rainbow, but that scene had changed dramatically with the death in 1972 of old King Mahendra and the accession of the Crown Prince Birendra.

The son of an oriental despot with a Harvard education - you can just imagine the kulturkamph that must have been going on inside his head. And it manifested itself in some bizarre actions as soon as he ascended the throne.

Ganga was outlawed; the inspiration for much of their culture from the psychedelic Newar woodcarvings to the little impromptu evening concerts at Hindu shrines [when the coughing stops, the music starts]. And the draconian tightening of visa regulations making long stays too expensive.

The hippies fit right in. They were just like another Asiatic ethnic group or tribe. Their flamboyant dress and love of jewelery; their veneration for the Sacred Herb; their live and let live way of life that didn't pose a threat to anybody except maybe some of their tightass compatriots back home.

And then in 1978 it really ended with the Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Afganistan the following year.

The Russians, with their predessors the British in mind, were determined to prove true Marx's old maxim that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

The Russian tragedy has been followed by the American farce, thus bringing it full-circle.

The trip from Istambul to Katmandu was a life-changing experience for almost all of us who did it.

It led me on to Thailand and to eventually becoming the head of a household here and part of an extended Thai family.

That's been a trip in itself, but nothing like the Hippie Trail.

I think you are narrowing the scope of the Hippy Trail more than you should. It really was like the Silk Road...a collection of trails spreading from the East of Asia to the West of Europe. Through its existance routes changed many times Burma opened and shut. Pakistan and India fought and opened and shut borders. Iran remained consistantly open though the American Government did not like its citizens going through there. Afganistan was just one part of the puzzle.

[simple1]

Short story;

I was working in oil exploration in West Australia (1968) coastal desert & once on leave read about hippies and 'free love' in London - sounded great so got the next ship back to U.K. Second night in London joined a hippie commune with an old school friend. Never did the overland trip to India but went down to Morocco (living theater) and all around Europe. Lived on the beaches and shared houses in Spain, France, Switzerland, Greece, house boat in Amsterdam etc for 4 years. Made money by working on farms, selling 'stuff' and so on. Some of the best life experiences plus exploring new ideas/theories - some of you may remember the likes of Tibetan Book of the Dead and books covering subjects such as ancient aliens visiting South America. Somebody mentioned Santana, I was in Geneva so went to his concert at Montreux. Ended up ODing twice so went straight & got into very disciplined mediation environment for 5 years.

Eventually got into the world of MNC's.

[Neeranam]

Never mind all this plastic hippie <deleted>, the stones etc.

Lay back fire one up and set your controls for the heart of the sun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewxNZVDDph4

Lemmy playing like a God.

This is a favourite of mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYv2n-hRsa0

[Neeranam]

New age hippy trail. Khao San road then the bus down to Koh Phangan Had Rin

Sadly until 20 to 10 years ago

When I got to Goa, India in 1992, there were only a few real hippies left - the Manchester ectasy crowd were taking over.

I was told that the hippies had left and gone to places like Thailand. The same year, I went to Koh PaNgan and the full moon parties were getting commercialized. I heard that the real hippies had gone to places like Myanmar and Indonesia etc.

Thank God for the hippies - they discovered many beautiful paradise beaches - until the crowds started arriving.

I find it ironic now the retired civil servants that look down on the long-haired backpackers in Khao San Road - if it weren't for this type of care-free, adventurous traveller, they would be retiring to places like Benidorm,

[driedmango]

The hippy trail is all over Thailand now Chiang mai to pai to the japan festival in Chang duo shalnalla of the heart then of course hidden places in Laos and Cambodia doing tantric yoga and all that..fly to India.m working on laptops...

Must be different than back in the day.. but there is still flower powers out there..

[diddums]

Thread explains the "Hippie Trail" in the song by Men At work.

Full of zombies innit.

I imagine 'poste restante' is extinct these days ?

Is a wake in order ?

[mauGR1]

First of all, let's define the term.

The Hippie Trail was the road from Istambul to Katmandu.

It was first done as a road trip in 1957 by Boris Lissanevitch - the legendary Boris of Katmandu.

Before that, it was only the likes of Sven Hedin and Marc Aurel Stein who were able to mount full-scale expeditions who could attempt it.

By the time I did it in 1976 with a friend riding a BMW 650 it was a route well travelled.

Paul Theroux's 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar had popularized it to the extent that there were areas in all the cities and larger towns that catered to our wants and needs. Sultan Amet; Chicken Street; Freak Street and many more. Places like that eventually became models for the tourist ghettoes that we see everywhere today.

Katmandu was the end of the rainbow, but that scene had changed dramatically with the death in 1972 of old King Mahendra and the accession of the Crown Prince Birendra.

The son of an oriental despot with a Harvard education - you can just imagine the kulturkamph that must have been going on inside his head. And it manifested itself in some bizarre actions as soon as he ascended the throne.

Ganga was outlawed; the inspiration for much of their culture from the psychedelic Newar woodcarvings to the little impromptu evening concerts at Hindu shrines [when the coughing stops, the music starts]. And the draconian tightening of visa regulations making long stays too expensive.

The hippies fit right in. They were just like another Asiatic ethnic group or tribe. Their flamboyant dress and love of jewelery; their veneration for the Sacred Herb; their live and let live way of life that didn't pose a threat to anybody except maybe some of their tightass compatriots back home.

And then in 1978 it really ended with the Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Afganistan the following year.

The Russians, with their predessors the British in mind, were determined to prove true Marx's old maxim that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

The Russian tragedy has been followed by the American farce, thus bringing it full-circle.

The trip from Istambul to Katmandu was a life-changing experience for almost all of us who did it.

It led me on to Thailand and to eventually becoming the head of a household here and part of an extended Thai family.

That's been a trip in itself, but nothing like the Hippie Trail.

I think you are narrowing the scope of the Hippy Trail more than you should. It really was like the Silk Road...a collection of trails spreading from the East of Asia to the West of Europe. Through its existance routes changed many times Burma opened and shut. Pakistan and India fought and opened and shut borders. Iran remained consistantly open though the American Government did not like its citizens going through there. Afganistan was just one part of the puzzle.

Well, Afghanistan was quite an important part of the puzzle, i was about 1 year too late when i travelled from India to Europe, i can remember the streets of Quetta, just close to the border, lined with hundreds of Afghan refugees.

Those times they were hoping for the Americans to help them chase the Russians, nobody could have guessed that Afghanistan would have been ruined forever with the advent of the talibans.

Iran was theatre of the Islamic revolution, it took just 2 days to cross it, we knew just years later about the extent of the human rights suppression going on there, we were too young to care in '79.

The trip was fun anyway, great experience !

[hopdafru]

I imagine 'poste restante' is extinct these days ?

It's still being used in Vientiane, Laos Just present ID with matching name and pickup the parcel. only PO boxes here.

[prestburypark]

Being a contrary s.o.b. , I watched my mates, late 70's and early 80's come back from Goa and beyond . Was not impressed by them emaciated with dysentery and raging smack habits. So I went west, Caribbean, Central and South America, even the States, which were much more civilised pre Homeland Security days. Europe was a buzz then too, with loads of cool stuff going on and way more comfortable!

The thought of a bus trip through Europe, Iran and so on to India , and the whole "find yourself" , get a Guru , b.s. held no appeal to me, but I loved, still love to travel.

The good thing about those days was that, on the whole, there were at least some ethical standards amongst heads and a cameraderie that seems to be extinct these days. A good rep was essential as it was a small world. On the whole, better, more innocent times, but shit happened.

[watutsi]

A few years after my trip to India, to escape the civil war in Beirut i ended up in Southern Egypt, got a boat into Sudan at a place called Wadi Halfa and crossed The Nubian Desert to Khartoum, then down to Juba in Southern Sudan. A barge back up the Nile to the Nubian Mountains and across into Ethiopia. This trip made the "hippie trail" feel like a 5 star luxury jaunt

[CMHomeboy78]

First of all, let's define the term.

The Hippie Trail was the road from Istambul to Katmandu.

It was first done as a road trip in 1957 by Boris Lissanevitch - the legendary Boris of Katmandu.

Before that, it was only the likes of Sven Hedin and Marc Aurel Stein who were able to mount full-scale expeditions who could attempt it.

By the time I did it in 1976 with a friend riding a BMW 650 it was a route well travelled.

Paul Theroux's 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar had popularized it to the extent that there were areas in all the cities and larger towns that catered to our wants and needs. Sultan Amet; Chicken Street; Freak Street and many more. Places like that eventually became models for the tourist ghettoes that we see everywhere today.

Katmandu was the end of the rainbow, but that scene had changed dramatically with the death in 1972 of old King Mahendra and the accession of the Crown Prince Birendra.

The son of an oriental despot with a Harvard education - you can just imagine the kulturkamph that must have been going on inside his head. And it manifested itself in some bizarre actions as soon as he ascended the throne.

Ganga was outlawed; the inspiration for much of their culture from the psychedelic Newar woodcarvings to the little impromptu evening concerts at Hindu shrines [when the coughing stops, the music starts]. And the draconian tightening of visa regulations making long stays too expensive.

The hippies fit right in. They were just like another Asiatic ethnic group or tribe. Their flamboyant dress and love of jewelery; their veneration for the Sacred Herb; their live and let live way of life that didn't pose a threat to anybody except maybe some of their tightass compatriots back home.

And then in 1978 it really ended with the Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Afganistan the following year.

The Russians, with their predessors the British in mind, were determined to prove true Marx's old maxim that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

The Russian tragedy has been followed by the American farce, thus bringing it full-circle.

The trip from Istambul to Katmandu was a life-changing experience for almost all of us who did it.

It led me on to Thailand and to eventually becoming the head of a household here and part of an extended Thai family.

That's been a trip in itself, but nothing like the Hippie Trail.

I think you are narrowing the scope of the Hippy Trail more than you should. It really was like the Silk Road...a collection of trails spreading from the East of Asia to the West of Europe. Through its existance routes changed many times Burma opened and shut. Pakistan and India fought and opened and shut borders. Iran remained consistantly open though the American Government did not like its citizens going through there. Afganistan was just one part of the puzzle.

No, I disagree with you. I haven't narrowed the scope at all.

The definition of the Hippy Trail as the road between Istanbul and Katmandu is accurate.

Just like the high road from London to Edinburgh is simply that. It's not the road to Wigan Pier or the Yellowbrick Road to the Emerald City of Oz.

You can expand the meaning of anything until it becomes fuzzy and indistinct; like The Summer of Love or The Woodstock Generation or Haight-Ashbury or Carnaby Street as cultural concepts.

But instead of giving them more meaning, you give them less. You create fantasy.

It's the people who were in San Francisco in the summer of '68, or ankle-deep in mud on Yasgur's Farm the following year, or who made the scene in London in those days who know what the reality was.

For sure, the Hippie Trail was a lot more than a road. But how much more, and in exactly what ways depended on the individual who experienced it.

[harrry]

First of all, let's define the term.

The Hippie Trail was the road from Istambul to Katmandu.

It was first done as a road trip in 1957 by Boris Lissanevitch - the legendary Boris of Katmandu.

Before that, it was only the likes of Sven Hedin and Marc Aurel Stein who were able to mount full-scale expeditions who could attempt it.

By the time I did it in 1976 with a friend riding a BMW 650 it was a route well travelled.

Paul Theroux's 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar had popularized it to the extent that there were areas in all the cities and larger towns that catered to our wants and needs. Sultan Amet; Chicken Street; Freak Street and many more. Places like that eventually became models for the tourist ghettoes that we see everywhere today.

Katmandu was the end of the rainbow, but that scene had changed dramatically with the death in 1972 of old King Mahendra and the accession of the Crown Prince Birendra.

The son of an oriental despot with a Harvard education - you can just imagine the kulturkamph that must have been going on inside his head. And it manifested itself in some bizarre actions as soon as he ascended the throne.

Ganga was outlawed; the inspiration for much of their culture from the psychedelic Newar woodcarvings to the little impromptu evening concerts at Hindu shrines [when the coughing stops, the music starts]. And the draconian tightening of visa regulations making long stays too expensive.

The hippies fit right in. They were just like another Asiatic ethnic group or tribe. Their flamboyant dress and love of jewelery; their veneration for the Sacred Herb; their live and let live way of life that didn't pose a threat to anybody except maybe some of their tightass compatriots back home.

And then in 1978 it really ended with the Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Afganistan the following year.

The Russians, with their predessors the British in mind, were determined to prove true Marx's old maxim that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

The Russian tragedy has been followed by the American farce, thus bringing it full-circle.

The trip from Istambul to Katmandu was a life-changing experience for almost all of us who did it.

It led me on to Thailand and to eventually becoming the head of a household here and part of an extended Thai family.

That's been a trip in itself, but nothing like the Hippie Trail.

I think you are narrowing the scope of the Hippy Trail more than you should. It really was like the Silk Road...a collection of trails spreading from the East of Asia to the West of Europe. Through its existance routes changed many times Burma opened and shut. Pakistan and India fought and opened and shut borders. Iran remained consistantly open though the American Government did not like its citizens going through there. Afganistan was just one part of the puzzle.

No, I disagree with you. I haven't narrowed the scope at all.

The definition of the Hippy Trail as the road between Istanbul and Katmandu is accurate.

Just like the high road from London to Edinburgh is simply that. It's not the road to Wigan Pier or the Yellowbrick Road to the Emerald City of Oz.

You can expand the meaning of anything until it becomes fuzzy and indistinct; like The Summer of Love or The Woodstock Generation or Haight-Ashbury or Carnaby Street as cultural concepts.

But instead of giving them more meaning, you give them less. You create fantasy.

It's the people who were in San Francisco in the summer of '68, or ankle-deep in mud on Yasgur's Farm the following year, or who made the scene in London in those days who know what the reality was.

For sure, the Hippie Trail was a lot more than a road. But how much more, and in exactly what ways depended on the individual who experienced it.

Your definition others differ

eg http://www.richardgregory.org.uk/history/hippie-trail.htm

http://www.magicbus.info/

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-lonely-planet-journey-the-hippie-trail-6257275.html

It seems that lots of people disagree with you. Yes It was one part of the trail....but so was the one I traced from Australia through Indonesia Singapore Thailand Laos Burma India then round India by Enfield Mini Bullet spending 2 years then across Pakistan through Quetta and then into Iran and Turkey with the bike (sometimes on trains and buses because of conditions) A couple more years in Turkey. Then the other half ot the trail in reverse from Turkey through Europe on the bike.

Sorry there is more to the trail than the part of it you describe.;

[diddums]

Dude...the trail goes wherever it takes you.

[StChris]

Has anyone else seen the "No Hippies!" sign at the border when entering Thailand via Malaysia by train? It looks pretty old and lists identifying characteristics of hippies, which may get you denied entry to the kingdom (long hair, beard, sandles etc). So there must have been a lot of hippies arriving at some point, although there were a few hippyish-looking backpackers that day and I never noticed any of them getting turned away.

Great reminiscenes by the way, keep them coming.

[rayongchelsea]

For me it started at the pudding club in Istanbul and ended at the banana cafe in Kathmandu..via Iran and Afghanistan..

[RCR]

In 1976, I got from Australia to Nepal using public transport. In Kathmandu I took the easy, luxury option and signed on for the "Magic Bus" owned by an American woman, Jan Biddle. She drove a bunch of us westerners from Kathmandu to Pokhara and then onto New Delhi. That trip cost $20USD. After a few days in Delhi she announced she was going to drive to Kabul. That cost another $25USD. Most of us re-boarded. From then on it was back to public transport. Travel was a lot easier (and cheaper) in those days.

Photo I took of Jan Biddle's bus, Khyber Pass 1976.

[theblether]

What were the high points of that journey for you RCR? ( no pun intended )

I get the impression that lot of the guys that took these journeys have a vague recollection of being on them but for some reason all other memories disappear. I wonder why

[nisakiman]

I left UK in March 1967, headed south and spent three months living in an olive grove in Greece. Then I was offered a lift to Istanbul, so I took that, and spent some time living on a hotel roof (my sleeping bag on a straw mat along with a couple of dozen other hippies doing the same. We smoked a lot of dope on that roof ) just round the corner from the pudding shop. I survived by buying unsigned Amex travellers cheques from tourists at 25% face value and selling them to a Turkish gangster for 50% face value.

After a month or so there, I got out on the road the other side of the Bosphorous and stuck my thumb out. Got a lift with a Swiss guy driving a 1963 Cadillac convertible. He was going to Bahrain, where he worked on the oil rigs, and offered me a ride and a job when we got there, so I jumped in. Got to the Syrian border and they wouldn't let me in even though I had a visa because the six day war had recently happened and they weren't letting in anyone with British, US or German passports. Bugger. The Swiss guy was ok to go though, so he left me there. So I hitch hiked up through central Turkey to Erzerum and then on to the Iranian border. I was waiting three days at the border for a lift! On down to Tehran, where I spent a couple of weeks, and then I hitched across the Great Salt Desert to Mashhad, and then on to the Afghan border.

Another three days waiting for a ride, then on into Herat. As the bus was very cheap, I decided to indulge myself, and bought a ticket to Kabul, where I stayed for a couple of months. I loved Kabul, and I liked the Afghan people. Fierce, proud but hospitable. I spent a lot of time in Kabul over the next couple of years.

It was then on through the Khyber pass to Peshawar, a kaleidoscope of colour and smell. Great place. From there, I headed north to Chitral in the North West Frontier. Only a dirt road over the mountains then, 4WD or by foot only. Another fantastic place, and probably the best hashish in the world. While there, I walked over the mountain to the valley of Bumboret where the Kalash live. The Kalash escaped the predations of the Afghan warlord who swept through the region converting all to Islam by the sword a couple of centuries before, and so still retained their animistic religion. I was lucky enough to be invited to a full moon festival there, where the virgins danced to weird drum beats by the light of the moon, and much feasting was enjoyed.

From Chitral, I headed down to Lahore and on into India. I hitch hiked through the Punjab and on down to Delhi, where I stayed for a while. From there it was up to Nepal and Kathmandu, where I arrived just in time for Christmas 1967. I spent a month in Kathmandu and then headed back to Delhi and again to Kabul. I then made several trips between Kabul and Delhi, as I'd discovered a way to make a bit of money.

No, not drugs.

Kabul, although landlocked, had the status of 'Free Port', so imports were tax free.

India had a strict protectionist policy, which meant you couldn't import anything that could be made locally.

Indian men tend to be quite swarthy and have heavy beard growths, but Indian razor blades at that time were total crap. So I'd go to Kabul, and buy a wholesale box of Wikinson Sword Razor Blades, take them to Delhi (it was illegal, strictly speaking, but low risk) and sell them for a vast profit.

I went back to UK briefly in '69, did another trip to Chitral for about 6 months, back to UK, then back overland to India (1971 by this time), this time going to Calcutta, where I got a flight to Bangkok. Picked up my dose of 'Vietnam Rose' from a local lady of easy virtue while I was there . And yes, the Buddha Sticks were most excellent! I got down to Sadao just as my month visa was about to run out, and they wouldn't let me into Malaysia because I didn't have any money. Ho hum. The money was waiting for me in a bank in Penang, but I couldn't get to it. But that's yet another story.

I ended up in Melbourne, where I lived until 1979.

That is just the briefest of résumés, there was a hell of a lot happened while I was on my travels then. I have so many stories to tell, some of them quite unbelievable.

I blew the opportunity to go to University and get a 'good job', and I don't regret it for one moment. I experienced so much and learned so much. I wouldn't change that for the world.

I've got a couple of pics I'll see if I can upload later when I've got some time to dig them out.

[theblether]

Supern nisakiman, just superb.......please find the time to tell us more.

Just fantastic.

[SteeleJoe]

My authentic hippie memories -- the only thing of interest to hippies about Thailand back then was Thai Stick. Not that Thai Stick was chopped liver though.

No, not talking about rice noodles.

Much more interest in India and amazingly Afghanistan.

Not so. Besides Thai Stick there was a scene here in Bangkok and it was one of the primary stopping points...on Soi Ngam Duplee (which was still hanging on into 81' when I got here) and such...

[SteeleJoe]

I wanted to be a hippie soldier like the guy in the photo but my CO gave me five bucks (MPC actually) a week to get a haircut at the Dragon Ladies haircut and boom boom and massage emporium. So I took the path of least resistance and got a haircut and my fatigues custom tailored and starched and ironed and changed them three times a day.

The guy in the photo didn't look like that when he served: indeed some tailored and starched REMF garritrooper calling him a "hippie soldier" is a bit much given he was serving as a decorated combat troop.

[SteeleJoe]

Did the true "hippies" even know HOW to find their way out of California? I doubt if most could even afford the price of a plane ticket.

Boy you are young. The movement started on the East coast of the US with Beatniks and then moved to the West coast. Try reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The New York Times called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test "not simply the best book on hippies… [but also] the essential book. You also might want to read, " Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers"

The youth of the 1960's were the only generation in North America to actually do something beyond sit on their bums and sponge off of mom and dad. Stopping the war in Vietnam, Civil rights movement, 2nd wave Feminism, gay rights, Hispanic and Chicano movement to name a few. Actually one might say every generation before and after the Hippies were lost.

Good post but you sell the other generations a bit short (showing your age, I'm afraid!); in particular you do a great disservice to the people of the 50's who REALLY moved the struggle for civil rights into it's most important phase - and risked their lives in doing so.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

[nisakiman]

I found a few old photos which I scanned. I haven't uploaded any photos here before, so I'm hoping it works!

Not sure if I've picked the right code here, so I'll just do one to try it.

This is a butcher's shop in Kabul, 1969.

[nisakiman]

Aha, it worked! Hope it's not too big. These are really grainy because they are from very old prints. I recently bought a negative scanner, but I've got thousands of negs all mixed up, so it's going to take me an age to sort and scan them. It's more than 40 years worth.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/nisakiman/Travels/scan0019.jpg

A young lad I encountered in the back streets of Kabul.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/nisakiman/Travels/scan0013-1.jpg

The pipe shop. Kabul 1969

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/nisakiman/Travels/scan0017.jpg

Silversmith's bazaar. Kabul 1969

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/nisakiman/Travels/scan0021.jpg

Tinsmith's bazaar. Kabul 1969

Quite by accident, I took the photo just as one of the lads in the foreground was taking a swing at his mate, which rather added interest, I thought!

Kabul was a real buzz back then. Very relaxed and friendly, as long as you respected the local mores. Some (in fact quite a few) of those that didn't pay attention to what was, and what was not acceptable in Afghan society paid the ultimate price. It was always pretty wild-west there, even back then. However, in Kabul and the other cities, although you would see a lot of women wearing the full chadoor (I used to refer to them as the Daleks), it was also common to see Afghan women wearing Western clothes, make-up, high heels etc. going to their places of work. It was quite free then. None of this fundamentalist crap.

I came across some pics from Chitral, too. If anybody's interested I can post those tomorrow.

Edit.

Ah, these came up as links - maybe they are oversized for the site.

[theblether]

Trust me...we're interested.

[craigt3365]

Great pictures. You are very lucky. Can't do this today.

I did a trip from Kathmandu to Tibet about 10 years ago. Incredibly, the pics I took almost look like yours! Seems not much has changed...luckily.

[chiangmaikelly]

Did the true "hippies" even know HOW to find their way out of California? I doubt if most could even afford the price of a plane ticket.

Boy you are young. The movement started on the East coast of the US with Beatniks and then moved to the West coast. Try reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The New York Times called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test "not simply the best book on hippies… [but also] the essential book. You also might want to read, " Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers"

The youth of the 1960's were the only generation in North America to actually do something beyond sit on their bums and sponge off of mom and dad. Stopping the war in Vietnam, Civil rights movement, 2nd wave Feminism, gay rights, Hispanic and Chicano movement to name a few. Actually one might say every generation before and after the Hippies were lost.

Good post but you sell the other generations a bit short (showing your age, I'm afraid!); in particular you do a great disservice to the people of the 50's who REALLY moved the struggle for civil rights into it's most important phase - and risked their lives in doing so.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

In the US the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal change. I think all the participants would have to be over 60 now. For extra reading, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955%E2%80%931968%29

To have been politically active in the 1960's how old would you be now?

[bobbin]

nisakiman's post are stirring more memories for me also!

Afghanistan in the early '70's was firmly anchored in the 1800's everywhere outside Kabul. There, as noted, chadoor-clad ladies shared the streets with ladies wearing the latest European fashions. I spent quite a lot of time there. One year I cooked a complete Christmas dinner, including turkey, in a wood-burning stove built in Chicago in 1896, IIRC. If you were lucky enough to have hot water in your house, it came from a wood-burning hot water heater! Thankfully, I had been a Boy Scout and was able to reliably get those small fires going..

Afghanistan also had surprisingly good highways. I had a conversation with a high-ranking policeman in the mid-70's regarding these highways. Americans had built the roads from Pakistan to Kabul, while the Russians had built the roads from the USSR's Tajikistan and Kazakhstan to Kabul. The Russian roads were somewhat better; a fact explained by the Afghan. The Russian roads were built to handle much heavier traffic, i.e. 100 ton tanks!

In those days, if you arrived in India with a vehicle, it came with a carnet and was entered in your passport. It had to leave with you unless transferred to another foreign passport. That was how I came to acquire a VW Combi-Van free when a fellow Canadian had to return home for an extended time. It was almost 2 years before he returned and had the van transferred back into his passport. I made the drive from Goa to Afghanistan and back twice.

Pre-internet and MTV, each country and it's culture was much more unique. I never made it to Chitral though I kept meaning to go. It had a reputation for longevity then due to dried apricots and fantastic hashish combined with pure mountain air... But I spent a fair bit of time in Indian-controlled Kashmir which is geographically close.

Those original full-moon parties in Goa were incredible. A well-known fellow from California named Owsley would arrive every winter season with a lot of liquid acid which was freely distributed. The beaches were all nude and some of those parties were like a Roman bacchanal.

Along with naskiman, my years in this almost fantasy-land precluded a university education but I had received a first-class worldly education. Re-entry into western culture was problematic at first but soon achieved.

Every so often I would send photos back as proof-of life!

Unfortunately, I never carried a camera so would stop by a photo studio. Here i am in Goa in 1972 with my English girlfriend, who worked in the London Playboy Club before setting off to India. Two great years with that lady.