Chiang Mai and the Hippie Trail

[northernjohn]

I recall reading Sobhraj book while hanging at Chewang on Koh Samuii for a month in 84, loaned to me by Australian post man Frank (Could consume more of everything than any two of us). "Frank, is this good idea to read before doing a year bang around Asia?". Generators, no disco, simple huts, maybe VHS tape of Tron for the 10th time at night... Remember postcards? Take at least 6 weeks to Q&A, looking through "post restante" at where ever you hoped to alight next.

No bottled water in India. Bali $1.25 per night w/ breakfast. Okay, so maybe 1 15watt light, squats and no fan... no tourist vans, ya ride with the locals. Khao San was maybe one guest house, couple eateries. I was up by Malaysia usually too

Yes I remember traveling through Bali and out to the Komodo Islands with a stop at the 3 Gillis. Had to carry a light with me to read by at night. when we went to the Gillis my partner went to a small one and I went to the big one. He told me he only had a 5 watt bulb I had a 15.

[northernjohn]

I left England in October 1976 and spent the next 7 months on the road between Europe and Iran doing car deliveries from Munich (if you were there on the route you would have seen the oval shaped Z for zoll plates). My initial trip took 3 weeks to hitch hike to Tehran and who can remember The Plaka in Athens, the Pudding Shop on the Asian side of the Bosporus and the "hotel" Amir Kabir in Tehran. All stops on the old hippie trial. What I witnessed I will never forget -- life turned around for me on those trips after seeing how cheap life was/is regarded once you left the "safety" of Austria and entered the former Yugoslavia and then onward to Turkey. Who remembers the border crossing names? They still haunt me hehehe. After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

Everyone who took a bite of that apple was never the same again and those of us who lived it can only really express what happened to us, to others who shared similar experiences because the stories are often doubted by youngsters. In those 7 months I think I may have slept in a bed perhaps no more than a dozen times. It was never easy and you lived by your wits. I got arrested an thrown out of Syria because one of our fellow travellers mentioned that we intended to spend Christmas on the West Bank - so I had to hitch hike from the border back to England and got one lift with an English truck driver on the 23rd of December and he dropped me at the top of the M3 5 days later. I needed a new passport as the Syrians had dubbed me an "enemy of the Arab nations" and stamped it all over my passport. At the time Syria only had a ceasefire with Israel. You see there are just so many stories to be told.

You say

After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

It got me to thinking other than references to the one serial killer I just realized no one mentioned any one being killed. Does any one have information on that?

I realize that the conditions and the attitudes of the governments were scary in many cases but has any one information on people being killed or thrown into third world country jails for year's?

[rockdog]

A chronology of the guidebooks and other incidental writing about the Hippie Trail would be helpful in understanding more about this interesting subject.

The following is a summary of what I know about what has been written prior to 1975. It is far from complete, so additional information about the early years would be welcome and appreciated.

Tony Wheeler. Across Asia on the Cheap: A Complete Guide to Making the Overland Trip.

Trip made in 1972. Guide published in 1975. No comment needed. Plenty of information online.

Ed Buryn. Vagabonding in Europe and North Africa.

Several trips made in 1968-70. Guide published in 1973. To the best of my knowledge, this is the earliest comprehensive guidebook for people of his generation who wanted to travel independently. It enjoyed immediate success and had an immense impact among young people at the time. Regrettably, on reaching Eastern Turkey, Buryn didn't have the cojones to go on...he cited "omnipresent weirdnesses" and transportation difficulties. Nevertheless, his writing, especially about the good scene in Morocco is classic, and still worth reading to this day.

The 1970 edition of the Whole Earth Catalog had an article by someone I had never heard of named Sid Sussman, from London. He described in detail a motorcycle [bMW 650] trip from Istanbul to Katmandu that he had taken the previous year. He added a considerate little postscript comparing and evaluating the hotels near Durbar Square, and the various grades of hashish [legal then] available. Sussman [may he Rest in Bliss if he's not still living] proved that the trip could be done solo with your own vehicle.

Boris Lissanevich - the legendary "Boris of Katmandu" had come overland from Europe in a convoy of three Land Rovers in 1957. Before that - as far as I know - it was only attempted by organized expeditions such as the 1955 Oxford-Cambridge Overland Expedition. If they, or any other groups left accounts of their adventures, I'm unaware of them.

Perhaps other members know more.

I remember going east from london with a 'BIT Overland Guide to India', which was a typed and stapled cloth-bound info book with updates on the trail sent back to london by postcard. Think it was still functional in 1978 as after coming back through iran, turkey and syria to jordan it served another traveller going east from there. It had something to do with the westbourne grove/portobello IT/Release era.

[facthailand]

10 year Indian tourist or business visa for 'Murricans. One bolthole if the doodoo hits the paklom!

[UdeBoCM]

I remember the guys driving cars [usually Mercs] Munich-Tehran. Some of them would buy carpets and take them back to Europe to sell at a good profit... they made their nut coming and going.

I did that in the late seventies on an other continent, crossing three times the Sahara desert with my own Peugeots to sale in Niamey, Ouagadougou, or further south. Great sporty trips, the best being the crossing of the desert, Paris-Dakar rally before time, but at my own pace (anyway you couldn't waste time as gas and water was limited - no midway refiling stations!). You had to go a minimum of two cars, one carrying a 200 liters barrel on the back seat. Dust everywhere.

As a bookseller, you may have read Richard Neville's book about Charles Sobhraj.

To me the best book about Sobhraj is 1979 "Serpentine" by Thomas Thompson.

I met this very charismatic man in 1976 in Pattaya, of all places, before learning about him years later. Fortunately I did not interest him...

I also knew Eddie 8 fingers, we met every mornings for breakfast at Joe Banana when I lived in Anjuna ...

I first traveled the northern loop in 1973 as a backpacker, I was 19, coming from New Caledonia via Bali of course - Ch.Mai, Chiang Khong>Ban Huey Sai> Luang Prabang with Nounours the Corsican flying an old DC3 (with removable seats strapped to the floor - it was still Vietnam war), dined at the "Mess des officiers" in Vientiane, stayed at the Lido hotel where the breakfast menu had 6 items on the menu including coffee and croissants, and Buddha sticks. Back down to the Malaysia hotel, on to India ... and became a hippie forever.

Picture: Hangdong road in Dec. 76 - one km befrore the Hangdong market

Edited October 9, 2014 by UdeBoCM

[Ulic]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. Enjoyed the read and I am now busy using Google to find out more.

Maybe one day the world will settle down, borders will become passable and adventurers will adventure.

[harrry]

I left England in October 1976 and spent the next 7 months on the road between Europe and Iran doing car deliveries from Munich (if you were there on the route you would have seen the oval shaped Z for zoll plates). My initial trip took 3 weeks to hitch hike to Tehran and who can remember The Plaka in Athens, the Pudding Shop on the Asian side of the Bosporus and the "hotel" Amir Kabir in Tehran. All stops on the old hippie trial. What I witnessed I will never forget -- life turned around for me on those trips after seeing how cheap life was/is regarded once you left the "safety" of Austria and entered the former Yugoslavia and then onward to Turkey. Who remembers the border crossing names? They still haunt me hehehe. After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

Everyone who took a bite of that apple was never the same again and those of us who lived it can only really express what happened to us, to others who shared similar experiences because the stories are often doubted by youngsters. In those 7 months I think I may have slept in a bed perhaps no more than a dozen times. It was never easy and you lived by your wits. I got arrested an thrown out of Syria because one of our fellow travellers mentioned that we intended to spend Christmas on the West Bank - so I had to hitch hike from the border back to England and got one lift with an English truck driver on the 23rd of December and he dropped me at the top of the M3 5 days later. I needed a new passport as the Syrians had dubbed me an "enemy of the Arab nations" and stamped it all over my passport. At the time Syria only had a ceasefire with Israel. You see there are just so many stories to be told.

You say

After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

It got me to thinking other than references to the one serial killer I just realized no one mentioned any one being killed. Does any one have information on that?

I realize that the conditions and the attitudes of the governments were scary in many cases but has any one information on people being killed or thrown into third world country jails for year's?

In a total of about 8 years travelling at the time in Malasia Thailand India Pakistan Iraq (briefly) and Turkey (and Northern Cyprus) I knew4 people who died in vehicle accidents, 10 who died of ilnesses,10 overdoses...some of these may have counted as illnesses and one person posssibly murdered by Sobraj. I think it was a bit safer for accidents and violence then, less busses and slightly slower ones for a start.

[CMHomeboy78]

Nice memories! Fun post - and responses… Istanbul. the pudding shop, Teheran, Amir kabir hotel, Meshad, Herat, Kabul, grandmas 25 cent hamburger fries and a coke - a special treat, Mama's orange bread in Matala Crete, overland through the Khyber Pass, and on to Bangkok & Malaysia Hotel… when Sathorn Tai had canals… I made the trip in 1974… I did a 10 month backpack trip RTW… total cost $1700.

And the oddest tangential memory is this - - my grandparents had mostly died in their 50s, early 60s - I thought that was when people died and wanted to spend some time with my mid 50s parents… and so I returned home. My parents passed on - yes, but 40 years later in their 90s…

And to the poster… I always described my trips back through the years as finding Thailand as comfortable as lsiding into my favorite pair of slippers… took an early retirement and been here a dozen or more years now...

Wasn't "Grandma" the ex-wife of an American consular official in Katmandu who opened a restaurant? I may be thinking of someone else, but I do remember an American woman who had more or less gone native and had a restaurant there.

My memory failed me last night on this one.

The restaurant was Aunt Jane's, and she had been the wife of the director of the Peace Corp in Nepal.

The Hippie scene in Katmandu must have appealed to her, because she certainly became part of it for many years.

As I remember her food was good, but not great. You probably remember how many excellent restaurants there were near Durbar Square and in the Thamel area.

Boris of Katmandu's Yak and Yeti was about the best - if you could afford it. Boris is credited with originating Chicken a la Kiev - Chicken Kiev, which we had one evening at the Rum Doodle, another good place. The Everest Steakhouse, a lot of OK cheap places, and Pie Alley to satisfy the munchies.

Much obliged for your input.

[haybilly]

This topic has really shuffled the cobwebs in the recesses of my memory--memories are coming back--

1974, and my first and worst case of sunburn waking up on the beach in Matala, Crete with a hangover and crawling up into the Roman burial caves to sleep it off; Greece and Turkey coming to the end of a war--crossed over to Izmir and down to sleeping on beaches around Fethiye and Marmaris/Bodrum, places that were not synonymous with mass tourism in those days, one used to pick up with a traveling companion and then separate down the road--one of these turned out to be a previous child actor from the UK who played in a film called Bedknobs and Broomsticks [whatever happened to her?].

The 'Hippy Trail' through Thessaloniki, Istanbul, via Pudding Shop and Blue Mosque and sleeping on hotel rooftops to save cash and meet other like minded kids; through the sh*thole of Dogabaez with people spitting at us long-haired trash, through Mashed to Amir Kabir with it's mountains of tyres surrounding the area; get the Afghan visa and truck through the border trying not to look too interested in the ghoulish 'Smugglers Exhibition' with all the idiots who tried their hand at stashes but failed and were looking at life or Death sentences.

Herat, Khandahar where you were bound to end up smoking something that tested your sanity and your ability to keep your cash concealed--onto Kabul and my first and worst case of Amoebic Dysentery which kept me bed-ridden while my friends 'kept on truckin'' only to wait for me in Peshawar--leaving me to navigate Jalalabad and the wild frontier town of Lhundi Khotal with all it's contraband on offer [homemade Automatic rifles, Pen-pistols and vast amounts of locally grown produce] --boy, was I glad to make it through there and out the other side--despite the awful things done since then in the name of Islam by the Taliban or the Hakari brothers, I still have an unshakeable respect for the inner strength and presence of the Afghan people-- although, having had all my belongings robbed on a later return through Kabul, when Soviet tanks lined the streets and ringed the airport, this faith was tested, diminished a little but never disappeared.

Another thing this thread has reminded me is, didn't everyone out there have cool names--we've mentioned 8-fingered Ed, but there were so many other characters--[spider John springs to mind].

I digress--I remember jumping on a Ford Transit in Peshawar on the road up through Mingoora to Madyan in Swat Valley, to find a single girl traveler already on the back seat--and she had attended the same Technical College in the Midlands that I had recently left--strange serendipitous happenings.

Or the German guy that, no matter which year it was, or which country I was in, Iran, Pakistan, India or Nepal would always appear at some point.

Amritsar, the Sikh stronghold with the then unspoilt Golden Temple, and on up the Ganges to Rishikesh/Hardwar and strange Ashrams run by even stranger Swamis and Saddhus--one in particular pops into focus name of Prakash Barti, in whose Ashram there was not a lot of meditating but a lot of transcending.

Anyway--time puts a stop to this reminiscing--but there were several trips to Nepal, a fairly long 'time-pass' in a house in the fields behind Swayambhu Nath Monkey Temple; these were times when you always had in your bag a couple of watches, a couple of pairs of jeans and maybe other Western trash which could eventually be traded for goods in distant places--for quite horrendous profit--Capitalism reared it's head.

Oh yeah--anyone done the night time drive up from Oezzane through Chef Chaowan up to Ketama--past the Police check points who 'have to' be given a pack of cigarettes, then the Toyota pick-up trucks trying to drive you off the road?? That's a tale for another day--run out of time.

[CMHomeboy78]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. Enjoyed the read and I am now busy using Google to find out more.

Maybe one day the world will settle down, borders will become passable and adventurers will adventure.

Amen, Bro.

[haybilly]

Nice memories! Fun post - and responses Istanbul. the pudding shop, Teheran, Amir kabir hotel, Meshad, Herat, Kabul, grandmas 25 cent hamburger fries and a coke - a special treat, Mama's orange bread in Matala Crete, overland through the Khyber Pass, and on to Bangkok & Malaysia Hotel when Sathorn Tai had canals I made the trip in 1974 I did a 10 month backpack trip RTW total cost $1700.

And the oddest tangential memory is this - - my grandparents had mostly died in their 50s, early 60s - I thought that was when people died and wanted to spend some time with my mid 50s parents and so I returned home. My parents passed on - yes, but 40 years later in their 90s

And to the poster I always described my trips back through the years as finding Thailand as comfortable as lsiding into my favorite pair of slippers took an early retirement and been here a dozen or more years now...

Wasn't "Grandma" the ex-wife of an American consular official in Katmandu who opened a restaurant? I may be thinking of someone else, but I do remember an American woman who had more or less gone native and had a restaurant there.

My memory failed me last night on this one.

The restaurant was Aunt Jane's, and she had been the wife of the director of the Peace Corp in Nepal.

The Hippie scene in Katmandu must have appealed to her, because she certainly became part of it for many years.

As I remember her food was good, but not great. You probably remember how many excellent restaurants there were near Durbar Square and in the Thamel area.

Boris of Katmandu's Yak and Yeti was about the best - if you could afford it. Boris is credited with originating Chicken a la Kiev - Chicken Kiev, which we had one evening at the Rum Doodle, another good place. The Everest Steakhouse, a lot of OK cheap places, and Pie Alley to satisfy the munchies.

Much obliged for your input.

The only difference between my 2 early visits to Kathmandu was that in 1975 drugs were openly being used/abused in all the Pie and Cake and Coffee shops--and I don't just mean Bhang and Nepali Black, a lot stronger stuff was going down in Bongs--and, within 18 months when I was back it was 'cleaned up' and prohibition was in--there was still a vibrant underground scene, or so I was told, but nothing quite as blatant as previously--a good thing,too, it was way too decadent and dangerous for young impressionable Hippies.

[Frank James]

Re Haybilly's Epic Post #129:

I remember so well that same exit station from Iran to Afghanistan, where you were passed through a display hall showing suitcases, shoes, jerrycans, etc. all with false bottoms, along with other drug smuggling failures. Underneath each item was the name of of the busted idiot, and the sentence he received. Thirty years was typical. I kept wondering...this is an EXIT station. Why are they showing us these things now? Well, it was a tune-up for giving you one more hostile look-over and dose of paranoia before they let you out of that Savak-ruled nightmare land.

Don't get me wrong. The Iranian people are the most gracious, refined people you'll ever want to meet, but Iran in the last days of the Shah was a True Police State. The 79 revolution had to be a welcome relief from those monsters.

The entry into Afghanistan was most casual. The officers wore mismatched uniforms from various countries surplus bin. One guy sat at a table picking at his exposed toes as he stamped us all in. Buses were at the ready to haul us all into Herat, which was a true Wild West outpost and fun zone. Afghanistan...clearly the strangest and most exotic land I've seen before or since.

[crusader79]

I just figure we have to be patient and cut them a lot of slack until they get used to being out in the world more.

I'm afraid that's just not going to happen. They Chinese expect the rest of the world to adapt to their way of doing things, because, after all, they are great and proud and their way is the right way. And there's a shit-ton of them too.

In other words, same attitude as the Americans, just 4+ times as many

Disclaimer: I am American and am not really joking. It's the first time in my lifetime that another nation shares that sense of complete cultural self-confidence (with all that means, for good and ill).

Edited October 10, 2014 by crusader79

[nealthewheel]

After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

It got me to thinking other than references to the one serial killer I just realized no one mentioned any one being killed. Does any one have information on that?

I realize that the conditions and the attitudes of the governments were scary in many cases but has any one information on people being killed or thrown into third world country jails for year's?

I remember every scene or accident or story about the dead people who didn't make the trip or just got in the way of traffic. The traffic situation once you left Austria at Graz became a nightmare - cars and trucks overtaking each other at breakneck speeds and the reminders of the unsuccessful attempts were littered by the roadside and left there less the bodies. From Maribor to Isfahan there were no wrecking/recovery vehicles - the wrecks were just pushed to the side of the road and left like steel skeletons and in the case of TIR trucks often looted! Once you got passed Ankara the roads were horrendously perilous often just vanishing without warning and in the winter snow was also a problem.

My worst experience was on the road from Bolu to Ankara at night and we were in a convoy of 4 UK trucks (all windows grilled with steel mesh) - I was in truck 4 and suddenly truck 3 swerved dramatically in front of us and almost went over the side (forget to mention it was a sheer drop off the side of mountain) and as we came along a massive pink mess littered the highway! Rule number one in Turkey --- keep going don't stop! We got to a truck stop in Ankara about 4 in the morning and as we all jumped out we ran to the 3rd driver who was pretty messed up. Trucks number 1 and 2 were there before us and ran over when this guy collapsed - a few beers later and we got the story from him. We told him what we saw as we ran over the mess and he looked at us and said we may have a problem. Typically English hehhe.... WHAT THE F*%@ DID YOU HIT??? He says it was a donkey with a bundle of sticks on its back just stepped out into his path -- phewwww we all went -- then he said there was an old guy sitting in front of the bundle hitting the donkey to go faster but it was too late. Thirty two tonnes at 110kms made a mess I will never forget. We spent the whole day cleaning his truck getting all the entrails and bits of flesh off -- did we think of the old fella -- no we just got on with it -- what could we do? We proceeded to Tehran with the usual stoning by Doghibyetzit near Mt Arrat. Even after giving the kids ciggies they still kept up the assault hehe. Little buggers. It took nearly 6 days to cross Turkey in those trucks as we were not allowed on the Military roads. That was my first trip of many and they all had similar incidents but luckily I only happened by after the fact. times!

And know all we worry about are our visa runs -- hehehehe

Edited October 10, 2014 by nealthewheel

[haybilly]

So true, what a great memory, though-I mean as a nasty but amazing memento, and what a great ability to recall the details.

You brought back more for me.

I remember stopping, probably foolishly but in this case without incident, to help an old Afghan guy sitting by the roadside with a terrible wound on his arm-ask we had was Iodine so someone poured a load on his arm, something which would have made any of us howl in pain, but this old dude just smiled and gestured a 'thanks,' and on we went.

[harrry]

After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

It got me to thinking other than references to the one serial killer I just realized no one mentioned any one being killed. Does any one have information on that?

I realize that the conditions and the attitudes of the governments were scary in many cases but has any one information on people being killed or thrown into third world country jails for year's?

I remember every scene or accident or story about the dead people who didn't make the trip or just got in the way of traffic. The traffic situation once you left Austria at Graz became a nightmare - cars and trucks overtaking each other at breakneck speeds and the reminders of the unsuccessful attempts were littered by the roadside and left there less the bodies. From Maribor to Isfahan there were no wrecking/recovery vehicles - the wrecks were just pushed to the side of the road and left like steel skeletons and in the case of TIR trucks often looted! Once you got passed Ankara the roads were horrendously perilous often just vanishing without warning and in the winter snow was also a problem.

My worst experience was on the road from Bolu to Ankara at night and we were in a convoy of 4 UK trucks (all windows grilled with steel mesh) - I was in truck 4 and suddenly truck 3 swerved dramatically in front of us and almost went over the side (forget to mention it was a sheer drop off the side of mountain) and as we came along a massive pink mess littered the highway! Rule number one in Turkey --- keep going don't stop! We got to a truck stop in Ankara about 4 in the morning and as we all jumped out we ran to the 3rd driver who was pretty messed up. Trucks number 1 and 2 were there before us and ran over when this guy collapsed - a few beers later and we got the story from him. We told him what we saw as we ran over the mess and he looked at us and said we may have a problem. Typically English hehhe.... WHAT THE F*%@ DID YOU HIT??? He says it was a donkey with a bundle of sticks on its back just stepped out into his path -- phewwww we all went -- then he said there was an old guy sitting in front of the bundle hitting the donkey to go faster but it was too late. Thirty two tonnes at 110kms made a mess I will never forget. We spent the whole day cleaning his truck getting all the entrails and bits of flesh off -- did we think of the old fella -- no we just got on with it -- what could we do? We proceeded to Tehran with the usual stoning by Doghibyetzit near Mt Arrat. Even after giving the kids ciggies they still kept up the assault hehe. Little buggers. It took nearly 6 days to cross Turkey in those trucks as we were not allowed on the Military roads. That was my first trip of many and they all had similar incidents but luckily I only happened by after the fact. times!

And know all we worry about are our visa runs -- hehehehe

My hitting a donkey was a little less dramatic. Was on my heavily overloaded MiniBullet with my 11 year old daughter on the back in Turkey near Sheftali (which has the best peaches I have ever tasted. Came over this rise and down a long straight hill and had a fair speed up when 3 donkey crossed the road. Full brakes and I came to a stop just as I hit the last donkey but could not hold the bike up. The owners came over and I thought I was in for trouble but first thing they checked was my daughter was OK then my bike, then the donkey and last me. Not my prefered area. They actually wanted to pay for the broken light.

[haybilly]

Nealthewheel -- somehow I'd forgotten about the stone throwing, not sure how I could.

What was it about that road and the folks throwing stones at foreign vehicles ?? Someone previously must have pissed them off, I guess.

Edited October 10, 2014 by haybilly

[nealthewheel]

This topic has really shuffled the cobwebs in the recesses of my memory--memories are coming back--

1974, and my first and worst case of sunburn waking up on the beach in Matala, Crete with a hangover and crawling up into the Roman burial caves to sleep it off; Greece and Turkey coming to the end of a war--crossed over to Izmir and down to sleeping on beaches around Fethiye and Marmaris/Bodrum, places that were not synonymous with mass tourism in those days, one used to pick up with a traveling companion and then separate down the road--one of these turned out to be a previous child actor from the UK who played in a film called Bedknobs and Broomsticks [whatever happened to her?].

The 'Hippy Trail' through Thessaloniki, Istanbul, via Pudding Shop and Blue Mosque and sleeping on hotel rooftops to save cash and meet other like minded kids; through the sh*thole of Dogabaez with people spitting at us long-haired trash, through Mashed to Amir Kabir with it's mountains of tyres surrounding the area; get the Afghan visa and truck through the border trying not to look too interested in the ghoulish 'Smugglers Exhibition' with all the idiots who tried their hand at stashes but failed and were looking at life or Death sentences.

Herat, Khandahar where you were bound to end up smoking something that tested your sanity and your ability to keep your cash concealed--onto Kabul and my first and worst case of Amoebic Dysentery which kept me bed-ridden while my friends 'kept on truckin'' only to wait for me in Peshawar--leaving me to navigate Jalalabad and the wild frontier town of Lhundi Khotal with all it's contraband on offer [homemade Automatic rifles, Pen-pistols and vast amounts of locally grown produce] --boy, was I glad to make it through there and out the other side--despite the awful things done since then in the name of Islam by the Taliban or the Hakari brothers, I still have an unshakeable respect for the inner strength and presence of the Afghan people-- although, having had all my belongings robbed on a later return through Kabul, when Soviet tanks lined the streets and ringed the airport, this faith was tested, diminished a little but never disappeared.

Another thing this thread has reminded me is, didn't everyone out there have cool names--we've mentioned 8-fingered Ed, but there were so many other characters--[spider John springs to mind].

I digress--I remember jumping on a Ford Transit in Peshawar on the road up through Mingoora to Madyan in Swat Valley, to find a single girl traveler already on the back seat--and she had attended the same Technical College in the Midlands that I had recently left--strange serendipitous happenings.

Or the German guy that, no matter which year it was, or which country I was in, Iran, Pakistan, India or Nepal would always appear at some point.

Amritsar, the Sikh stronghold with the then unspoilt Golden Temple, and on up the Ganges to Rishikesh/Hardwar and strange Ashrams run by even stranger Swamis and Saddhus--one in particular pops into focus name of Prakash Barti, in whose Ashram there was not a lot of meditating but a lot of transcending.

Anyway--time puts a stop to this reminiscing--but there were several trips to Nepal, a fairly long 'time-pass' in a house in the fields behind Swayambhu Nath Monkey Temple; these were times when you always had in your bag a couple of watches, a couple of pairs of jeans and maybe other Western trash which could eventually be traded for goods in distant places--for quite horrendous profit--Capitalism reared it's head.

Oh yeah--anyone done the night time drive up from Oezzane through Chef Chaowan up to Ketama--past the Police check points who 'have to' be given a pack of cigarettes, then the Toyota pick-up trucks trying to drive you off the road?? That's a tale for another day--run out of time.

Great post -- I spent the best times on Crete in Malia and on the north coast May '82 to August '83. We slept on a Taverna roof 100 yards from the idyllic Mallia beach, we showers in the open showers in one of the luxury hotels, walked around in shorts and sandals and went to pick bananas, stones or potatoes. I was lucky I had a regular job fixing rebar steel (my trade at the time) and earning 1200 Draks a day and that was "paradise" hehhe. We had characters too - Big Bad Baldy John who looked the part but couldn't work anymore than 10 minutes so he lost all respect and got a job as "Pirate" outside the disco called the Buccaneer or some stupid name, One-finger John who had a bad finger going bad on him (he had to go home for treatment), Piss-head Robbie from South Africa who was one the funniest guys I ever met. And our usual crew of "septic-tanks" we labelled them as they were covered in sores or had rotten feet and were hooked on the 8 drachma raki but never had the 1000 drach ferry ride from Iraklion back to Piraeus) -- sorry bunch they were. There was "toothless Graz" (he came from Graz in Austria) who lost his teeth when drunk one night and about 6 weeks later a set of knashers washed up on the beach and as we presented them to him he just popped them in and said -- "Deees are not mine!" But he kept them! ahahaha

Was sat at Castros bar where he had the stuffed vulture behind the bar supping Amstel draft when 6 Suzuki 4X4s pulled up and out jumped "18-30 Club" - That was when I knew paradise was lost. And in a way that was where my "Hippie Trail" ended too. My last adventure was the ferry from Iraklio to Haifa and my "wealthy" brother flew us home from Israel. Slept on the open deck and got hammered in Cyprus and just made it back to the boat. I shake my head in disbelief now and look at the old passports I kept and it all comes back!!

Haybilly = about the stone throwing = it had to do with accidents (or so I was told) where some of the locals had been killed - so to try and appease them cigarettes were the currency you would quickly fling out the window - not in packs but singly so the kids would have to scramble longer for them! I remember once stopping on the top of the Turkish plateau surrounded by a flat landscape without a building in sight and with 2 minutes a little Turkish kid popped up with 2 cokes for sale! There were only sheep in the fields and he came out of nowhere.

Edited October 10, 2014 by nealthewheel

[Emster23]

Here's a link to CI show about Charles Sobhraj. Interpol investigates did a good one, if you can find it. http://youtu.be/NrTTiZz5kVU

[Cats4ever]

I went to Chiang Mai because it was somewhere else in Thailand that I heard a bit about, and I wanted to spend more time in Thailand. That was 1972 and before the flight to Burma and ever onwards. SE asia in general was the best part of the old trail. India, you love it or don't care for it. Nepal was great. Pakistan O.K. Afghanistan (Kabul) very good. Never got much of a buzz out of Iran. Like most travel, if you meet good people, you can have a good time almost anywhere. It was a real eye opener for me.

[CMHomeboy78]

Nealthewheel -- somehow I'd forgotten about the stone throwing, not sure how I could.

What was it about that road and the folks throwing stones at foreign vehicles ?? Someone previously must have pissed them off, I guess.

I don't think that anyone who did the Hippie Trail would dispute the fact that Eastern Turkey at that time was the worst and most dangerous part of the trip.

The stone throwing we never encountered anywhere else. It was especially dangerous for us because we were on a motorbike.

Just a few weeks before we passed through, a German trucker on the Munich-Tehran run had pulled into a small town and was surrounded by a crowd of curious locals [remember how they did that?]. He backed up a little bit and crushed a small child to death accidentally. The enraged mob pulled him out of his cab and beheaded him on the spot.

It was the kind of place you tried to put behind you as quickly as possible. It was a witches brew of ignorance, poverty, and xenophobia.

[haybilly]

You hitthe nail on the head.

[CMHomeboy78]

Here's a link to CI show about Charles Sobhraj. Interpol investigates did a good one, if you can find it. http://youtu.be/NrTTiZz5kVU

I was unable to make the link at first, but once I did I found something worth keeping as a reference.

It is all the more valuable because, with the exception of Richard Neville's book, almost everything written about Charles Sobhraj is sensational or inaccurate.

Many thanks.

[northernjohn]

I just figure we have to be patient and cut them a lot of slack until they get used to being out in the world more.

I'm afraid that's just not going to happen. They Chinese expect the rest of the world to adapt to their way of doing things, because, after all, they are great and proud and their way is the right way. And there's a shit-ton of them too.

In other words, same attitude as the Americans, just 4+ times as many

Disclaimer: I am American and am not really joking. It's the first time in my lifetime that another nation shares that sense of complete cultural self-confidence (with all that means, for good and ill).

Not sure what qualifies as the nation.

But the government has put out a book giving instructions on how to conduct ones self in foreign countries. They recognize that in China behavior is not acceptable in all other countries.

[northernjohn]

After those 7 months of travelling over 100,000 KMs overland I felt very lucky to get out alive - melodramatic no - it was a fact. The hippie trial was a perilous place compared to our Western standards.

It got me to thinking other than references to the one serial killer I just realized no one mentioned any one being killed. Does any one have information on that?

I realize that the conditions and the attitudes of the governments were scary in many cases but has any one information on people being killed or thrown into third world country jails for year's?

I remember every scene or accident or story about the dead people who didn't make the trip or just got in the way of traffic. The traffic situation once you left Austria at Graz became a nightmare - cars and trucks overtaking each other at breakneck speeds and the reminders of the unsuccessful attempts were littered by the roadside and left there less the bodies. From Maribor to Isfahan there were no wrecking/recovery vehicles - the wrecks were just pushed to the side of the road and left like steel skeletons and in the case of TIR trucks often looted! Once you got passed Ankara the roads were horrendously perilous often just vanishing without warning and in the winter snow was also a problem.

My worst experience was on the road from Bolu to Ankara at night and we were in a convoy of 4 UK trucks (all windows grilled with steel mesh) - I was in truck 4 and suddenly truck 3 swerved dramatically in front of us and almost went over the side (forget to mention it was a sheer drop off the side of mountain) and as we came along a massive pink mess littered the highway! Rule number one in Turkey --- keep going don't stop! We got to a truck stop in Ankara about 4 in the morning and as we all jumped out we ran to the 3rd driver who was pretty messed up. Trucks number 1 and 2 were there before us and ran over when this guy collapsed - a few beers later and we got the story from him. We told him what we saw as we ran over the mess and he looked at us and said we may have a problem. Typically English hehhe.... WHAT THE F*%@ DID YOU HIT??? He says it was a donkey with a bundle of sticks on its back just stepped out into his path -- phewwww we all went -- then he said there was an old guy sitting in front of the bundle hitting the donkey to go faster but it was too late. Thirty two tonnes at 110kms made a mess I will never forget. We spent the whole day cleaning his truck getting all the entrails and bits of flesh off -- did we think of the old fella -- no we just got on with it -- what could we do? We proceeded to Tehran with the usual stoning by Doghibyetzit near Mt Arrat. Even after giving the kids ciggies they still kept up the assault hehe. Little buggers. It took nearly 6 days to cross Turkey in those trucks as we were not allowed on the Military roads. That was my first trip of many and they all had similar incidents but luckily I only happened by after the fact. times!

And know all we worry about are our visa runs -- hehehehe

Thanks for a look at the road conditions and attitude of the people.

[louse1953]

I was in Kat in 76 also,maybe we shared a doobie or 2.As you said,from Oz to London was a life changing experience,for the better.After subsequent trips of varying lengths and then going back to the home pub and looking at the blank faces,they never got it.I am still at it,but my base is Thailand now,not so far to travel.Just done a nostalgia trip and trek to Nepal.Wow Kat has changed for the worse,but Pokhara still has its charms,though changing quickly.The trek was bloody hard,but nobody died of walking slow.The one constant was the Nepalese people,still warm,generous and good fun.Will be going back for sure.

[louse1953]

The 1978 Iranian Revolution, followed by the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan ended the magical mystery tour suddenly and violently.

It was quite a trip while it lasted.

Combined with the emergence of more affordable long distance flights and tourism, I think that was about the time it just shifted to flying into major regional centers like Bangkok and then schlepping it from there across SE Asia, sometimes also including Nepal, Hong Kong, etc. Or as part of an 'Around the World' ticket that airlines did back then.

With "The Book", of course.

(EDIT: Ah.. that turned out to be a BIG image.. but perhaps apt, given how monumental it was in shaping travel in the region. So I'll leave it. )

My 1st ticket os was Darwin/Bali in 76 one way,for $A400.Just bought an online ticket,Bangkok/Adelaide/Bangkok for $A500.

[harrry]

The 1978 Iranian Revolution, followed by the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan ended the magical mystery tour suddenly and violently.

It was quite a trip while it lasted.

Combined with the emergence of more affordable long distance flights and tourism, I think that was about the time it just shifted to flying into major regional centers like Bangkok and then schlepping it from there across SE Asia, sometimes also including Nepal, Hong Kong, etc. Or as part of an 'Around the World' ticket that airlines did back then.

With "The Book", of course.

(EDIT: Ah.. that turned out to be a BIG image.. but perhaps apt, given how monumental it was in shaping travel in the region. So I'll leave it. )

My 1st ticket os was Darwin/Bali in 76 one way,for $A400.Just bought an online ticket,Bangkok/Adelaide/Bangkok for $A500.

You could just do Perth Singapore one way for round $250 between 1970 and 1975 if you watched the seasons. I prefered to pay round $300 and have six days on the boat leaving Australia Going back the fare from Bangkok could be got a bit cheaper by shopping round so I usually went back for round $200 as I always had to get back quickly to earn money to start again.

Edited October 10, 2014 by harrry

[louse1953]

I always find your posts on the history of the areas so interesting, but this one is outstanding, and not what I was expecting when I clicked on it. I hadn't heard of these characters that you're talking about and it would appear that I'm going to have a very interesting couple of days reading all about it.

A lot of people who are between 10 and 15 years older than us tell magnificent tales of doing that journey, such a shame it's not still accessible. Even some people around my age who rode bikes from Europe when we were slaving away to ensure we would retire early - it wasn't exactly envy that I feel because we wouldn't have retired so early if we'd taken a year or two off to do something like that, but I can only imagine how good it was. One bloke from Cheltenham had rode a big trial bike as far as Cambodia and said the best part of the whole trip was going through the Swat Valley in Pakistan, which at the time was an off-limits war zone that would be another place off the hippy trail map. Another friend our age went to Jordan and Syria, somewhere which must be fascinating being in the cradle of humanity where civilisations in our part of the world first formed into towns and cities. It's such a shame that we'll never be able to go there. Seven years ago, when we first started travelling, we had very loose plans to work our way overland to England, through India and the middle east, only going to safe places, nowhere dangerous, but we never quite got around to doing it and flew there from KL in the end. Perhaps we're just not cut out to be so adventurous as others, but we enjoy everywhere we go to and don't have real regrets about missing out on it. It would have been nice, but what we ended up doing instead wasn't so bad either. I'm going to start surfing the web and looking for the people you have been talking about. I didn't know Chiang Mai was on the hippy trail, I think maybe I was born in the wrong generation.

The thing that stuck out most in your post however was when you said "It felt like coming home; in ways that I don't fully understand even to this day." We came to Chiang Mai for a couple of months. Five years ago. And I'm about to negotiate a 30 year lease. There really is something about this place, and the odd-ball people that tend to end up being longtimers here, that makes it the most extraordinarily remarkable city that we've ever been to, and we've seen plenty of them. It doesn't even feel like a city. It's a small town, bigger than a village, but definitely not a city. And we seemed to be coming home when we got here.

I arrived in Bangers in 76 doing the grand tour.The Yanks had just been kicked out,and there was a dearth of men.Grace Hotel was a crazy place,women would rip yer bloody arms off,to take them home.The girls,not your arms.Patpong was that desperate they had free beer from 6-8.Then all your new mates would go out the back,quick change and party time.Mississippi Queen was our fav.The grog was getting me down,so went up to CM for a break.When i got back,all the girls thought i went for a break because i had the jack!I also stayed at Malaysia Hotel,but never saw Charles,not that i would know him.They got used to serving breaky at 4pm.and lots of coffee around the pool.

[Frank James]

So true, what a great memory, though-I mean as a nasty but amazing memento, and what a great ability to recall the details.

You brought back more for me.

I remember stopping, probably foolishly but in this case without incident, to help an old Afghan guy sitting by the roadside with a terrible wound on his arm-ask we had was Iodine so someone poured a load on his arm, something which would have made any of us howl in pain, but this old dude just smiled and gestured a 'thanks,' and on we went.

Those Afghanis are some of the proudest, toughest sumbitches on this planet. They rank in toughness right next to the Gurkhas. They have repelled every force ever run against them since Al the "great", and probably long before he rolled up. Why the US didn't learn from at least the British and Russian fiascoes there...it is beyond thinking about. What a mess we have made there, and for what?