Chiang Mai and the Hippie Trail

[haybilly]

My father was a Major in the Indian Army with both Pathans [and Jats] and later Ghurkas--you're absolutely right, from what he told me those 2 nationalities could take on anything, and come out on top.

I've still got his Army issue Kukhri--and it's still like a razor--cut myself taking it out of it's sheath once--Oh well, they say you must draw blood!

Edited October 10, 2014 by haybilly

[louse1953]

For those who want to know where it all started Lonely Planet's Across Asia on the Cheap is available for the massive price of 6 cents on Amazon for the Kindle reader.

This had not been written when I started. I met Tony and his wife on their way to Australia in the Youth Hostel on the beach at Mallaca.

Still got mine,good to look back,and relive the memories and the cost of things in those days.

[Konini]

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?

One of the Raj higher up's, and I have a feeling it may even have been Mortimer Durnand (of the imaginary line separating the Raj and Afghanistan) wrote a now infamous cable back to London, advising why the English should cease all attempts to extend the empire further because, and I'm paraphrasing, but I think I'm not far off, 'These uncivilised dogs will never be subjugated'. I know subjugated is the correct word, even if uncivilised isn't, because I had to look up the word in the dictionary, and of course he was reasoning why no further resources should be thrown at trying to conquer Afghanistan as in his opinion all amount of effort was futile. This is one of those sentences that for some reason has always stuck in my mind. I read this eons ago, my last year or so at school, the soviets hadn't been in there long, and it was many, many years before the US were to find out the hard way what our astute colonial chappie knew well over a hundred years ago.

'S funny how some things just stick in your mind and you never forget them, isn't it?

[haybilly]

When you travel through the Khyber Pass it's easy to see why trying to take it would be suicide.

[louse1953]

Ah, the Chinese...Say what you will about them, if they hadn't shown up this year in their numbers, the 2013 - 2014 tourist year (set to fire up again soon) in Thailand would have been an economic disaster. I live in a residence hotel, and occasionally the place fills up with groups of them. It makes the management very happy, and happier still when they get in the bus and leave. I find them rather fascinating to watch, running around in Chiang Mai.

At the much more upscale hotel where I go as a fitness member, I saw a group of Chinese men and their wives/gf's saddling up to go for a ride on five brand new large motorcycles, and one PCX 150 scooter. These had been brought over to the hotel by a rental shop. It was quite obvious that these cats didn't have much mot'rsickle experience, especially the PCX. He was wobbling around and almost dumping the bike before he got out of the driveway. His lady wanted off, but he insisted. They all took off together, as the gate guy stopped traffic for them.

The world has maybe a billion more souls living on it than back in the glorious "hippy daze." Chinese and Koreans are stepping out as the new top dogs as the West declines. What a seismic historical shift...When Tricky Dick Nixon and Dr. Henry K. Strangelove went to China in '72, everybody was wearing a little blue or green suit, packing around and quoting from the Little Red Book. Now look at 'em!

This morning on Loy Kroh I got behind a couple of young Chinese ladies, riding their rented bicycles, looking left while drifting right, yakking away, looking vaguely lost, oblivious to other traffic. Typical. 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'll say this for them---they're always neat and clean. And the girls are so cute in their little hats.

When i was in Pokhara earlier this year,plenty of Chinese there as well,which surprised me.What surprised me even more is that they didn't even know how to ride push bikes,one generation and it's all changed.

[louse1953]

How did the low budget vagabond travel from from Madras/Calcutta/Dhaka to

BKK in the 70/80's, with Burma so restrictive and borders closed to Farang.

Were passenger ships available or was flying the only option?

Ship to Penang on the deck, cargo ships, not passenger.

Burma was not gernerally closed to foreigners but did have a 7 day or 14 day depending on the year visa for fly in passengers only.

Free 1 week stop over,all paid for by duty free Johnny and fags.

[louse1953]

I was checking in for a flight to Bangkok from the US midwest about seven years ago when the airline check-in clerk started laughing. I asked him "what's up?"

He said when he punched up Bangkok on his computer, it automatically triggered a question from the Thai authorities. The question was: "does the traveller look like a hippy?"

I thought it was funny.

Hippies were to be served last in govt offices in Singapore and they had pictures as well,hippies being 4th in line with a red slash through us.Luckily the officials and locals took no notice and were happy to talk to us exotics.Immi was a pain.

[CMHomeboy78]

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.

A minor point, and one you're probably already aware of, but it may be of some interest to others...

The Mississippi Queen was where they shot the big ginmill scenes in The Deerhunter that in the story was in Saigon.

Edited October 10, 2014 by CMHomeboy78

[louse1953]

The Malaysia Hotel? I used to stay there too.

33 bahts a night in 1973 ($1 = 20 bahts)

66 bahts a night in 1976 ($1 = 25 bahts)

Now...?

It is now basically a gay pub. The original owners sold it a few years and the new owners have done it up I heard. Not being gay I have not stayed there lately as I have too many memories of the times I had and the girls that became good friends. I guess it has removed the sign on the swimming pool that said something like no working girls allowed in the pool. The photos on the page you get if you search for it in google bought back a few memories though.

Rates are round 850 on agoda.

Reception was hopeless though,would let the previous nights gf up,without ringing.Caught out on more than one occasion.

[harrry]

The Malaysia Hotel? I used to stay there too.

33 bahts a night in 1973 ($1 = 20 bahts)

66 bahts a night in 1976 ($1 = 25 bahts)

Now...?

It is now basically a gay pub. The original owners sold it a few years and the new owners have done it up I heard. Not being gay I have not stayed there lately as I have too many memories of the times I had and the girls that became good friends. I guess it has removed the sign on the swimming pool that said something like no working girls allowed in the pool. The photos on the page you get if you search for it in google bought back a few memories though.

Rates are round 850 on agoda.

Reception was hopeless though,would let the previous nights gf up,without ringing.Caught out on more than one occasion.

That is the nice thing a about there as long as the person was one that was known not to cause any problems they did not interfere.

The reception was a bit hopeless though. Pretty girls but lesbians. One of the Aussie girls I had met in SIngapore and Malasia and had got to know fairly well as a a friend came to me and asked me what she should do. They had invited her to a party etc and she was straight but was interested in trying as she was away from home and no one knew. I told her what I tell everyone...if it does not harm anyone and does not leave you with a problem do as you feel you want to. A waste though as the girls on the counter were both quite pretty.

[Ulysses G.]

The reception was a bit hopeless though. Pretty girls but lesbians.

And I always thought they did not throw themselves at me because they were "good girls".

[harrry]

The reception was a bit hopeless though. Pretty girls but lesbians.

And I always thought they did not throw themselves at me because they were "good girls".

I never did get a report on whether they succeeded in converting my friend.

[louse1953]

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?

Plenty of Ozzies in the Hilton for trafficing smack,and plenty got away with it.Mr.Nice references Thailand as one of his favourite haunts.This was before Nigerians and Russians even knew Thailand exsisted and the US had Thailand listed as a dangerous country,so they didn't come either.Canadians seemed to have a mind of their own,and come anyway.Scandy's have always come and loved Mekong.

[haybilly]

I was checking in for a flight to Bangkok from the US midwest about seven years ago when the airline check-in clerk started laughing. I asked him "what's up?"

He said when he punched up Bangkok on his computer, it automatically triggered a question from the Thai authorities. The question was: "does the traveller look like a hippy?"

I thought it was funny.

Hippies were to be served last in govt offices in Singapore and they had pictures as well,hippies being 4th in line with a red slash through us.Luckily the officials and locals took no notice and were happy to talk to us exotics.Immi was a pain.

Not that many years ago you could still see signs at the entrance to Pubs in Cornwall, UK.

"No Dogs Or Hippies" ....... in that order!

[haybilly]

A question for those with better memory than myself-who was it who left their musical equipment down at Anjuna for anyone to use? ?

Was it Jeremy Spencer and his Children?

I have vague recollections of something like this.

And, wasn't this the beginning of the infamous Full Moon Party-so tragically in the news currently?

I might be totally wrong here. If so I apologize.

[Johpa]

Going back to books documenting the old gringo trail, we should not forget Cleo Odzer's attempt at gonzo journalism masquerading as an academic piece, the often hilarious "Patpong Sisters". Alas, Ms. Odzer's final chapter was to pay homage to a line in Galatians and she did reap what she had seweth.

[haybilly]

Cleo Odzer was another Goa name.

[Johpa]

Cleo Odzer was another Goa name.

And like many who dead-ended in Goa, the ultimate dead-end scene, she ended up dead.

[northernjohn]

My father was a Major in the Indian Army with both Pathans [and Jats] and later Ghurkas--you're absolutely right, from what he told me those 2 nationalities could take on anything, and come out on top.

I've still got his Army issue Kukhri--and it's still like a razor--cut myself taking it out of it's sheath once--Oh well, they say you must draw blood!

My Father fought in the second world war and told me the Ghurkas were the toughest fighters.

[haybilly]

Cleo Odzer was another Goa name.

And like many who dead-ended in Goa, the ultimate dead-end scene, she ended up dead.

Possibly her mistake was returning in later life. The past is just that-there is no point in trying to go back.

[haybilly]

It's aNational shame that we have treated them rather badly- many of them receive minimal army pensions.

[mikey88]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

[haybilly]

Nelson's Bar- is that still there?

[harrry]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

I stayed at the Fairlawn once. My neighbour banged on the door one day.as his girlfriend had gone rather strange. Turns out she was bipolar though that was not the term used then. Ended up calling a doctor whose name I now forget a rather nice man educated in Glasgow. He came and though she would not talk to her boyfriend sat on my bed next to me naked with drawings all over her talking to my daughter who she trusted. The doctor got them to make a couple of cups of tea one of which held a huge dose of valium. The raj dressed servant bought them to us and I nearly drank the wrong cup. When she passed out he ended up bundling the naked unconcious girl into the back of a taxi to take to hospital.

No one batted an eylid but after all that was India. He said later that it wasn't the girl he was worried about it was that he did not want to start the rather strange owner going crazy.

They had travel insurance so ended up flying first class back to England.

[Ulysses G.]

Going back to books documenting the old gringo trail, we should not forget Cleo Odzer's attempt at gonzo journalism masquerading as an academic piece, the often hilarious "Patpong Sisters". Alas, Ms. Odzer's final chapter was to pay homage to a line in Galatians and she did reap what she had seweth.

I enjoyed "Patpong Sisters" when it first came out, although it might not go over well now. Cleo Odzer was an interesting character.

[CMHomeboy78]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

I stayed at the Fairlawn once. My neighbour banged on the door one day.as his girlfriend had gone rather strange. Turns out she was bipolar though that was not the term used then. Ended up calling a doctor whose name I now forget a rather nice man educated in Glasgow. He came and though she would not talk to her boyfriend sat on my bed next to me naked with drawings all over her talking to my daughter who she trusted. The doctor got them to make a couple of cups of tea one of which held a huge dose of valium. The raj dressed servant bought them to us and I nearly drank the wrong cup. When she passed out he ended up bundling the naked unconcious girl into the back of a taxi to take to hospital.

No one batted an eylid but after all that was India. He said later that it wasn't the girl he was worried about it was that he did not want to start the rather strange owner going crazy.

They had travel insurance so ended up flying first class back to England.

You could live out a lifetime in some rural hometown and not experience what you would on the Hippie Trail in a month.

[nealthewheel]

I stayed at the Fairlawn once. My neighbour banged on the door one day.as his girlfriend had gone rather strange. Turns out she was bipolar though that was not the term used then. Ended up calling a doctor whose name I now forget a rather nice man educated in Glasgow. He came and though she would not talk to her boyfriend sat on my bed next to me naked with drawings all over her talking to my daughter who she trusted. The doctor got them to make a couple of cups of tea one of which held a huge dose of valium. The raj dressed servant bought them to us and I nearly drank the wrong cup. When she passed out he ended up bundling the naked unconcious girl into the back of a taxi to take to hospital.

No one batted an eylid but after all that was India. He said later that it wasn't the girl he was worried about it was that he did not want to start the rather strange owner going crazy.

They had travel insurance so ended up flying first class back to England.

This post brought back a similar memory but it happened to my g/f at the time (who later became my 1st wife). Imagine the summer of 1982 - August - Crete was hot enough but for some strange notion we followed a friend and a rumour of loads of work in Egypt. OOOOPPPs, shouldn't have left paradise . . . but we ended up staying 3 weeks in Egypt and the last 10 days were spent in Alexandria waiting for the only ferry back to Piraeus. My lady took a real bad turn for the worse with culture shock and wouldn't leave the room for a week - just sat or laid on the bed near catatonic and mumbling about the roaches. Nightmare! The only thing that got her back to the real world was a trip to the beach at Agami and a tub load of valium given out by the local pharmacist like sweets. When we left Egypt we had a roasting from immigration because we had converted Egyptian pounds on one passport only so technically they weren't going to let my lady leave unless we converted another load of money. "What money we haven't enough - just let us leave we won't come back promise!" Another lot of Arabic writing chastising me in our passports - yep don't come back it said! Egypt was an experience that I would not recommend for the backpacker.

Greece in the late 70's and early 80's was a big destination point for many Aussies - and the whole Greek islands trip was at that time so laid back and easy if you assimilated with the locals.

[CMHomeboy78]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

No, didn't know them because I missed Goa... regrettably.

Calcutta was beyond description... wasn't the Fairlawn a former residence of an army officer run by an eccentric old English lady who had one of the downstairs rooms full of memorabilia from Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation?

[harrry]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

No, didn't know them because I missed Goa... regrettably.

Calcutta was beyond description... wasn't the Fairlawn a former residence of an army officer run by an eccentric old English lady who had one of the downstairs rooms full of memorabilia from Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation?

Yes, and she was really rather eccentric. A nice place sometimes though for the experience. Beautiful furniture and Raj dressed servants bringing you a pot of freshly made tea to your room and hour or so before breakfast was served.

Edited October 11, 2014 by harrry

[CMHomeboy78]

Yes thanks for the post homeboy...a nice change from all the 'immigration' questions...

Did you know big Dale in Anjuna.....stayed in the big house around from Nelson's bar?

He and I were pals for a while...

And Jill?

We all used to eat at the Rose Gatden when we had money....

Then there was the Fairlawn hotel in Calcutta......

Hmmmmmm

Mike

No, didn't know them because I missed Goa... regrettably.

Calcutta was beyond description... wasn't the Fairlawn a former residence of an army officer run by an eccentric old English lady who had one of the downstairs rooms full of memorabilia from Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation?

Yes, and she was really rather eccentric. A nice place sometimes though for the experience. Beautiful furniture and Raj dressed servants bringing you a pot of freshly made tea to your room and hour or so before breakfast was served.

Thanks for confirming that. I thought so.

I never stayed there, but had breakfast there once. It was like going back in time . I'm sure that was where the old gal would rather have been.