Hippie Trail

The hippie trail (also the overland) is the name given to the overland journey taken by members of the hippie subculture and others from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s between Europe and South Asia, mainly Pakistan, India and Nepal. The hippie trail was a form of alternative tourism, and one of the key elements was travelling as cheaply as possible, mainly to extend the length of time away from home. The term "hippie" became current from the mid- to late 1960s; "beatnik" was the previous term which had gained currency in the second half of the 1950s.

In every major stop of the hippie trail, there were hotels, restaurants and cafés that catered almost exclusively to Westerners, who networked with each other as they travelled east and west. The hippies tended to spend more time interacting with the local population than traditional sightseeing tourists.

Journeys would typically start from cities in western Europe, often London, Copenhagen, West Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, or Milan. Many from the United States took Icelandic Airlines to Luxembourg. Most journeys passed through Istanbul, where routes divided. The usual northern route passed through Tehran, Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, Peshawar and Lahore on to India, Nepal and Southeast Asia. An alternative route was from Turkey via Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to Iran and Pakistan. All travellers had to cross the Pakistan-India border at Ganda Singh Wala (or later at Wagah). Delhi, Varanasi (then Benares), Goa, Kathmandu, or Bangkok were the usual destinations in the east. Kathmandu still has a road, Jhochhen Tole, nicknamed Freak Street in commemoration of the many thousands of hippies who passed through. Further travel to southern India, Kovalam beach in Trivandrum (Kerala) and some to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), and points east and south to Australia was sometimes also undertaken.

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