Hippie trail (also the overland[1]) is the name given to an overland journey taken by members of the hippie subculture and others from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s[2] travelling from Europe and West Asia through South Asia via countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan,[3] India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to Thailand. 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 in the mid-to-late 1960s; "beatnik" was the previous term from the later 1950s.
In every major stop of the hippie trail, there were hotels, restaurants and cafés for Westerners, who networked with each other as they travelled east and west. The hippies tended to interact more with the local population than traditional sightseers did.[1]
The hippie trail largely ended in the late 1970s primarily due to both the Iranian Revolution resulting in an anti-Western government, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, closing the route to Western travelers.[4][5][1][6]
Routes
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.[3] An alternative route was from Turkey via Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to Iran and Pakistan. All travellers had to cross through the Khyber Pass, traversing Peshawar and Lahore in Pakistan[3] and over the Pakistan-India border at Ganda Singh Wala (or later at Wagah).
Common destinations in the east included Delhi, Varanasi (then known as Benares), Goa, Bombay, Madras, Kathmandu and Bangkok. Kathmandu still has a road, Jhochhen Tole, nicknamed Freak Street in commemoration of the many thousands of hippies who passed through.[7] Further travel to southern India, Kovalam beach in Trivandrum (Kerala) and Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) was sometimes also undertaken.
Kathmandu was usually the terminus of the hippie trail, since Tibet was off-limits and overland journey through Burma was not possible, as India was severely restricting travel to Burma due to clashes between insurgents and Indian armed forces, and the Ledo Road crossing to Burma had fallen into disrepair and largely been reclaimed by the jungle. However, one could fly from Kathmandu to Bangkok to continue the journey in Southeast Asia to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia (where Bali was a popular destination for hippies). From Indonesia, there was also the option of crossing to Australia by plane or ship. That led to the trail from Timor to Thailand being classified as Hippie Trail South East Asia Extension, which mainly attracted Australians and New Zealanders traveling the opposite way overland to London.[1] Tony Wheeler's travel guide is written from a POV of reverse hippie trail, traveling from Australia to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, flying from Bangkok to Kathmandu (or Calcutta) and then continuing on to India and eventually to Europe.[8]
Hippie market in Anjuna, Goa, 2011
Freak Street in Kathmandu, 2009
Beyond the major route, Jimi Hendrix also popularized Essaouira as a hippie destination in Morocco.