rom the mid 1950s to the late 1970s, hundreds of thousands of young adventurers made an easterly pilgrimage in search of enlightenment, excitement and an abundance of hash. leafie spoke to some of the travellers who abandoned conventional dreams of lucrative jobs and wedded bliss in favour of cannabis fueled adventures.
From the mid 1950s to the late 1970s, hundreds of thousands of young adventurers made an easterly pilgrimage in search of enlightenment and excitement. Following an overland route that took in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, before arriving in Kathmandu this pared-back travel experience usually included roadside camping and overnight stays in huts, with plenty of time getting to know the local culture.
Labelled the ‘Hippie Trail’ – or ‘Hashish Trail’ – by the US media, the route took travellers through some of the world’s best cannabis growing regions at a time when President Nixon’s ‘War on Drugs’ was just beginning. This youth rebellion led to dramatic media reports of increased drug smuggling and widespread youth laziness.
Similar to modern hysteria, newspapers were full of unconfirmed news stories of young people “ending up on ‘death row’ along the beaches of Goa”, with right-wing journalists – notoriously – proclaiming that “to get money to buy the hashish, both girls and boys sell themselves [sexually]…”
These sensationalist media reports did nothing to deter the hippies, who already held a deep mistrust of the establishment and its efforts to create a moral panic around drugs. The trekkers often met up and began their Asian travels at a café called the Istanbul Pudding Shop. They’d walk, hitch-hike and drive old Volkswagen vans across the remote countryside to Tehran and Kabul, stopping for months at a time if they fell in love with a certain place.
leafie spoke to some of the travellers who abandoned conventional dreams of lucrative jobs and wedded bliss in favour of a quest for spiritual enlightenment, cultural exploration and plant medicine.
According to Lonely Planet, there were usually an average of 5,000 hippies – from across the globe – in Kabul in the early seventies. Adrian Lipscomb, who visited the city in 1972, recalls a warm welcome to Afghanistan from customs officials. He says, “We stopped for customs formalities while crossing the border from Iran to Afghanistan. As the bus took off again, the customs man ran after us, holding something out in his hand. He was offering a gift of hashish.”
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