London - Goa Hippy Trail Route - does anyone know where it went?

psfb

Just wondering if anyone knows the route (or routes) that the overland hippies took to get from London to Goa back in the 60's and 70's. Any other info such as when it first started would be interesting as well.

Don't worry I'm not writing a book, just interested as I've done a lot of overland travel (but not back then).

Cyberhippy?

puppydogben

Wasn't the iconic place to stop Baghdad Cafe?

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steven_ber

Upmarket, I think a Chelsea Tractor is now a minimum requirement.

(sorry, couldn't resist.)

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Train information.

psfb

OL I'm LOL at both replies so far

I'm guessing that a "Chelsea Tractor" is the UK equivalent of the Aussie Toorak Tractor aka Range Rover.

Digital Drifter

here's a link you might find someone willing to talk to about it apart from here

http://bc.tech.coop/blog/070203.html

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steven_ber

Yes, but if you check the following link for a bus from UK to Aus, I think the Range Rover would need to be sold to pay for the fare.

Oz-Bus.com

iwanttogoback

3750 pound sterling....

flashpackers i think.

psfb

Sounds like it - 600 sterling would have done it in the old days.

Thanks for that link though Stephen - it does show that it is possible to do London to India overland - I wasn't sure what the situation was like with Iran, and my geography must be a bit hazy as I thought that any trip would have had to go through Afghanistan - but obviously not.

I'm guessing these hippy trips started in the 1960's?

Nick-H

I was going to say, "Goa, I suppose" --- But Steven's response was witty, where-as mine would have been only half-witty!

£600 in the sixties, before the inflation of the 1970s, would be worth what now: more like six thousand pounds? My first office job in about 1972 paid £1,000 a year.

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steven_ber

Also have a look at the Man In Seat 61 website, at the bottom of that link he describes how to get from London to India via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.

Another route by train would be to Moscow, down through the Stans to Almaty, then a train to Urumqi in China, then a train to Kashgar, then buses through the Karakoram Highway in to Pakistan.

Or Moscow, Trans-Mongolian train to China, then trains to either Urumqi (then as above), or to Lhasa, then bus to Kathmandu and so on.

The Seat 61 website has great info for most of the above, and I have most of the info needed for the China trains.

And you thought you'd just hop on a bus to Goa.

psfb

Thanks Stephen. In the 60's was the hippy route also Turkey - Iran - Pakistan - Delhi?

LOL - no I'm not quite that young Had an interesting conversation with a friend on the weekend who thought that Geckos or Intrepid was the only way to see many countries. I'm not sure that I convinced her that there was a better way to see India though.

mikewill

When I went in September 1976 we were following a fairly well worn trail.

Actually, having driven on a bike as far as NE Greece in the spring we flew to Istanbul, but most people either drove down thru' Europe then either thru Yugoslavia (as it was then) or Bulgaria and Greece into Thrace (Turkey west of Istanbul).

Then Istanbul - Ankara - Erzurum or Van - Turkey/Iran border - Tabriz - Teheran - Mashhad - Iran/Afghanistan border - Herat - Kandahar - Kabul - Afghan/Pakistan border and Khyber Pass - Peshawar - Lahore - Pakistan/India border - Amritsar - Delhi.

I took a diversion down to Adana near the Syrian border in Turkey. It was also possible to go from Teheran to Esfahan then on to Zahedan and cross the desert to Quetta in Pakistan (thus missing one of the most memorable bits of the trip. Similarly you could go from Herat to Kabul via Mazar-i-sharif in the north, which required a special permit and was done in small 4 wheel drive trucks.

As far as getting to Goa was concerned, of course there was no train then,so it was a choice between pretty awful buses or the boat from Bombay. Wish I'd taken the boat both ways!

In 1976, Kashmir was still a main destination, but unfortunately it was getting cold in November and we decided to head south and come back to Kashmir later. I'm still waiting!

Recently, while in Flores, Eastern Indonesia, I met a youngish Czech or Slovak (sorry) chap who had cycled all the way, starting in Prague and going through Afghanistan. He went straight through the middle, staying either in a tent or in people's homes. When he got to Kabul, the Pakistan consulate wouldn't give him a visa, so he sent his passport home, his Dad took it to Vienna (!) and got a visa and sent it back to Kabul. He then went via Tibet to avoid Myanmar and down through the Thai / Malaysian peninsula before crossing to Indonesia. Absolutely amazing experience and proving that it should still be possible to do the route overland if sufficiently determined (and fearless).

Mike

Shiver me Timbers

Many members here did the trip.....Alan D, -m2-, Bijapuri, Wanderer22, WonderwomanUSA, SeventiesHippy......

I did the trip in 2005, I went through the Balkans - Turkey - Iran - Pakistan - India.....lots of people still doing it these days, and like Steven says, many people are also coming through Central Asia, which wasn't possible back in the Soviet days.....

Maz

There is a book called 'On the hippy trail, from Istanbul to India that I bought recently, not sure of the Author. You should take a look at that. Havent done the overland trip myself but would love to.

seventies'hippy

I did this trip (both ways) many times in the 70's, though it started in the late 60's.
Main gathering point before hitting Asia was Istanbul, and perhaps The Pudding Shop to be precise. After that you just hopped skipped & tripped all the way through to Delhi & beyond following the route mike outlined above.
Sorry you missed out on the overnight ferry frombombay mike, it was pretty special, Oh how I now wish I'd had a camera,,,,,,

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