60s to 2004 hows it changed???

camelgirl

I've been away from IM for awhile, in the throes of a horrible move and no laptop for awhile. This thread cheered me up!

I keep hoping to find someone here on IM that I went from London to Delhi, India with an overland bus company called (I think) Transcontinental Oct. - Nov. 1975. Or if someone knows about them. I'd like to know what happened to some of my bus mates, Phillipa from Australia, Dez Smith from Middlesbrough UK, Bruce (red hair) from Australia, Derek from Liverpool. I've been back to India many times over the years but those people shared a really life altering (for me anyway) experience with me and I still think about them.

seventies'hippy

Yes so many people over so many years, Where are they now,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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doofus

Most things have already been covered in many of previous threads about the chnages etc.

I'll just add on ething that had changed.

When I first went to Colva, Goa back in the seventies I stayed in a lovely old Portuguese style house run by a lovely brother and sister combo. I actually visited the house and them back in December a few weeks ago. the house was more or less exactly as I remembered it. Still had the well in the back garden and the old scoop type shower.

One thing that had definitely changed was the 'loo'. In the 'old days' it was a 'pig toilet' but today it had a 'flush' style loo.

Remember the 'pig toilets'. Without wanting to sound too crude-- what stayed up was yours and what dropped down was theirs! grunt grunt grunt!!!

pete

camelgirl

I also stayed in Colva in the 70s & had a posting about the pig toilets!!! It's simply not something you EVER forget!!! We also went back to the house we stayed in 3 years ago and you could still recognize it but the pig toilet was gone and there was now indoor water instead of the local well. We also met the family, but they didn't remember us as they had taken in lots of foreigners over the years. toilet advice

doofus

I wonder if they actually ate those pigs after a while? I'll try and insert a pic of the house I stayed in. It was in exactly the same condition. I asked them if they had had it painted and they told me it was the same as in the seventies.

When I called on them the other week ,when I was there, I did not expect them to remember me. before I was slim, had hair and a beard etc. I look a lot lot different today.

Luckily for me when I stayed in the house there was an incident that happened. Some drug taking german started to howl in the middle of the night and was acting like a wolf. Albert, the owner, came knocking on my door asking me to come and help. Of course, I did. They called the doctor and we held him down whilst a rather large unclean needle with and unknown substance was inserted into his buttocks. it knocked him out for mages and he could not remember a thing when he came round.

When I reminded Albert of that incident , he remembered me at once!! He went and showed the room where he was sure I was in at the time. they invited my wife and I to stay for lunch. It was all so moving really. Like going back in time. Difficult to explain really.

Have tried to insert a pic but unable to do it.

Ikuru

Thoes Bumsniffing pigs are still there actually... Ivé had pigs poking through the palmleaves, sniffing my bottom... waiting for dinner... and I had never been to goa untill the 90s...

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camelgirl

Here's a pic from our return after 25 years. The only visiable difference (beside me being 25 years older )is there didn't used to be anything covering the windows. No glass, just some wooden shutters. In fact, we climbed out that very window on New Years Eve 1975/76 to meet a few friends on the beach. They had the front door bolted and were sleeping in front of it!!

camelgirl

I made that too small, will try again. It's now clearer when you click on it!!! Thanks IM for your patience.

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worldpatrol

1970:

There was a Taj Hotel in the middle of an ocean of sand. in Delhi, that is. i found a $10 bill left for the stuf by the former guest. i opened the door to give it and the servant/worker outside took it, bowed deeply and fixed himself otside my door for the rest of my stay, day and night....

my blond blue eyed son, red cheeks and pale skin, became an attraction. a few rich merchants wanted to buy him and offered an unimaginable sum: $2,000...
his pushchair was examined with amazement and created a fuss everywhere. it, too, became an object of desire and we were offered a very high price for it.

PeakXV

I't's high time for a Hippy story even circa late '70s or '80's. So any lurkers or newbies who have a story to tell about the good old days in India .... come on and share it with us.
At the very least I'll bump this excellent thread to the top for IM'ers to peruse.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

Mangogirl

A friend bought a dvd some years ago called "Last hippie standing". It's about Goa in the 60's and 70's and some clips from 90's. Few foreigners, all of their heads, dancing.........
I think its made by some german guys.

Joph

I remember in 1979 the tea on the train was served in cups of clay, you threw them out of the window after finishing them. Today it is plastic cups.

In 1979 I didnot know much about the climate, and arrived in Mai. Things got dry, and in some circumstances I could not help it finding myself back drinking water from a dirty oil barrel along the road, ofcourse the water went straight through me.

The good thing for me today is, that you can buy on every corner a bottle of clean water. Today getting sick is not any longer a given fact, but merely a reasonable chance.

Joph.

ambika

Wow, believe it or not it was still like that in the 90's. I didn't know what to do the first time i had one and someone was telling me to throw it - until i looked on the floor beside the train and saw hundreds!

Mikki

I miss those clay cups, too although I'm thankful for the bottled water. Something else I miss are the dak bungalows we used to stay in. There were few tourists and those places had their own special atmosphere. Do they still exist???

dragon

This is interesting question. If you do a Google Search for dak bungalow accomodation you get lots of hittings. It seems they are still there, but most tourists would be put off by the thought of getting 'prior government permission'.

You look at bottom:
http://westgarohills.nic.in/tourist.htm

Also:
http://www.indiabeckons.com/fftv/acco.htm
quoting: 'Government Accommodation - Back in the days of the British raj, a whole string of government-run accommodation units were set up with labels like Rest houses, Dak Bungalows, Circuit Houses, PWD (Public Works Department) Bungalows, Forest Rest Houses and so on. Today most of these are reserved for government officials, although in some places they may still be available for tourists, if there is room. In approximate pecking order the Dak Bungalows are the most basic; they often have no electricity, the bare essential equipment and are in out-of-the-way places. Rest Houses are next up and at the top of the tree comes the Circuit houses, which are strictly for travelling VIPs.'

but good bargains are still there:
http://mod.nic.in/samachar/june15-03/html/ch14.htm

quoting: 'The road is excellent throughout—a marvel of engineering. Crossing ranges of low hills, one ascends in the next 30 miles to the hill station of Kud—famous for its springs—6,500 feet above sea-level. Here, if one wishes, the night may be spent at the dak bungalow where the traveller pays only two rupees for accommodation.'

I am going just for this price

Dragon