Hi, from a New Member

Hi Guys,
Pleased to have found this site and am posting my first post.
Better start with a "Potted History".
I first went to India in 1970 overland, it was a 3 month trip but I was hooked, spent the next 10yrs going back & forth there following the now well worn seasonal routes between Manali, Pushkar & Goa, culminating in a 3 yr stay from 76 till 79, then things started to get heavy, both in my head and with the lifestyle & people I was living with.
I ended up back in the UK, with a head full of trips, and too long a story to go into all at once here,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Present day, happily married for twenty years etc etc.
Five years ago I went back to Goa, first time for 20 yrs, Big changes ha ha,,,,,,,, but have still been again several times since,
Anyway I'm now ready to go back to some of the places I fell in love with all those years ago, and also show my wife some of whats been up untill now just my stories.
We're planning on Rajasthan for starters early January, thus whilst searhing the internet found Mikes site.
It's the Best, lurked awhile, but hey, It's to good not to join in.
Thanks for reading

Welcome to indiamike.com

Are you from Louth?

Beautiful town.

Welcome to Indiamike!

You are at last caught in the right trap

Welcome.

Do you think your life is better now or then ( the 70's) ?

Looking forward to all the insights from you.

Thanks for the welcomes,,,,,,,,,,

steven, Oh I know Louth quite well, I live just 15mins nth of there.
A very nice market town it is too, the wednesday street market is worth a look, best veg in lincolnshire.

beach, oh yes, they'll be no trying to escape from this trap now/

sudheer, I feel that my life is richer now, if only from the experiences I had then. Being 0nly 19 when I first visited India I guess I was still impressionable, but like all experiences in life they help to form the person you are today.
It's a long and winding road,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Welcome 70sHippy to IndiaMike.com. We certainly need some experienced India hands.
I have highest regard for 70s hippies (especially those who come to India), not just from UK but also from US (California, especially) and around the world.
I envy the freedom they enjoyed, their anti-war stance, and their spirit to go out and explore.

As John lennon said....

Imagine all the people, living life in peace...
.....
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one

Exactly my reason to ask him the question above..

Oh mpop where do |I start,,,,,,,,,,,
I guess It's sex drugs & rock n' roll, and that nothing that you ever heard about goa in the 70's was over exagerated.
Second is that I have'nt touched drugs for 20yrs, apart from wine & chocolate anyway.
Goa was very different then, drugs were the norm, everyone was stoned 24/7. people just sat around in shacks & chai shops
getting high, Does anyone remember "Babies chai shop" Nth anjuna, thats were the first flea markets started in about 74.
Drugs, hash cakes etc were openly sold. I sold tolas of ganja there ( 12gms) personally brought up from kerela for15Rps, there was never any hassle.
South anjuna beach was were the full moon parties were located,
and to this day there can't be a better setting. free acid was passed around like smarties.
Does anyone remember "The Big Dipper Band" fronted by Gil, the guys still around. for ravers checkout goagil.com .
Later on the parties moved to the "Music House" in chapora.

From anjuna the nearest post office was in calangute which ment quite a hike down from nth to sth anjuna up over the headland behind joe bananas, then down to the baga river, there was'nt a bridge then, if you got your timing right it was only waist deep,otherwise you had to swim a bit. Anyway, once ashore at bagga there was a couple of shacks and a restaurant
but whether you went along the beach or the road there really wasn't anything else, no shacks, sunbeds, or restaurants until you got to the concrete tourist block at calungute steps. A few shops around there but open fields again and local houses before you got to calangute X roads, there was a few guest houses around. but no Hotels.
The only 5* hotel in Goa was the Fort Aguada Resort. But rumour had it that only pop stars & coke dealers ever stayed there.

Last anecdote for now:
Then, if you couldn't fly into goa, most people took the overnight ferry down from bombay, wow did it rock!!!!! especially from beginning of december uptil christmas eve,. It left bombay about 11am and arrived in goa about 9am next morning. Of course it was full of ((travellers) who took over the ship, there was always a few guitars, plenty of hash and good company,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Phew,,,,,,,,, Bom Shanker

Drugs were brought in, ( or at least hash anyway) from afghanistan, and himachall pradesh, pavatti valley,

Drugs is only a word, (whatever you're into,) Until you've been in the fields and actually rubbed the plants and gathered the pollen , like the Bees, and made the hashish, its hard to comprehend that it's not all part of nature.,,,,,,,,,,,

We were just exploing in those days, Kulu/manali, pushkar/rajasthan & goa were the well travelled routes, Hampi, Kereral, and of course Nepal were popular destinations too.


No, not heard of Cleo Odzer?

Just want to say after the previous postings that the 70's were the 70's, and now we're 2004. Drugs are now a NO NO,
I knew some people who died in the 70's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Welcome Welcome Seventies Hippy
Thanks for your interesting memories of life in India in the seventies sounds pretty cool

As far as drugs are concerned,well life is a journey right and it's all about learning who you are,where you're from,where you want to go,what makes you happy and what doesn't.Who among us hasn't wondered once or twice "what's it all about?"I truly believe that experimentation with drugs gives us an insight into who we really are.Maybe we take too much and go too far but it's about learning and growing up-enjoying massive highs and then suffering extreme lows.Waying up pros and cons and making the right descisions.
Don't get me wrong i'm not a big drug user but i have dabbled a fair bit in my younger days and i feel i know myself better for it.Now a smoke of weed is great for me and feels natural-hey it's a plant right!
I hope i haven't offended anyone,but i feel i can be honest here. I'm not triviallising (sp) drugs atall and know that they can cause great heartache if the wrong people take them or take the wrong drug for them .
Please don't all jump on me and beat me up!

Cat

Hey mpop,
Thanks for your reply.I'm sorry that you've had a bad time,but you've learned from your experience and adjusted your lifestyle to suit you and that's great!
I also have had a crap time with some drugs and likewise learned that these particular drugs were not for me.I looked at it like this:
Cat + Chocolate (Addictive) = Fat Cat
So also
Cat + Addictive Drugs = Messed up Cat
therefore
Cat + Weed(non-addictive) = Happy Cat


It's all about learning to know yourself.I would never touch heroin as i know that it has many risks and being a bit greedy and having an addictive personality i know it would be a bad idea.I like not having to rely on a substance to make me happy,weed is great for me but i can go weeks without and feel fine plus there are many benefits which have been proven in independant studies.
As far as mistakes go,well we all make them we just have to learn from them

Cheers,
Cat

P.s Seventies hippy,sorry your intro has turned into a drug debate-entirely my fault so humble apologies

No problem fat freddy's cat

but I'm afraid It's Chardonnay for me on this sunday afternoon In the UK,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Well that sounds great!Cheers

watch out for weed, it ain't that pretty for some, is all I'm sayin