hippie trail

Overland Asia journey

The hippie trail was the overland route traveled by young Westerners from Europe through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and into India or Nepal during the 1960s and 1970s.

Travelers sought spiritual enlightenment, drugs, and adventure on the cheap, often in VW vans or ramshackle buses: She spent six months on the hippie trail before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan closed it down.

The route became largely impassable after 1979.

route

Kathmandu

Nepal's capital city

  • IstanbulTurkish city, formerly Constantinople
  • KabulAfghanistan's capital city
  • GoaCoastal Indian state

overland · Tehran · Peshawar · Varanasi · Bangkok · Delhi · Afghanistan · Nepal · India · Pakistan

counterculture

flower power

Nonviolent resistance ideology

peace movement · LSD · hashish · ashram · guru · spiritual seeking · Timothy Leary · dropping out · alternative lifestyle · consciousness expansion

backpacking

overland journey

Travel across solid ground

rucksack · shoestring · long-haul · gap year · traveler's check · guidebook · Lonely Planet · fellow travelers · crash pad · flophouse

era

1960s

Decade after the fifties

Iranian Revolution · nostalgia · bygone · closed borders · travel memoir · oral history · documentary · reunion

Opposites
travel style and structure

hippie trailpackage tour

Pre-organized trip bundle

luxury cruise · guided tour · all-inclusive resort · escorted tour · business travel

cultural orientation

hippie trailcorporate retreat

Organized company outing

military deployment · diplomatic mission · business trip · Vegas trip · cruise tourism

historical travel modes

hippie trailGrand Tour

Aristocratic educational journey abroad

jet set · package holiday

Family

hippie, trail, hip, hippies, trails, trailed, trailing, trailer, trailers

Familiarity
Top 1,000,000
Profile
Timeless · Rated PG