A journey in search of freedom, physical and spiritual, a sort of alternative tourism where it was important to move around spending as little as possible to prolong your stay away from home. The history of this route and the most popular routes through Europe and Asia.
The Hippie Route: Will It Come Back One Day?
# The route through Europe and Asia of the hippie generation
The name Hippie Trail“the route of the hippies”, refers to voyage undertaken across Europe and Asia from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s by an entire generation of young people who are part of the hippie counterculture. The word “hippie” was only used in the mid to late sixties, before that we spoke of “beatnik”. The majority of the travelers were Europeans, North Americans, Australians and Japanese.
# In search of freedom, on a physical and spiritual journey
It was a journey in search of freedom, physical and spirituala kind of alternative tourism where it mattered to move spending as little as possible to extend your stay away from home. For this reason the movements were done on board the classic Volkswagen minibusesin low-cost private buses, in mobile homes built by hand, sometimes equipped with services, in hitch-hikingbut there were also trains that ran part of the route. Many were traveling with backpacks on their shoulderslight, without worrying about moneyhotel bookings and travel planning. At each main stop there are hostels, hotels and other meeting places where travelers could exchange ideas and experiences, the most famous being Yener’s Café and The Pudding Shop in Istanbul, Sigi’s on Chicken Street in Kabul or Amir Kabir in Tehran.
# The route from European to Asian cities
The journey usually had as its starting point major cities of Western Europewhich London, Copenhagen, West Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan or Rome, and a route that generally passed through Türkiye, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Once in Istanbul the routes were divided into two:
- the northern route, the busiest one, which touched Tehran, Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, Peshawar and Lahore, to reach India and Nepal;
- the southern routewhich passed from Türkiye through Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.
There was also some continued further, towards southern IndiaKovalam beach in Trivandrum (Kerala) and Sri Lanka, or even as far as Australia. Among the favorite destinations there were Delhi, Varanasi, Goa, Kathmandu and Bangkok, where you could live psychedelic experiences undisturbed.
# The end of the hippie trend in 1979 and a timid rebirth in the 2000s
In the 1979 there closure of the hippie route. It was the one who sanctioned it Ayatollah Kohomeini took power in Iranwho blocked the borders, e the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. The route had become partially viable again since the mid-2000s, but in a more difficult and dangerous way due to the prolongation of wars and tensions in Iraq, Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan. Ozbus made available in September 2007 a short-term service between London and Sydney along the hippie trail, today it is possible to take advantage of some commercial trips between Europe and Asia passing through Nepal and Tibet along the old Silk Road bypassing Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Will the possibility of traveling the original route return in the future?
Continue reading with: Will the LONGER TRAIN TRIP starting from MILAN return?
FABIO MARCOMIN
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