The Hippie Trail, that long land route to India that was a rite of passage for so many western hippies and other young adventurers from the 1950s to 1979.
Simon Sharpe was a young adventurer and travelled the route in the summer of 1974 on a small budget and solo. One year later he sat down to record his extraordinary travels before memory faded. He bring us his descriptive memories of the countries, cheap hotels, the food, the cultural divides, the local people and the western adventurers for whom this was a significant part of their youth experience. Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and on to India, Simon's travelogue is full of anecdotes and sharp observations of the people he met. Simon also includes stories of adventurers from his own family history in India and Afghanistan to create a fascinating refection on his own motives for travelling. He asks the awkward question; to what extent freedom-loving western youth, travelling through those Muslim countries may have inadvertently changed the politics of the region and helped bring in strictly observant Islamic governments?