Published: May 21, 2012
Words: 49,291 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781476343075

Short description

christmas eve 1959. geoff and jules hit a low point in calcutta. what to do? they try hitch-hiking across asia on what would later be the hippie trail - with glittering generals, weirdos, wrestlers and mad fundamentalists. they upset the military in darjeeling, are reborn in the ganges, jailed in afghanistan, dodge the savak in teheran, get drunk in Macedonia, wind up in 1960s london and party on.

Extended description

christmas eve, 1959. geoff and jules are at a low point when they meet in the salvation army hostel in calcutta. what to do? they could fly on to london and do some serious partying in the big city, or maybe travel across asia to europe along … along what exactly? they assume there are roads, at least mostly. but could you hitch-hike? or take buses and trains? nobody seemed to know. at the time there were no guide books, nobody had heard of the hippie trail – in fact nobody had heard of hippies - and it all seemed a bit chancy. but travellers could always get around. somehow.
they give it a go. encountering conmen and oddballs, dazzling generals, weirdos, a family of wrestlers and a city full of fundamentalist nutters, they freeze in the himalayas, upset the military-industrialists in darjeeling, wash away their sins in the ganges, get arrested in afghanistan, dodge the shah’s savak in teheran, get rid of lice in istanbul, party till they drop in macedonia, and fetch up in 19.. (Read more) christmas eve, 1959. geoff and jules are at a low point when they meet in the salvation army hostel in calcutta. what to do? they could fly on to london and do some serious partying in the big city, or maybe travel across asia to europe along … along what exactly? they assume there are roads, at least mostly. but could you hitch-hike? or take buses and trains? nobody seemed to know. at the time there were no guide books, nobody had heard of the hippie trail – in fact nobody had heard of hippies - and it all seemed a bit chancy. but travellers could always get around. somehow.
they give it a go. encountering conmen and oddballs, dazzling generals, weirdos, a family of wrestlers and a city full of fundamentalist nutters, they freeze in the himalayas, upset the military-industrialists in darjeeling, wash away their sins in the ganges, get arrested in afghanistan, dodge the shah’s savak in teheran, get rid of lice in istanbul, party till they drop in macedonia, and fetch up in 1960’s london, making their base across the road from the sun in splendour pub in portobello road, where they finally get to some serious partying.
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Tags

heart, australia, new zealand, afghanistan, iran, pakistan, calcutta, greece, turkey, munich, istanbul, ankara, yugoslavia, dalai lama, himalayas, dover, marathon, kandahar, delhi, shah, bosphorus, blue mosque, topkapi, kabul, peshawar, hindu kush, thessaloniki, zagreb, dubrovnik, athens, trekking, split, red light district, agra, tenzing norgay, generals, ddt, taj mahal, riflemen, savak, ganges, amritsar, golden temple, varanasi, nan, khyber pass, adriatic, indian army, mount ararat, taverna, ouzo, teheran, boston marathon, raki, darjeeling, toy train, percy cerutty, portsea beach, chowringhee, siliguri, ghoom, sandakphu, phalut, soviet helicopters, ghats, sarnath, deer park, dharamshala, aurangabad, ellora, ajanta caves, great bodhisattva, sanchi, red fort, indian republic day, uncle bob, general dyer, jamrud fort, jalalabad, badakshani, chaikhana, mazarisharif, inshallah, pushtun, royal afghan mail, hotel de kandahar, morrison knudsen, helmand river, farah, mullahs, persian border, mashad, madrassa, bank melliiran, erzerum, galata bridge, ymca, edible crud man, sancta sophia, dawn parade, retsina, house of simos, plitvice lakes, hauptbahnhof, der krieg, merrie olde englande, notting hill gate, pembridge villas, sun in splendour, portobello road, slade school of art

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Reviews

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Review by: Erl O'Connor on May 28, 2012 :
As a long standing fan of Gerry Virtue's writing, I had high expectations of this book and he delivered in full.

Brings back times of travel before the world learned of the Internet. A true description of the oddities, charms and characters encountered when two lads take off to travel through SE Asia across to Europe without any concrete timetable nor any cash to speak of.

Taking the time to soak up the side streets, meet and spend time with the locals these two provide an original and hilarious view of backpacking in the 60s. Well worth the read.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Mark Virtue on May 27, 2012 :
Excellent and original read! All the backpackers in the world that travel overland - these guys did it first!
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Mark Virtue on May 27, 2012 :
Excellent and original read! All the backpackers in the world that travel overland on the cheap - these guys did it first.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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