Kathmandu is best known in the west as
the last stop on the fabled “Hippie Trail” of the 1960s and 70s, which saw
thousands of young people hop the Magic Bus to Asia. Imagine a world where
you could jump on a bus in London or Amsterdam and get off a few weeks later in Nepal, crossing Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and India on the way.
Now, imagine that meeting of cultures, when those hordes of young round-eyed palefaces in floral tunics and granny glasses
showed up in Nepal, at that time an isolated and backward country which had been
closed to foreigners until 1951. The hippies came in search of exoticism, spiritual adventure
and cannabis, three things Kathmandu had in excess. Nepalis supplied eastern wisdom and their
acclaimed hashish, then quite legal in Nepal, and the hippies supplied foreign
currency and recipes for brownies and
fettucine alfredo, planting the seeds for what is now one of Asia’s best
tourism industries. Until recently,
Kathmandu was the only place in Southwest Asia where you could find a truly
good baguette or a proper strudel...
From Chapter Two of Alice of Nepal. Read Chapter One here. Donate at least $10 to Alice's travel fund and get every episode delivered to your mailbox.
