Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India

During the '60s and '70s, thousands of informal western travelers ran along the hippie trail, the way that, starting from Istambul, brought people through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the freak 'enclaves' of Goa or Kathmandu. Often that long travel was made by the magic bus, an alternative bus line which started from Istanbul (and later from London, Amsterdam and Athens.)

Now, forty years later, author Rory Mac Lean in his book Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istambul to India revisits the trail, encountering hippie veterans who never came back home and locals taken amidst the goods and bads of westernization.

Unfortunately, due to "wars for democracy" and Islamic fundamentalism, that fascinating, legendary trail is nowadays just a far memory...