Magic bus: on the hippie trail from Istanbul to India

Rory MacLean

Penguin Books, Jul 5, 2007 - Political Science - 286 pages

In the 1960s hundreds of thousands of young Westerners, inspired by Kerouac and the Beatles, blazed the 'hippie trail' overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu in search of enlightenment and a bit of cheap dope.

Since the Summer of Love, the countries that offered so much to these dreamers have confronted the full force of modernity and transformed from worlds of Western fantasy to political minefields.

Through a landscape of breathtaking beauty Rory MacLean retraces the path of the once well-worn 'hippie trail' from Turkey to Iran, Afghanistan to Pakistan, India to Nepal, meeting trail veterans and locals on his way, and relives wide-eyed adventures as he witnesses a world of extraordinary and terrifying transformation.

What people are saying

Review: Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India

User Review  - Amy Eighttrack - Goodreads

Well, okay. I was a little disappointed. Truth be told, I was looking for stories of drug-taking and depravity. It did lead me to further research into the hippie phenomenon, in other books. The ...

Review: Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India

User Review  - Malcolm Pinch - Goodreads

Groovy. Good travel writing and mercifully lacking any hippie stereotype jokes.

Contents

• Section 1: 1
• Section 2: 5
• Section 3: 8

About the author

Rory MacLean is the author of six highly acclaimed and award-winning books. He is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and lives in Dorset with his wife and son.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Magic bus: on the hippie trail from Istanbul to India
• Author: Rory MacLean
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Penguin Books, 2007
• ISBN: 0141015950, 9780141015958
• Length: 286 pages
• Subjects: Asia; Asia, Central; India; Middle East; Political Science / General; Travel / Asia / Central; Travel / Asia / India; Travel / Essays & Travelogues; Travel / Middle East / General