Nomad Old Farts' Guestbook

Sexism
It is John responding to your blogs. There were few women on the hippie trail. Sylvia wasn't even a twinkle in my eye in those days though we have since had some amazing travels together. Apart from a visit to NZ she had not been out of Oz till we met up. The only place we haven't been is South America and we don't have much interest in going there.

in Istanbul was the place where all travellers arranged to meet. I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it in this blog. There were no Lonely Planet guides or internet so all travel info was passed on by word of mouth when you met up with other travellers. Another one which comes to mind was the "Thai Song Greet" cafe in Bangkok which has, sadly, now been buried under an expressway. I have been back to Turkey several times since 1969 but, in those days, bus travel was one of the most likely ways to be killed so John and I decided to take a boat from Istanbul along the Black Sea coast to Trabzon which was the closest we could get to the Iranian border. It was supposed to stop at several ports along the way so, travelling 3rd class, ie sleeping on deck, we only brought enough food to eat between ports believing we could get more food at each port. We were not alone in that. A hundred or so other passengers had the same idea. The whole trip was to take three days. We got to Zonguldak and restocked with enough to get us to Samsun - 15 hours away. 1st and 2nd class passengers were fed on the boat but 3rd class had to provide there own food so when the shipping line decided to bypass Samsun and it was still another 24 hours to Trabzon, we were all getting rather hungry. We asked the captain if he could provide us with some food to tide us over till the next port but he refused saying it was not company policy to feed 3rd class passengers. There was a lot of grumbling but we were reconciled to being hungry until I noticed that leftover food from the 1st and 2nd class passengers was been thrown overboard. I gathered up a few other 3rd class passengers and we went to visit the captain and demanded he give the uneaten food to the 3rd class passengers rather than throw it away. Faced with what was essentially a mutiny by the passengers (who vastly outnumbered the crew) he relented and leftover uneaten food was sent down to us deck-class passengers.

Afghanistan
I won't make any comment about Kabul except to say I did eat at the Khyber restaurant and for the next 5 days had the most incredible diarrhoea. It was the only time I suffered from it. While on the subject, all the way after Turkey there were only squat toilets but there was always a rumour about a sit-down toilet at a hotel in Kandahar. When John and I arrived there, we made sure we booked in to that hotel and, sure enough, there was a sit-down toilet - which even had a flush! I was stupid enough to look out the window in the "bathroom" and found that the sewage pipe stopped just outside the wall and the back of the hotel was a huge cesspit. Did you notice the large drains on each side of the streets in Herat? In 1969 there was no sewage system so everything went in to those drains. During the night the sluice gates in a nearby dam were opened and the drains were flushed (I don't know where it all went but there was a river outside the town which I suspect was the outlet.) In the morning the now "fresh" water in the drains was gathered and stored in large jars or tubs for washing/drinking/cooking during the day. Needless to say, I made sure everything I ate or drank was well boiled. Even the bottled water was suspect. I don't recall the name of the hotel we stayed in at Herat but I do remember hearing amazing music coming from one of the communal rooms on the floor above us. John and I went to investigate and were invited into this large room where about 20 people were staying for 2 days. They were giving a performance the next day in the town square and were rehearsing their repertoire. It was a great night with lots of joints and bongs going around. We even went to listen to their concert the next day and got invited to share their bus as they were also going to Kandahar. They were the Kandahar police band!

Please come to the USA
We'd love to visit with you and talk travel. Let us know when you are heading our way.

People make the trip
Fabulous markets, ruins, mosques and beaches always capture our eye but the people who we chat with are the ones who make each of these trips extraordinary.

1974 Trip
I’m fascinated by your recollections of this overland trip. Afghanistan and Iran sound an awful lot different to today - no Taliban, and alcohol…. Did you keep a diary at the time or are you writing all this from memory?

Afghanistan
I am really enjoying your adventure. Yes, things have changed a great deal since the 70's. You might enjoy the book, " The Hippie Trail" By Sharif Gemie and Brian Ireland. MJ

Pakistan
What an adventure! Fabulous. I can see you sitting on the roof rack with the luggage. MJ

Kashmir
I don't know if I'll ever see Kashmir but it has been on the bucket list for a long time. I enjoyed this blog. Thanks. MJ