So today we took a wander along one of Kathmandu’s and Nepal’s most famous streets – Freak Street – now known as Jhhonchen Tole.
We were in search of Cafe Snowman – the only remaining cafe from the ‘glory’ days of Freak Street – when Hendrix himself is said to have sat in the same building enjoying the hash-cafe culture that installed the road as THE place to be at the end of the hippie trail.
The beaches of Goa were the main base for hippies during the winter months, but Kathmandu and the mountains were very much their spiritual home during the summer, with even The Beatles and Cat Stevens paying homage with trips to Nepal – where cannabis has been smoked throughout the ages for both religious and spiritual reasons.
Having found the cafe – Bee and I tucked into some great cake, for around 40p a slice, but long gone are the days where the cake was more of an appetiser, with narcotics the main course.
The Nepali government brought an end to legalised marijuana use in 1973 (along with anything stronger that had also been on offer ) and with it the bohemian infamy of Freak Street disappeared (with some hippies deported into India).
It wasn’t too much longer until the classic overland hippie trail from Europe into Asia also came to an end, when in 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan closed the overland route to western travellers.
Lebanon was in civil war and some areas of India were troublesome.
With air travel becoming more affordable and all the above factors included, Goa (more than ever before) laid claim to being the central base of the hippie scene.
Back in Kathmandu in the present day, we certainly found Freak Street to be tranquil place – as very little was open….
But even with everything open there’s not much there now that would hint to the notoriety of years gone by.
With so many historic temples and palaces nearby it may seem strange to some that our focus was just as much on this little piece of history and having spent some time there it is fair to say that it is certainly no longer a place that would draw (should they still be alive) such international stars as Hendrix and The Beatles.
But it was interesting to wander through such an infamous part of town and experience Snowman’s famous chocolate cake – which many travellers have been enjoying for nearly fifty years.
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