In the 1960s hundreds of thousands of young Westerners, inspired by Kerouac & the Beatles, blazed the `hippie trail` overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu in search of enlightenment & 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 & transformed from worlds of Western fantasy to political minefields. Through a landscape of breathtaking beauty, Rory Mac Lean retraces the path of the once well-worn `hippie trail` from Turkey to Iran, Afghanistan to Pakistan, India to Nepal, meeting trail veterans & locals on his way, & relives wide-eyed adventures as he witnesses a world of extraordinary & terrifying transformation.