A closer look
Long before trust-fund kids were taking gap years to find themselves on an ashram, boomers were hitchhiking from London to Kathmandu on a diet of hashish and optimism. The Hippie Trail spawned a booming underground economy, most notably the legendary 'Magic Bus' fleets that offered dirt-cheap overland transit to India. Because discounts were strictly for students, European printing presses went into overdrive churning out fake student ID cards. Entire generations of unwashed travelers suddenly became enrolled in fake universities just to save thirty bucks on a rickety bus ride to Kabul.
