Hitchhiking to India in 1962

Based on the diaries of Andrew Macalpine

Two Cambridge students hitchhike to India, before hippies hit the trail. Andrew writes a diary, the comedy. John reads the map, thumbs throughout the night and writes about religions and refugees, which make for tragedy. Russia is the bear to the north. They travel through Yugoslavia, whilst Tito was still in power, and Greece, which was occupied by the Germans in the war and was divided by civil war. In Turkey John records the horrific deportation of Armenians to the Syrian Desert where ISIS is today. In Iran, the recent CIA coup has created real danger for John. In Amritsar, they meet anger over the partition, and in Delhi they have tea with Indira Gandhi. Sikh truck drivers give them lifts and take them to their temple in Bombay. They meet Sunni-Shia issues on the way home.

John returns to India, which he loves; travels through the Balkans and discusses the refugee crisis and the Syrian civil war; and lives the tragedy in Greece.