Freak Street, Kathmandu, Bagmati Nepal

The freak street was the epicenter during the hippy trail from early 1960's to late 70's.During that time the main attraction drawing tourists to Freak Street was the government-run hashish shops. Hippies from different parts of the world traveled to Freak Street (Basantapur) in search of legal Cannabis. Direct bus services to Freak Street were also available from the airport and borders targeting the hippies looking for their legal smokes.Freak Street was a hippie nirvana being that marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in government licensed shops.

The freak street was with the Pig Alley THE MAJOR place during the hippy trail in the late 60ts and the seventies.During this time 3 hashish shops where open there ;-). In 1973 Nepal banned all cannabis products and they had to close.. Picture of hashish shop by Roger McLassus

A young restless population in the west looking to distant itself from the political and social frustration was in first hand love with the fascinating culture, the art and architecture, unique life style of people, attracting hippies to Freak Street.But in early 1970’s the government of Nepal started to round-up of hippies on Freak Street and they were physically deported to India , an action propelled largely by a directive from the government of United States of America.

The government imposed a strict regulation for tourist regarding the dress codes and physical appearances.After imposing such regulations by government the hippies felt vulnerable and the hippie movement of Nepal died out in late 1970's.It was under this directive that the Nepali government came to ban the production and sale of hashish and marijuana in Nepal. The hippie tourism was quickly replaced with the more respected business of trekking and cultural tourism.