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Johnno’s pic of his ticket to a Moody Blues concert reminded me of a time when I had a long turnaround in Kathmandu. Having been through the Blue Star’s menu a few times, I ventured out into the night to dine elsewhere. Of course I had been many times to KC’s and the rest of the usual suspects, but this time went somewhere new for me: the Yin and Yang Restaurant.
It was in a very old wooden building which must have serves as a warehouse in the past, because it had huge wooden doors (big enough for an elephant pulling a cart) and a high clearance interior. They had built a mezzanine for their diners, so I was ushered upstairs to a table where you sat cross-legged on cushions and had a view over the middle part of the ground floor.
The atmosphere was thick with smoke that had this heavy sweet smell. I simply can’t imagine what it could have been, but after a while and having tucked with relish into my special fried rice, I began to feel quite pleasantly woozy. This mood was matched by the music; they were playing the Moody Blues, but the player or the electricity made it speed up some times and slow down in others – KNIGHTSIN!!! whooiite saaaatiiiiin …
Then, the mood changed; just as in the old west the piano stopped when the heavy moseyed through the swing doors into the bar , so when this German hippie walked into the restaurant, the Moody Blues slowed down to a halt – WHOA –OH –OH I LOVE YOUuuuuuuuuuuuu… Thunk.
The kid was scrawny with blond hair that went straight down almost to his waist, and gave him a wisp of a beard and moustache. He sat himself down in the middle of the ground floor in a meditation pose, and closed his eyes. In contrast, the waiters looked agitated about him, and one of them went up and touched him lightly on the shoulder.
The kid exploded! Eat your heart out Bruce Lee, the Karate Kid et al, suddenly it was on – and not just a brawl, but all the moves from those movies, and then some. OK, they didn’t do the bamboo forest thing from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but they pretty much covered the rest of the agenda. Eventually, about four of these waiters-come-Kung Fu masters managed to subdue the kid, and threw him out. There, he ran into those huge wooden doors and smashed himself against them again and again, trying to smash his way back in.
Later, in my best hippie accent, I asked a waiter, “hey, mannn. What gives with that dude, mannnn?” He explained that the kid had taken too many magic mushrooms at Pokhara, and they had permanently scrambled his brain. “Heavy, mannnnnn” I said, the last “Man” taking even longer to say as I was trying to keep my balance as I stood up.
“Hmm; another thing to warn the punters about at the pre-departure”, thought I, as I wobbled out to the re-started strains of those woozy, moody, blues.
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Hi Mike,
Your Moody Blues experience was far more ethereal than mine but loved your story and very well written. They were in fact great in concert at Wembly and I had been a fan for a long time so was great to see them live. Ravi Shankar at the Royal Albert Hall was almost had a cosmic feel to it. London in those days certainly had a rich tapestry of music that we in Australia were not accustomed to at that time.
I often have a deja vu experience where I will hear a song and that will immediately remind my of a place or travel experience such as JJ Cale's " Call me the Breeze " was the first cassette Kit played as we rolled out of Kathmandu and that seemed to set the tone for the trip. Fleetwood Mac album "Rumours' was on high rotation on the coach and like your " Nights in white Satin" Ying Yang restaurant experience it was suffering by the end of the trip from high temperature and dust diseases producing a multi speed variation distortion effect. That was until it had a " Go your own way " ticket out the window in Germany.
Any party I attended at "Whorebag House" seemed to have the "Saturday Night Fever " soundtrack as it's sole LP and Rattles honed his very finest John Travolta impersonation skills sans the white suit.
There were some girls who I remember singing " We're all going on a Sundowners (summer) holiday' but that became a bit repetitive after the first 60 times.
Not so with " Swing Low Sweet Chariot' sung late into the evening at the Kings Head or the Albany in choral fashion (out of tune) and with accompanying choreography was always a stirring anthem and bought tears to the eye and a lump to the stomach.
I am sure most trips would have had some defining album or music that will stir peoples memories and transport them back in time whenever they are heard today.
Any more musical memories that can be shared?
Johnno
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The only place for "Rumours" was in the small glass cabinet to the right of the driver, applied with some force so as to ensure adequate separation...............for ever :-)
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Hi Johnno,
Thanks for your comments; likewise.
I remember Bob Seger's "Stranger in Town" was a big hit on, I think, B37, an eastbound I did with Tom Sawyer. It was a punter's and he gave it to me at the end of the trip. It was popular on many other overlands after that, including South American ones I did. I reckon I'd still enjoy it if I heard it again; it would certainly evoke some memories, as would "Time Passages" by, I think, Al Stewart? I'm overseas right now, but I'll scrounge around for them when I get back to Oz.
Not to forget Bob Seger's "if I ever get outa here, I'm going to K-K-K-Kathmandu!"
Thanks for the thought; I had almost forgotten about those albums.
Best,
Mike
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Hi Kit
Vicar used to tell me how much he loved your Joan Baez collection?, i can still hear and play often
morrison hotel ,thanks for the intro
Regards
Darcy
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"If music be the food of travellers, play on!" with apologies to the bard. We had music all the way on TK 159 from Kathmandu to London - all of it popular at that time with the exception of one leg of the journey. Gary Peterson, our driver with 12 previous overland trips under his belt, had the music perfectly timed as we ascended the Kyber Pass. What music would be most fitting for that particular leg of the journey? Why not "Bolero" by Ravel? He knew exactly when to start the tape so that the final crescendo occurred as we topped the Pass. My husband, Rom, had never been really into classical music despite my efforts to educate him, but that piece in that place had real meaning and was the trigger that unlocked the door for him to a whole new love of the classics. Needless to say, "Bolero" remained his favourite classical piece until he passed on to that place where travellers go when they depart this mortal coil. Whenever I hear it, it alsotakes me back to that particular leg of our journey together.Try listening to it sometime while picturing the Kyber Pass and you'll know what I mean!
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I loved Balero, and still do.
I played it as 'desert music' and watched people wake up and look around, looking at the life which is never obvious in the desert.
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Thanks to Mike I've come across your great site - and I hope you won't mind an ex Swaggie wading in with some musical memories?!
 Supertramp was the band of our trip (London-Kathmandu in Sept 76 - driver was Geoff Lawrence) and they got played in Europe (hazy ouzo nights on Greek beaches) and right across Asia. It conjures up the days of tape decks and tapes going wonky from so much playing while the bus bumped its way over the desert and we sat with towels over our heads to keep out the dust. Eventually Geoff rationed the playing of The Crime of the Century album because we were wearing it out! Hide in Your Shell was a favourite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPi1Dldt5kIn the course of researching a novel on the overland trail I managed to track down half a dozen of my group - including Geoff the driver who is still driving buses (for the crews of rock groups!) We've had a couple of mini reunions in London - brilliant.
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Hi Janet,
Welcome aboard!
For some reason, I had always associated Supertramp with later tours I did in North and South America, not the India Overland, but your post reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about.
Once in drivers' alley (on the ground floor of the Blue Star Hotel, Kathmandu) Bill Dedear invited me to a party with some of his passengers. So I pitched up with a bottle of Khukri, a bottle of Coca Cola, and a Supertramp cassette. But it wasn't that kind of party, more a heavy and intricate discussion amongst Bill and his passengers about Vajrayana Buddhism.
Oops.
Supertramp?
No.
Bill apologised to me after I left (early) for not making that clear.
Mind you, we could have had a very interesting discussion on the influence of Khukri rum on Vajrayana a.k.a the thunderbolt way. Khukri often hit me like a thunderbolt.
Thanks for the link. It was great to hear that song again, and the others linked there.
Mike
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Ha, ha! Good old Khukri rum! Sounds like you would have got on
better with us Swaggie passengers. The most spiritually uplifting event we
achieved was drinking High Lights in KC’s. I attach one of our Supertramp
parties at the Star Hotel ...!
Did you ever come across an Aussie driver called Jim Allen? A
Facebook friend (American) was on his overland trip in 1977 and would really
like to track him down. He was driving for Overlanders on that occasion.
Namaste
Jan
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 2:32 AM
Subject: Re: Freaky memories
Hi
Janet, Welcome aboard! For some reason, I had always associated
Supertramp with later tours I did in North and South America, not the India
Overland, but your post reminded me of something I had completely forgotten
about. Once in drivers' alley (on the ground floor of the Blue Star
Hotel, Kathmandu) Bill Dedear invited me to a party with some of his passengers.
So I pitched up with a bottle of Khukri, a bottle of Coca Cola, and a Supertramp
cassette. But it wasn't that kind of party, more a heavy and intricate
discussion amongst Bill and his passengers about Vajrayana Buddhism.
Oops. Supertramp? No. Bill apologised to me
after I left (early) for not making that clear. Mind you, we could have
had a very interesting discussion on the influence of Khukri rum on Vajrayana
a.k.a the thunderbolt way. Khukri often hit me like a thunderbolt.
Thanks for the link. It was great to hear that song again, and the
others linked there. Mike
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Hi Jan,
No, sorry, I don't remember Jim. I may have met him though, because whenever we met trips we would stop and compare notes. This was especially important in 1979, when the Iran revolution was under way.
Does anyone else here remember Jim?
Mike
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