First in an eight-part series in which journalist Simon Dring retraces the overland journey he made across Europe to India in 1962 to discover whether anyone still journeys along the legendary hippy trail and, if so, who are they and why do they do it.

Dring finds the trail to be alive and well. Old-timer dropouts, middle-aged middle-class runaways and armies of today's young people from all over the world bustle along the route. Tonight, we meet, among others, a couple out on their first foreign adventure, a group of British women bicycling to the Himalayas in search of freedom and romance, and a French policeman walking his dog to Jerusalem.