The paradise trail

the long version

It's 1971, and the travellers who end up in the flea-pit Lux Hotel in Calcutta are determined to have a good time. There's ex-public schoolboy Gordon, the cool American Larry, a weird pair of Australians, and Freddie Braintree, the acid casualty. But is he who he seems to be? Their scene is innocence and inner journeys, experimentation and a lust for new experiences. But there's a war going on between India and Pakistan and a mysterious hippie killer is lurking in the dark alleyways of the city. Meanwhile Hugh, the straight one who is trying to build a career, is covering the war for a British newspaper but he hasn't a clue what he is doing, and the shocking massacres and brutality he witnesses cast a long shadow over all their lives.