Freak Street (Jhochhen Tole)

Freak Street, locally called Jhochhen Tole, sits just south of Kathmandu Durbar Square. Through the 1960s and 70s it was the city's original backpacker hub, drawing hippies from across the world to its government-licensed hashish shops and cheap guesthouses. Nepal's government cracked down in the early 1970s, banning cannabis sales and tightening entry rules, and the scene faded by decade's end. Today the lane holds guesthouses, trekking agencies, and souvenir shops, offering a quieter, history-laden alternative to nearby Thamel.

Before Thamel became Kathmandu's tourist quarter, Freak Street (Jhochhen Tole) held that role. From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, it was a fixture of the overland "hippie trail" between Europe and Asia, known for legally sold cannabis and hashish and a loose, countercultural scene that gave the street its name. Pressure from foreign governments, especially the United States, pushed Nepal to ban the drug trade and deport many hippies in the early 1970s, and the scene largely dissolved. The street's proximity to Kathmandu Durbar Square kept it walkable and relevant, and it now functions as a low-key strip of guesthouses, bead and souvenir shops, bakeries, and trekking outfitters, visited today mostly for its nostalgic backpacker history rather than its 1970s reputation.