German band Embryo (not to be confused with Italian and Swedish death metal bands) filmed a tour documentary in 1979 of their nine-month tour to India by bus along what would have been known in the late 60's as the "hippy trail", from Europe to southern Asia, mainly India and Nepal.
In the 60's the journeys were carried out by hitchhiking, or cheap buses that travelled the routes, the subsequent tales and storyies that resulted from these almost mythical trips and characters are legion.
"Vagabunden Karawane". the documentary recorded by Embryo captures an idyllic setting where the band met and improvised with the local musicians from the Karnataka College of Percussion in Bangalore.
That meeting was obviously highly influential to the band, led by Christian Burchard and Edgar Hoffmann, as they then evolved to a world music style from their original jazz rock (think of a krautrock Soft Machine) which they have continually toured to this day.
A staggering 400 musicians have since been through the doors of Germans and krautrocks most esoteric group.
Here's a short extract from the film capturing what seems today, another world.
