SUPPLEMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHS #
There follows a general collection of some of the photographs I took on my journey which didn’t fit into the main body of the book. Some of them may be of interest.
THE ACID FAMILY #
On the outskirts of Amsterdam sits the hippie village of Ruigoord, inclusive of this acid family bus.
THE BRAND #
Heroin appears to be a brand in some parts of the world, or at least in Laos. This photograph was taken in the Vientiane night market.
THE BAND #
Bob Marley’s old friend, Robert, sings One Love with the band at the mausoleum in Nine Mile, Jamaica.
HOW TO KILL A PSYCHEDELIC CACTUS #
My attempt to grow a couple of san pedro cacti was less than successful. The mission of cultivating my own dose of mescaline was always going to fail, but I’d hoped to at least get beyond the first few months.
A mirror, as found in Alcatraz A coffeeshop in Leiden, Netherlands
THE HANGOVER #
Now closed, this place was in the heart of the red light district in Amsterdam.
THE SNAKE #
A snake of empty beer pots being created during the England v Australia cricket match at Old Trafford perfectly captures the culture in play.
ARE YOU ON DRUGS? #
It was the image of the artist that initially caught my eye on this Sri Lankan street, not the question asking whether I was on drugs.
DRUG OPERA #
Disappointingly this doesn’t really have anything to do with drugs in the context of this book, but it’s a nice building nonetheless. It is a restaurant in Brussels named as such because it used to be a pharmacy (drugstore) and is in close proximity to the La Monnaie Opera House.
CALIFORNIAN GOODIES #
These are the specific products which I legally bought and sampled during a trip to California. Specifically I enjoyed vapes, joints, gummies and a THC/CBD infused mineral drink.
THE SEARCH FOR METHAQUALONE #
I searched long and hard but with no success. On one occasion I sourced the above, which had been somewhat mis-represented: it turned out to be the rather dangerous SL-164 (associated with seizures). I binned it.
THESE STORIES ARE TOO LONG TO TELL #
Some photographs come with stories which are too long or complicated to include. In no particular order: The Fridge of Snus (Sweden), No Drugs or Slippers (Cambodia), The Hookah Hut (Hong Kong).
THE BLUE LASSI SHOP #
I genuinely have no idea why all the walls of the Blue Lassi Shop (a source of bhang lassi) in Varanasi were covered with customer photographs.
VINES #
In South Africa I failed to source quaaludes (my primary mission) but I did manage to meander around the wine lands of Western Cape. I subsequently inebriated on grapes from this vineyard. I recall, vaguely, that I left my hat behind in the bar.
JAI GURU DEVA OM #
Psychedelic art adorns walls across much of the Beatles Ashram, which is tucked away in the hills on a bank of the Ganges. In many ways this place is inextricably linked to the Beatles’ LSD period. I walked around it for hours, filming and taking photographs of art and history.
HERBS EROTICA #
Whilst browsing a head shop in Cairns, Australia, I noticed that all the herbs on this rack were related to sexual matters, such as stimulation and erectile dysfunction.
AN ODE TO LSD #
Another contribution found in The Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India. Inscribed upon the floor were the lyrics of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. Turn off your mind…
NO DURGS ALLOWED #
The entrance door to a city centre hotel in Vientiane states its policy with respect to durgs, whatever they may be.
AN OFFERING OF BLUE CHEESE #
Blue Cheese cannabis as proffered by the bud tender in the Coffeeshop Mediterrané, Amsterdam.
THE HIDDEN INGREDIENT #
Something in this meal (eaten in Jakarta) gave all concerned extremely vivid and lucid dreams. I suspect, without evidence, that it was the shredded Japanese mushrooms on the left.
PACHA #
Ibiza is famed for sunshine, clubs, drugs and partying, with Pacha being the most well known venue. It looked rather quiet when I visited, but that was at 3pm in the afternoon. Everything was locked up, apart from one gate, which invited me to undertake what is known as urban exploration. This photograph is not much to show for it but it is the result.
SAY KNOW TO DRUGS #
These are just some of the signs on display on entry to the iconic Hilltop psytrance venue in Goa.
ACCESS DENIED #
On checking The Drug Users Bible’s page on Amazon prior to leaving Kuala Lumpur I found that it was blocked.
THE PSYCHEDELIC SHELF #
A wide range of psychedelics are on display here, as well as a basic introduction to ayahuasca.
FLY AGARIC #
I found these amanita muscaria mushrooms growing in a side street in San Francisco; close to Union Square.
THE BOARD GAME #
Drug themed board games as exhibited in The Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum on Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Amsterdam.
THE STREET VENDOR #
As encountered outside a large department store in the United States. I would hazard a guess that this entrepreneurial venture wasn’t entirely a regulated or authorised operation.
THE GIANT TEAPOT #
For all your caffeine needs: as seen outside a tea shop in the centre of Beijing.
BLISS #
On one of my first trips to Amsterdam I spent many a happy hour watching the world pass by from my hotel room. The strain I tended to go for at that time was white widow, which I procured from a coffeeshop round the corner.
AS IF I NEEDED REMINDING #
On the day upon which I was scheduled to take a supervised san pedro trip (but was far too ill) I ran across this market in Peru.
IT CAUGHT MY EYE THE BEST MAGIC MUSHROOMS #
In Tokyo, Japan Another one from the old days, Bali
WHERE ARE WE? #
I was lost and stoned (again) in a taxi, this time somewhere in Kathmandu. One day I will stop doing this.
WHILST MY GUITAR GENTLY TRIPS #
As presented in the extensive Beatles Museum in Alkmaar.
ARGYREIA NERVOSA #
I have spent many days walking around botanical gardens in various parts of the world looking for something psychoactive to take a photograph of. I finally found this, from whence comes Hawaiian Baby Woodrose Seeds.
ANOTHER PLACE ANOTHER PRISON #
The good news is that, whilst working on this edition, 430 prisoners suddenly received amnesty, and “most were serving terms for drug trafficking cases”. The bad news is that despite properly arranging to visit someone held as a prisoner there my colleague and I were refused entry.
A BUNGLED EXPERIMENT WITH 5-MEO-DMT #
I experimented with this psychedelic on a couple of occasions but made a real mess of it (see the entry for yopo for further details).
TAKE A TOKE AND PASS IT ON #
I’m not sure why I created this image (whilst isolated, during the first COVID outbreak), but here it is anyway.
DRUGS SAY STOP THE DRUG WAR #
I originally produced this collage for the r/DrugsAreBeautiful subreddit on Reddit. Listed row by row, the psychoactives are:
- Methamphetamine, Xanax, Morning Glory Seeds, Heroin, Opium, Yopo Seeds
- 2C-B-Fly, 3-FPM, 1P-LSD, Hawaiian Baby Woodrose Seeds, Cannabis, Amphetamine
- GHB, Diazepam, Celastrus Paniculatus Seeds, Kratom, Psilocybe Cubensis Mushrooms, 2C-I
- MDMA, Pyrazolam, Noopept, Rapé, 2AI, Ubulawu
- Adderall, Etizolam, Kola Nut, Valerian Root, Cocaine, DXM
- Clonazolam, MXP, AL-LAD, San Pedro Cactus, Salvia Divinorum, Street Hash