The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word MANDALAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
M
A
N
D
A
L
A
Y
More clues leading to the result MANDALAY
- Crew beginning to digest a poem — one by Kipling
- Old PM touring a land, drunk on the road hither?
- A boy held back by legion in Asian city
- Former Asian capital — and in Asian language
- Asian symbol unknown in work of Kipling
- Fancy a lady going after fellow in foreign city!
- City on the Irrawaddy ruined many a lad
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "on the road hither" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case on the road hither = mandalay.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.