Before anyone comes at me — I'm from Delhi myself. Born and raised in Rohini. And I say this with full self-awareness: we are the worst tourists on the planet.
Remember Kasol five years ago? You could actually hear the river. Now it's dhol music from 4 different dhabas, honking Innovas on a road built for mules, and someone's definitely playing Badshah from a Bluetooth speaker at 11pm.
Chopta, Tirthan, Shoja — beautiful, quiet, secret. Give it 18 months after one Instagram reel blows up and suddenly it's bumper-to-bumper from Chandigarh onwards on every long weekend. The "offbeat" tag lasts approximately one season.
The locals have to deal with garbage on trails, drunk groups at 2am, and land prices shooting up so their kids can't afford to live in the same village. We show up, take our reels, destroy the vibe, and leave. Then complain the place has "lost its charm" as if we had nothing to do with it.
I don't have a solution. I genuinely don't. But can we at least stop acting surprised when Manali feels like Connaught Place in May? We did this. Collectively, we did this.
Not shaming anyone for taking vacations. Just saying — the mountains don't owe us a pristine experience.