“Gandhi already did Gandhi, Mother Theresa did Mother Theresa so well, and Martin Luther King, he did Martin great! You be you! You be you! You be you! Who else could do you like you anyway.”
Throughout my stay in Asia I have seen the immense impact of tourism throughout India and Nepal. Though foreigners bring money, they also bring a cultural destruction that can never be undone. I have seen farming villages transformed into tourist dependent cities where the inhabitants (especially under the age of thirty) sit around on their phones all day refusing to work. They expect the money to pour in, as it does with an influx of tourism, without any effort on their part. Because of this there has been an immense loss of traditional dress, food, cultural, and even attitude towards life in many of these areas, something that is apparent to us as cyclists as we visit areas that have held their culture as they don’t rely on tourism. Here in Leh, at least in the beautiful guest house I am staying in, I have found (for the first time) a place which has kept its culture even throughout the onrush of tourism.
The Wandering Nomads 