The Village That Doesn't Want Tourists
Upper Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
2 April 2025
“The host's daughter asked me why I came. She was maybe twelve. I said I was looking for beautiful places. She looked confused. 'This is just where we live,' she said. 'It's not beautiful, it's normal.' I think about that every time I write a trip description. The places we call extraordinary are someone's ordinary. And the least we can do is remember that when we visit.”
— Uddip
I'm not going to name this village. That's the point of this field note.
The headman was polite but direct: 'We don't want tourists here. We've seen what happened in Chitkul.'
Not every scouting trip leads to a journey. This is the part of our process that nobody talks about - the places we find and choose not to share. Respect for a community's wishes is not an afterthought. It's the foundation.