[crucialfelix]

I was up there for a month or two and did Vipassana there in 2003. It was wonderful. I met many very interesting people.

The town was already overpopulated for its size, but these days I hear it's really extreme. I talked to somebody who was born and grew up there. He said that now there are so many hotels and concrete developments all over the hills. It's just a mess.

[bdefore]

I can only imagine. As if _where we are_ is a living thing as well.

I remember at the time there was a bend in the road where you'd face the beautiful Himalaya across the valley, but if you looked down the near embankment you'd see where all the bajillions of plastic water bottles were disposed of for a town that didn't (yet?) have a plan for them. Only tourists such as myself drank them.

[hrishios]

Was there and in nearby places a year ago, and it's the same story that happened to Manali and now Kasol. The interesting culture and crowd move somewhere, it becomes a hub, it becomes overly crowded, and people move again.