TOURISM

Our drive on the most traveled road between the capital city and the city where I worked in Megalaya was a bumpy, slow one that resembled a joy ride gone amuck.  The scenery was punctuated by the road ”development” that left large gaping holes in the hillside, large stones falling into the road, and obvious erosion problems because of the removal of all the trees whose roots kept everything in place. [See pic for evidence.]

I had tea while in Shillong with a professor of tourism at the local university.  He answered some of my questions about the nascent steps of the Northeastern States to embrace tourism.  It’s stunning scenery, no doubt, but definitely lacks the infrastructure to sustain large-scale tourism.  I shared with him that Daughter #1 had written a senior honors paper on tourism in the ethnic, autonomous state of Yunnan, China, and he was quite familiar with large scale research on the location and topic, research that showed that very little, if any, of the profits gained from tourism trickled down to the ethnic tribes, the people who suffered the negative consequences of the influx of people, even a loss of their livelihoods.  We talked about the precarious balance needed between an attempt to share the unique beauty of the area with the need to manage and plan the development so that the people’s way of lives are not changed for the worse, and the environment is protected, not only because it is the cash cow for the tourism, but for the sake of all those who live off the land.

On a personal level when we visited Cherripunji I wished there were more developed trails where we could trek and explore the topography up close.  Perhaps, though, that’s not what best for the area.  Because it is part of my national fiber, I have a tendency to think development is usually positive, and should be encouraged. The professor seemed to think the people in charge of tourism in their neck of woods were quite cautious and mindful about how to attract tourists and preserve their way of life, so I won’t put that on my list of concerns.
Pictures on FLICKR of Northeast:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/39413808@N05/sets/72157634098780448/