New Delhi, June 12 -- It was the casual chucking of an empty snack bag from a passing car that dampened the trip. To make matters worse, it was accompanied by loud music blaring from a car stereo. In the fragile mountainous landscape of Turtuk village in northernmost Ladakh, overlooked by the towering peaks of the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges with the electric-blue Shyok river winding through, the sounds felt deeply offensive, and the trash unforgivable.

Hashmat, my host and guide, wore the weary look of locals who have had to bear the brunt of visitors wrecking their beloved space. The same weariness that has turned to despair and anger in Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam, Dubrovnik and other cities in recent years and spilled on to the s...