I haven't posted for a while because I have little to add to my previous travels in the footsteps of Joseph Rock. If you've read my diaries (see right hand column), on of the first places I visited was Muli monastery, in the early 1990s. It was a wild and neglected place then, and I have sometimes thought about going back. But in the internet age it does not take long to find images and videos of how Muli looks now - and it isn't good. It appears that the old Muli monastery has now been replaced or superceded by a huge and flashy new temple. See the pictures and video (with footage of traditional ceremonies and dancing) for more info. It looks awful to me. The special character of Muli has long gone - it now looks like a tourist attraction at Disneyland. Glad I saw it when I did!
By way of comparison with the above, here's a picture how it looked when I visited (below Rock's original photo):
And here's how it looks closer up:
