The three-storeyed houses are perfectly adapted for the cold, dry climate, with the thick walls, great for keeping warmth in while numerous tall windows let in lots of sunshine. They are beautiful, too, with carved wooden window frames and narrow stairs that lead out to rooftop terraces that look out over the valley below. Alexanders conservation group offers financing to locals still living in the area, mainly poor labourers, to help them restore their homes, which can cost as much as $1,250 (about Rs50,000). Before, the roof was falling. The walls were crooked. There were many cracks, said Tsering Dorje as he sipped butter tea made with yaks milk in his spruced-up house. The impoverished mason got help from the group by offering to do all the work himsel
