QXP India

Spiti Valley sits at roughly 3,800 metres in Himachal Pradesh, a cold desert close to the Tibetan border. Every winter the main road in from Manali closes under snow and does not reopen until spring, leaving only the longer route through Shimla and Kinnaur. Temperatures fall to around minus 15 degrees by day and minus 30 at night, and the valley stays buried in snow for months.

This is also when its oldest monasteries see the fewest visitors all year. Tabo, founded in 996 CE, holds murals over a thousand years old and is still in daily use. Key Monastery, the largest in the valley, has stood on its hilltop for centuries, and its main temple still avoids electric light to protect the murals inside. Dhankar Monastery is built directly into a cliff face between two rivers.

Very few travellers see any of this in winter.

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Our director with , President and CEO of the , at the WMF Summer Soiree at the Rainbow Room,

QXP India is proud of designing and executing the World Monuments Fund’s India journeys. An inspiring evening celebrating heritage conservation and the important work being done around the world to preserve it.