Nepal is the crossroads to Shangri-la — Tibet. Kathmandu apparently comes from the word for crossroads. They are widening the roads to Shangri-la. This has resulted in the buildings being cut down the middle. These buildings remind me of the Hans Christian Andersen story about a half-chick who could not find his place in the world until he became (spoiler alert) a weather vane perched atop a house. Perhaps these half houses are indicators of the same thing on the roof of the world.
