KIRAN PANDAY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY: Dentistry student Sunaina Palikhe and hotel management student Monita Pun trekking in Dhampus amidst a spectacular backdrop of Machapuchre on Saturday.

Clear skies, fabulous mountain views, festivals, smiles. Those characteristics of the Dasain-Tihar holidays make the autumn season popular for tourism and trekking.

With the peace process on track, elections over and a new government in place, visitor arrivals have picked up. Hotel rooms and airline tickets are scarce. But there are still places to go in this vast country that are off the beaten track, like Upper Dolakha (p 8-9). Nepali Times has compiled all its travel writeups over the past eight years into a Special Destination package. See: www.nepalitimes.com/special/travel_nepal.php