Nagarkot Farm House Resort isn't the sort of place where you want to oversleep. On clear mornings dawn unveils a vista of the eastern and central Himalayan ranges, from towering Manaslu to the distant back pyramid of Everest. This panorama is the hallmark of Nagarkot, a mini resort community with a cluster of lodges a few shops perched on a ridge 20 miles northeast of the Kathmandu Valley floor.

The Farm House, two kilometers from the center of Nagarkot, is a former home surrounded by thousands of fruit trees: its dozen rooms are appointed with traditional art, huge windows, and comfortable beds. There is a homey restaurant with an open fire place, a ceramic-tilled meditation hall, and a white Buddhist shrine on a nearby, bluff-an ideal place to perform devotional koras as you gawk at the mountains.