With its snow-covered peaks and heavily wooded hillsides, the area around the Macedonian city of Tetovo could be a scene from the Austrian Alps. There are three dead giveaways however. One is the silver-grey smoke that rises from the mountain villages as the Macedonian government drive against ethnic Albanian guerrillas continues.
Another is the checkpoint outside the city where heavily armed and nervous Macedonian special forces check cars and their passengers. The third is the military helicopter flying over head.
In peacetime it would be a beautiful place: an idyllic setting reminiscent of The Sound of Music. Today it is the focus of great tension and concern, not only for the future of Macedonia but the stability of the whole Balkan region.
The surprise assault by Macedonian forces against the rebels, which began at dawn on Sunday, appears to have paid dividends. There are eyewitness reports of guerrillas abandoning their headquarters in the village of Selce, leaving weapons behind in the rush. The military solution seems to have worked, at least for now.
But aficionados of guerrilla warfare know that a retreat by paramilitary forces is not quite the same as a withdrawal by a conventional army. The rebels may have melted away for the moment but they could well filter back. The wooded terrain around Tetovo is ideal for their operations.
The citizens of Tetovo are trying to get on with their lives. At a local hotel, customers tuck into plates of food washed down with bottles of beer and tumblers, rather than glasses, of red wine. They pay little apparent heed to the camera crews and reporters talking incessantly on their mobile phones.
But despite the external signs of normality, there is an underlying concern. A young man of Albanian ethnic background from one of the mountain villages confides that he "does not feel safe here". He is not afraid of the rebels but of the Macedonian army and police who, he claims, have burnt a lot of houses in the course of their assault. When asked "Do the Albanian people in Tetovo support the rebels?" he answered: "Yes, because they are our friends and they are fighting for our rights. The Macedonian government has given us promises for ten years but they are doing nothing."
The government's position is that it is doing its best to improve the lot of the Albanian minority - which it puts at 22.9 per cent of the total population - and has made substantial progress. The government spokesman, Mr Antonio Milo soski, points out that the current coalition administration includes an ethnic Albanian party and that Albanians have made progress in education and employment.
It must be a worrying time for both communities. A woman returning from Chicago for her first visit home in 12 years told me how delighted she was to be able to show her new baby to its grandparents; then her face clouded over as she spoke of her fears there was going to be a civil war. A young man from the majority Slavic community had little sympathy for the grievances of the Albanians: "They are always causing trouble and they have more rights than anyone."
A tourist poster proclaims "Macedonia: cradle of culture, land of nature", but there will not be many visitors while the current crisis lasts. A young tourist guide told me he was working as a disc-jockey in the local nightclubs at night. He describes the material he plays as "chill-out music". It sounds exactly what the country needs.
AFP adds:
Macedonia will hand over evidence of rape and other abuses by ethnic Albanian rebels to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Mr Milososki said yesterday.
"Our defence forces operating in certain areas have knowledge that crimes and abuses were committed by the terrorists in the villages, especially rape, other abuses and inhuman behaviour," he said.
Mr Milososki said that "all the information will be presented" to Ms Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Macedonia had every intention of co-operating with the ICTY, Mr Milososki said.
However, he added that "no girls or women have so far come forward to testify that they were victims".