Sindhupalchok सिन्धुपाल्चोक

Sindhupalchok stretches north-east from just beyond the Kathmandu Valley rim to the Tibetan border at the Bhote Koshi river, the entire corridor threaded by the Araniko Highway — the ancient trade road to Lhasa. Adventure sport is the district's loudest calling card: the Bhote Koshi river, flowing grade IV–V through steep gorges, offers some of the most intense short-run whitewater rafting in Asia, and the Last Resort bungee at 160 metres, in operation since 1999 near the Tibetan border, is one of the highest in the world. Above the river corridor, the Helambu trek circuit crosses Sherpa and Tamang villages east of the valley, and the Panch Pokhari lakes at around 4,100 metres are a high-altitude pilgrimage destination.

The Melamchi water-supply tunnel, which pipes water from the district's Melamchi river into Kathmandu's mains, is one of Nepal's largest infrastructure projects. The district was the worst-affected in the April 2015 earthquake — more than 3,500 people were killed in Sindhupalchok alone — and reconstruction has continued through the decade since. The old market town of Bahrabise is the principal stop on the Araniko Highway before the Bhote Koshi gorge narrows toward the border. Historically the district was a hub of Nepal–Tibet trade.