Kavrepalanchok काभ्रेपलाञ्चोक

Kavrepalanchok rises east of Bhaktapur into open mid-hills that give the district its primary draw: elevated viewpoints with sweeping Himalayan panoramas. Dhulikhel, the headquarters at around 1,500 metres, is a quiet Newari hill town about 30 km from Kathmandu, well known for its sunrise views of a long arc of peaks. From Dhulikhel, a three-hour walk or a short drive reaches Namobuddha — one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal — where a stupa marks the spot where the Buddha, in a previous life, offered his body to a starving tigress. Panauti, a few kilometres south, is one of Nepal's oldest towns, its Indreshwor Mahadev temple and stone-paved ghats at the confluence of the Roshi and Punyamati rivers dating to the 13th century.

The Malla and Shah dynasties used this corridor as an eastern mountain gateway, and old trade tracks still lace the hills. Cycling and hiking circuits linking Dhulikhel, Namobuddha and Panauti have become a popular one- or two-day outing from Kathmandu, with the full loop manageable on a mountain bike in a day. Kavrepalanchok suffered significant earthquake damage in 2015; most heritage sites are now repaired. The whole triangle is an easy day-trip from the capital.