The Bhotekoshi and Sunkoshi rivers, listed as the seventh best rivers in the world for adventure rafting, are teeming with tourists even during the winter months.

According to Mahendra Singh Thapa, president of the Sindhu Sukute Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, despite the bitter cold, domestic and foreign tourists have been drawn to rafting on the river. Raftboats playing hide and seek with the waves of the river since morning and tents and glittering resorts visible along the Araniko Highway in the evening have made the Bhotekoshi-Sunkoshi area attractive.

This area, located about 70 kilometers from the capital Kathmandu, is becoming a center for adventure tourism even in winter. Currently, due to less mining of river-related materials, the river from Kothe, Balefi to Sukute has returned to its natural rhythm. Entrepreneurs say that with this, the presence of tourists who enjoy adventure rafting has become easier.

Earlier, more than 400 Nepali and foreign tourists used to come for rafting every day. ‘Currently, even in the cold season, 50 to 60 tourists come to Sukute daily, of which 30 go rafting, especially since the cold season is the off-season for adventure rafting, although people have not stopped coming for rafting,’ said Thapa. Currently, more than 10 resorts with rafting facilities are operating on the banks of the Sunkoshi and Bhotekoshi rivers.

The Nepal Rafting Association has stated that the number of hotels and resorts has reached more than 20 on the Bhotekoshi and Sunkoshi coasts of the district alone. There are statistics that about seven hundred thousand tourists visited resorts on the banks of the Koshi before the earthquake. Lalit Giri, a tourism entrepreneur at Sukute River Fun Beach Resort, said that the main attraction of most tourists coming here is rafting. ‘The first choice of tourists coming from Europe, America and other foreign countries is rafting in Sunkoshi,’ he said.

Along with this, adventure sports like mountain rides and bungee jumping have also attracted tourists. Thrill Valley, another famous adventure sports destination in the tourist town of Sukute, has a thrilling cable car, 360-degree swing and sky cycling. Director Samjhana Khadka Karki said that they have started such services at Thrill Valley with an investment of about 20 million rupees in collaboration with tourism entrepreneurs Mahendra Shrestha and Rajkumar KC. ‘We have started new adventure tourism to further contribute to the development of tourism here.’ She said.

Like Thrill Valley, dozens of resorts like Sukute River Fun, Maya Beach, River Way, Rock River are trying to provide new adventure services. Apart from Thrill Valley, the main attraction of other resorts is rafting. According to Shiva Adhikari, president of the Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies (NARA) and tourism entrepreneur, there are still a lot of tourists coming for rafting.