Kharbandi Monastery

Kharbandi Goemba, also called Rinchending, stands on a wooded ridge about 400m above Phuentsholing, the border town where most overland arrivals into Bhutan begin. It was built in 1967 by the Royal Grandmother, Ashi Phuntsho Choden.

Inside are statues of Shakyamuni, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Guru Rinpoche, with wall paintings following the life of the Buddha. The reason most people climb up, though, is the view: Phuentsholing directly below, and beyond it the plains of West Bengal running flat to the horizon, with Jaigaon and the Torsa river in the middle distance. It is the last high ground before India.