though not a major tourist destination, phuentsholing in the foothills of himalayas is still filled with tourists for the simple reason it is the border town of southern bhutan sharing border with indian town of jaigaon. it is a commercial centre and main trading zone for the bhutanese. thimphu is around six hours from phuentsholing. it is easily accessible by road sikkim, darjeeling, new jalpaiguri railway station and bagdogra airport in west bengal.

places of interests:

crocodile centre: established during 1976 with two different species mugger crocodile & gharial crocodile. located on the banks of amu choo river, the centre breeds these crocodiles for release in natural reserve. the crocodiles are fed every other day at noon. it provides an excellent opportunity to get close to these dangerous creatures in actual life.

kharbandi goempa: also known as rinchending monastery, it was set up in 1967 by the royal grand mother, ashi phuntsho choden. here you can see statutes of shabdrung ngawang namgyal and guru rimpoche and paintings on the life of buddha. a fascinating view of phuentsholing town and surrounding plains can be seen from the garden.

holy places:

zangdo pelri: it is a small buddhist temple situated in the heart of phuentsholing containing many fine examples of buddhist drawings. it represents celestial abode of guru rinpoche. there are three floors which contains following:

• ground floor contains statutes representing eight manifestations of guru rinpoche and paintings on buddha’s life is depicted on the walls.
• first floor contains eight bodhisattvas and statues of avalokiteshvara and zhabdrung ngawang namgyal
• the top floor consists of the main statue of amitabha, a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of mahāyāna buddhism

short day trips:

chukha hydel project: the 336 mw chukha hydropower project, or chukha hydel, is bhutan’s oldest power project built on wangchhu river in central chukha district, between thimphu and phuentsholing. its was commissioned in 1986.