gangtey goempa, the gangtey monastery, is perched a top a small hill that rises from the valley floor. the monastery is surrounded by a large village inhabited mainly by the families of the 140 gomchens who take care of the monastery. in winter this families, together with the monastery's ten monks, move away to another monastery, a day's walk to the south. gangtey, which is now controlled by the government, is the only nyingmapa monastery on the western side of the black mountain's and is also the biggest nyingmapa monastery in bhutan. it is directed by gangtey tulku, the ninth reincarnation (tulku) to bear that name.
