Bhutan, The Tiger’s Nest

As we headed back to Paro we were a little sad as we knew our time in Bhutan was almost over but our visit to the Tiger’s Nest which is the cultural icon of Bhutan still lie ahead.  Before reaching Paro Bill quietly told us their was a room shortage at the hotel and they had to upgrade us.  We had a wonderful suite for our last two days in Bhutan which was a real treat.  The night before our climb Bill gave us an introduction to what the hike would be like.  A six mile round trip, with a 3000 foot elevation gain over rocky and often muddy terrain and a few hundred steps going first down and then up did not seem like an easy task at the best of times and at an elevation of 10,000 feet the challenge was even greater.  My confidence was shaky at best.

Guru Rinpoche is said to have flown to this location on the back of his tigress from Tibet in the 8th century and meditated in a cave here for 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days and  hours.  Paro Taktsang was constructed in 1692 and literally clings to the side of the mountain.  It is only accessible by mountainous paths and as our desire to reach it was great off we went.  We set off early in the morning and were the first people on the trail which was perfect.  The path was steep and challenging in places but I used two motivating factors to get me to the top. First was that today was Andy’s birthday and 43 years ago I went through a difficult labour and caesarean and if I could do that this should be easy. Secondly I really wanted to see the Tiger’s Nest from the inside not just from a view point.  As we started the trek the Tigers Nest was hidden in the clouds which was probably a good thing because when you looked up where it sat on the mountain from below it looked impossibly high. As we hiked we got glimpses of it getting closer which was encouraging.  Reaching the view point you felt you could almost touch it yet there were still hundreds of stairs to descend and then climb before reaching the ultimate goal.  What an over whelming feeling to actually stand and absorb the surroundings.  The visit made our visit to this wonderful country complete.

A farewell dinner with our fellow travellers where everyone shared a little of what was special about this trip to them made us all realize how much we had all shared in such a short time.  The joy of travel.

Relaxing in the living room of the suite

The bedroom with a magnificent view over the valley and mountains 

A prayer wheel at the start of the hike up to the Tigers Nest

One of our first glimpses of our ultimate goal

Still smiling. The poles were invaluable to me especially coming down through the mud

Spinning the prayer wheels part way up with a silent prayer that I would make it

Appearing through the mist.  Magical 

Still a long ways to go

Making the journey together 

The frequent appearances helped to keep you going

Eric’s Camino shirt has been to a lot of special places

Looks close but we are still quite a ways away

Hard to imagine how they built it on this narrow bluff so many years ago

The mist literally rolled in in a matter of minutes as we stood there watching. It gave it a bit of a ghostly appearance 

The mist cleared as fast as it came

This is looking up at the Tigers Nest as we climbed down the multitude of steps to get to it

And down even more steps. Seemed almost unfair after the long hike uphill

This shows the staircase down the hill before you do an equal one that takes you up to the temple

The final destination 

Stepping through the doorway to the Tigers Nest.  Once there no photography is allowed.

A look back as we made our descent

The tea house on the way up. A lot of people stop here for a view and go no further

A few people take horses as far as the tea house but it is not recommended as they go on the outside of the trail and people have been known to fall off

Eric at the tea house. We just made a quick stop on the way down to see what the view was like. We did not want to linger long because the number of people coming up the trail was steadily increasing as the day wore on which made it more interesting in spots

Making my way down slowly though the mud and rocks.  Can hardly believe clumsy me made it standing all the way
The view of the Tigers Nest from the beginning of the trail.  It really does look a long way up and it is!