Day 10: Thimphu to Paro

So today brings one of the highlights of the trip, a hike up to the breathtakingly beautiful Tiger’s Nest monastery.  In a country full of unbelievable beauty, this is in a league of its own, which is saying something.   The photo of the monastery, clinging to the cliff face, with ribbons of prayer flags stretching out across a sheer ravine is probably one of the most iconic images people have of Bhutan and its certainly one of the photographs that I’m hoping to bag.

We left the hotel bright and early, around 8am.  Alas, I’d spoken too soon about not suffering any Bhutan Belly since arriving – with perfect timing, given today’s scheduled 5hr hike, last night’s rumbles had developed into full blown protestations (perhaps the riverweed had been the last straw).   Now I would have to hike and clench at the same time – that’s a lot of co-ordination in anyone’s books, let alone first thing in the morning when I‘m barely awake with the minimal requisite cognitive processing required for basic locomotion (no pun intended).  

Anyway, gastric miseries to one side, here’s what my itinerary says about Tiger’s Nest:

After breakfast, we will take you for a morning hike up to Taktsang Monastery, also known as ‘Tiger’s Nest’. Hanging precariously and magically from a rather steep cliff, the Taktshang monastery is a monument of genuine pride for the Bhutanese nation. It defies architectural principles to the core and amazes tourists from around the world. It is a sight to behold. Taktshang or the Tigers lair as the monastery is called, it is widely regarded is one of the most important monuments of spiritual significance in Bhutan. Its history is deeply associated with the visit of Guru Padmasambhava, the revered Indian saint who came to Bhutan in the 8th century AD.

The cave was named Taktshang after Guru Rinpoche flew into the cave from Kurtoe Singye Dzong in eastern Bhutan while riding on a tigress. When he landed in the cave, he took the wrathful form of Guru Dorji Drolo who is regarded as one of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche to decimate the demon.

Several saints have chosen this sanctuary to pray and meditate in solitude. The monastery was built in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgaye who is said to be one of the reincarnations of Guru Rinpoche. The Monastery consists of four main temples along with their residences that are constructed along the rock ledge. There 8 caves in total out of which 4 are relatively easy to access.

The monastery was ravaged by fire twice in the 1900s first in 1951 and later the fire of 1998, which nearly destroyed the monastery completely. The government then undertook a comprehensive reconstruction in 200 with funding from foreign donors. The monastery was recreated to its original splendor and re-opened to the public shortly thereafter.

From the road, the hike toward Taktshang follows an uphill route and takes approximately 3-4 hours at an average walking pace on a clear, sunny day. We recommend that you carry sunscreen lotion, large quantities of drinking water, a walking stick just in case you need to shoo of the birds and a hat to further protect yourself from the sun.

3-4 hours?  Try 1.5hrs!!  BOOOYAH!!!   So, again, proving that I hike faster than I cycle, swim or , we made absolutely cracking time and made it up to the Tea House restaurant place in just over 45mins.  Usually, according to my trusty, puffing guide, it takes at least 1.5hrs to get to that point.  I wasn’t trying to go super-fast (although the thought of the restroom at the tea house was a little bit of an incentive) – I just kept up a steady pace and only rested for a couple of minutes at a few points on the way up.  It was a bloody hard slog, I tell ya (even though the slacker tracker ranked it only as “moderate” exercise!!) and I was puffing and panting and sweating my little heart out.  But what made it worthwhile were that the views, both of the valley below but also of Tiger’s Nest monastery kept getting more and more spectacular the higher we ascended.   Un-frigging-believable. 

At the tea house, we stopped for the obligatory cup or two of hot, sweet black tea and some yummy biscuits to take in the incredible view and catch our breath for a few moments.  I, um, tried to avail myself of the facilities but I think my body was in shock and total lockdown mode cos there weren’t nothing moving!!    Not sure if that was a good sign or not, but too late to worry about it, because after about 20mins, we started up again for the final leg of the climb up – this time, involving over 800 steps, up and down, traversing the steep cliffs that flanked both sides of the Tiger’s Nest.   And that’s where the magic happened and I got the picture of the trip – the iconic prayer flag across the abyss towards the monastery shot.  Absolutely freaking stunning.

In keeping with the hard-core, lets-rock –this-out tradition that I’d set in the first half, the final push took us only another 40mins where it usually takes at least an hour.  Again, I don’t know why this gave me a lot of pleasure but it did (well….OK…yes, I do….its my crazy competitive nature that’s annoyingly ever-present despite my best efforts to ignore it …).  When we finally reached the monastery, we had to check my bag and camera and ensure we were appropriately dressed and, different to some of the other monasteries and Dzong’s I’d visited, there was a visible police presence at this one.  Well, when I say visible, there was a police chap at the
gate with prayer beads, reciting mantras to himself and giving you the once over before letting you in, plus another couple of police folk dotted throughout the monastery – again, presumably, to stop people taking unauthorized photographs.

The monastery itself was amazing – dark and light at the same time, full of warren-like corridors and prayer rooms.   Despite there having been quite a few people on the hike up, because we’d made such good time, we’d managed to beat most people there, so I had the unexpected luxury of being able to enjoy it in the same relative peace and tranquility as some of the other monasteries I’d visited previously.  As well as the usual collection of shrines and temples with fantastic golden statues of Mr B and friends, there was also a fun relic stone – the idea being that you stand on the starting line, close your eyes, take three steps forward and try and put your thumb into a small hole in the rock as a form of karmic test.  No prizes for guessing the result!!

After that, in one of the shrines, was a hatchway that, when opened, revealed one of the entrances to the Dubkhang or Pelphu Lakhang, the cave where the Guru Rinpoche meditated for three months (apparently without food or water).  Outside the cave is a statue of Dorje Drolo, the manifestation the Guru assumed to fly to Taktshang on a tigress and banish the demons (hence the name!). After wandering into a few more places (including peering directly into the original Tiger’s Nest cave which is just above the chapel but is, unfortunately, too dangerous to climb down into), we headed back to the exit, collected our stuff and started our journey back down the cafeteria.  

On reaching the cafeteria, I once again availed myself of the facilities – and this time, all hell broke loose.  Quite literally.   So – my sincerest apologies if you were that person either waiting outside the restroom at around 1.15pm wondering what was taking so long or, probably worse, the poor soul entering said restroom at about 1.25pm.  Blame the chili cheese.  I, on the other hand, felt GREAT and, duly unburdened, pretty much skipped my way back down the mountain, taking only 25mins to descend from the restaurant to the car park.  Michael had taken full possession of my camera by this stage, so was happily off trying to get me good shots of butterflies, water prayer wheels and birds (gotta love having my own personal guide who carries my stuff and does my chores for me - think I need to find myself a BF when I get back to SF to carry out the same functions).  The birds and butterflies here in Bhutan are especially beautiful – in addition to the hoopoe, I saw in my first week, there are also loads of beautiful yellow-billed blue tailed magpies as well as ENORMOUS butterflies that look more like birds than insects. 

After a quick bit of retail therapy with some local vendors in the car park (that’s when I knew I would pull through from my recent incapacitation), we headed to the Uma Resort in Paro, where I was very happy to return and to check in.   It was around 2.30pm, so I toyed with the idea of getting a hot stone treatment, but there wasn’t really enough time (they need 2hrs notice), so I simply relaxed, had a nice hot shower and then spent the time photo-editing and catching up on my blog.  One of the fabulous things about this hotel is that there are so many wonderful places to just sit and relax and reflect.  After plonking myself down by the pool, then in the outdoor patio, then in the spa relaxation area, I finally found my spot in the library and got settled in for an hour of blogging and relaxing.  Only problem was there were a million sodding flies and, as soon as I entered the room, they all made a bee-line (fly-line?) for me so soon I was surrounded by the buzzing buggers.  I don’t know what it is about Bhutanese flies, but they’re not content to buzz you from a distance – no, this lot want to get up close and personal with you.  I had the distinct impression that they had some sort of private bet going on as to who could get the closest to completing a buzz landing in my ear or on the very tip of my nose.  Incredibly conscious I was in a Buddhist country where the killing of any living being is strictly forbidden and being caught fishing is rewarded with a prison sentence, I guiltily got even by swatting a couple of the annoying sods with the Birds of Bhutan book I’d borrowed from the bookshelf.   However, karma is a bitch, as one of the buzzy blighters got the last word because – as I swatted it through the window netting – it seemed to basically explode in a splurgy cascade of bloody fly guts.  Great.   A big fat fly splat as evidence of my murderous nature.  As I tried to flick the squidged fly body out of the netting to the floor to hide the shame of my karmic crime, it fell from the netting and hit the wall directly below, leaving another bloody streak of fly goo on the pristine white paint.  Oh, brilliant.  Definitely time to leave the library (it was Dr. Holloway, in the library with the Birds of Bhutan book) and head to the bar to try and recover.

So after the day’s exertions and insecty transgressions, I felt I’d earned a decent glass of wine after the day’s endeavors, so got cracking on a lovely bottle of Graves Riserve Bordeaux.  Delicious.   The Fly Episode was soon forgotten (-ish) as I chatted with Amber in the bar and a lovely lady from Calcutta who was staying in one of the Villas.  (ps note to self – if you ever come back, you have to stay in one of the villas as it sounded amazing! ).  Then it was time for dinner and this time, I tried the fabulous Uma burger, made from a combo of beef and yak.  Absolutely delicious, if completely impossible to describe the flavor!  After the burger, I also repeated the previous highlight of the yummy ice-cream I’d had before – only problem being I was too full to eat it all!!  Finally, complete replete and very very happy, I staggered off to bed and a well-earned sleep, before my last full day in Bhutan.

Day 10:Bhutan, you continue to take my breath away.