The day had arrived! The visit to the Tiger's Nest, a sacred Buddhist temple in Bhutan. The temple is located on a clifftop in the Paro Valley.
According to the legend, Guru Padmasambhava flew to this place from Tibet on the back of a tigress and was able to subdue the Tiger demon using a magic dagger, but instead of being killed the demon was transformed into what is now the protective deity of the temple.
The Paro Taktsang temple was first constructed in 1692, around the Taktsang Senge Samdup cave. In the 8th century, it is where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours. Padmasambhava is acknowledged with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan.
The day started early, we are up at 6.15am, quickly followed by breakfast at 7am and leave by bus at 7.30am, to drive about 15-20min to start of the track up to the Tigers nest.
It was quite cold when we started, so jackets were worn but soon removed once we warmed up and were in the sun on the trail, the first section is quite dusty and torn up path, very similar to lower section of the Everest base camp trek. We gain about 500m ascent up to the cafeteria which is about half up to the Tiger's nest, we stop for tea and biscuits while all our group gathered together once more.
We soon continue to the viewing areas looking across to the Tiger's Nest, we are greeted by clear blue skies and take some picturesque photos. We follow the stairs down to the waterfall below, then up a short section of stairs to the Tiger's nest, about 900 stairs in total.
Once we arrived, we stored all our belongings in lockers as you're not allowed to take any personal items into the Tiger's Nest. We are taken for a tour around the various sections including visiting the temple where they store the famous daggers. Unfortunately the daggers were not on display during our visit, usually only in June and special occasions.
We head into the Tiger's Nest or 'The Tigers lair', which is down 3 sets of wooden stairs into a narrow rock cave. It one of the 13 caves in which Padmasambhava meditated.
The Tiger's Nest is located at an elevation 3,120 metres, so best to ensure you have acclimatised to the altitude if travelling to Bhutan from slower level locations. The climb up is approximately 900 metres elevation gain, so best to take your time and enjoy the views along the way.
Paro Taktsang is definitely a bucket list place to visit, simply breathtaking views and highly recommend a trip to Bhutan, a fascinating history and cultural place, with the local people very welcoming to visitors.
