Tiger’s Nest Monastery!!!

I took this photograph!! 

It was taken from a spot called “the second viewing point.” After that it’s about 950 steps down, then up, and across a bridge, and you’re there! 

But I didn’t make it all the way to the temple, just this far. It took me a little over three hours to get to this point. It was uphill all the way. The gradient varied between about 25 degrees and 45 degrees. Much of it was a wide, unpaved, often rocky path. A lot of that was in the form of steps.  I preferred the parts that were just a slope. Steps were often tall and difficult.  Of course it was all complicated by the fact that the elevation starts at about 8,400 feet and goes up to 10,240 feet.  Any exertion at that altitude causes difficulty breathing, at least for me it did.  According to my smart watch, my pulse never got below about 125, and it was often at or just above 150.  The hike up is about 2.6 miles.  The viewing point I got to is about the same elevation as the temple, or a little higher. 

To get to the temple from the viewing point you have to go down about 700 steps, then back up 250 steps, then across a bridge.  By the time I got there it was 11:50 am.  I knew they like people to get to the monastery by noon, so they can see the temples and get back down in time for a late lunch at the tea house we  stopped briefly at on the way up.  There was no way I was doing all those steps in 10 minutes. More like an hour I figured. I thought I might get to the temple on sheer will power, but then I was afraid I wouldn’t have any energy left to get past all those steps again, never mind going all the way back down. So I decided to stop where I was. It was so close. It almost felt as though I could reach out and touch it. But I settled for taking some pictures. I’ll share some here. 

Most of the ones with me in them were taken by Kinga, the guide who was with me from the tea house up. 

This was as we arrived at the tea house.

This was the view of the temple from the tea house.

Sample of steps on the path up. Looks easy, it wasn’t. 

Today is our last day in Bhutan.  We were supposed to do Tigers Nest today, but it turns out that today is a religious holiday, and foreigners are excluded from Tiger’s Nest and some other places today, because there will be too many locals there. Anyway, we’re heading to downtown Paro in a few minutes for some shopping. Then tomorrow, the 17th, I head for home. It’s been an amazing trip!