It is said that the highlight of any trip to Bhutan is the trek up to Tiger’s Nest Monastery. All the travel guides that cover this country inevitably include pictures of this building and it is clear to see why. Hanging on a precipitous cliff at 3,120 meters above sea level, the monastery – also known as Taktsang Goemba – is “nested” right smack in the middle of steep rocks that are almost vertically sloped.
tiger’s nest monastery
Though looking pretty much isolated and hard to get to, there are actually a few well-used access points to reach Taktsang. As the grand finale of our trip, we took the most popular (though by no means an easy) route and started our climb at about 9:30 in the morning. As much as I was looking forward to seeing the monastery, I was dreading the climb. I read personal accounts in the online forums which mentioned how difficult it was, and how altitude sickness could affect some folks. But nevertheless – coming to Bhutan was a unique experience in itself and I was determined to make it all the way to the top on foot.
…