Our final full day in Bhutan meant only one thing . . . TIGER’s NEST!!
Any guidebook or Google/Instagram search on Bhutan will feature the iconic Tiger’s Nest monastery & temple complex perched high on a mountain cliff. At 3,100 meters high (~10,000 feet), hiking Tiger’s Nest typically features towards the end of itinerary in Bhutan; idea being that you’ve had as much time as possible prior to acclimate to Bhutan’s elevation.
Early Start
On Jamyang’s advice we were picked up at 6:30am to head to the base of Tiger’s Nest. An early start ensured a) less people, b) less heat and c) an overall better experience. We’re all for #earlybirding :) Our feet hit the trail shortly after 7:00am. The girls wanted little trekking sticks, which were available to rent at the base.
Hitting the Trails
Jamyang and Tashi joined us for the trek. No exaggeration, ~80% of the hike, each girl was way ahead of us, hand-in-hand with Jamyang or Tashi. This meant that the majority of the time it was me & Doug solo hiking, which is so amusing. Our little NYC walkers have transitioned to legitimately great hikers during our trip. At one point Sadie ditched her walking stick and said happily “I don’t need a walking stick because I have super sonic shoes!” We could hardly keep up as they danced up the 1,700+ ft vertical climb to reach the 10,000 ft elevation. With the altitude variable at play, it was a challenging hike. Doug & I were huffing and puffing, but the girls didn’t seem phased by it much at all. Throughout the journey, fellow Tiger’s Nest hikers remarked & marveled at the girls’ resolve. So did we!! Bodes well for loads more memorable hikes in the months ahead :)
Halfway & Views
There is a cafe just shy of the halfway mark. We stopped briefly for a coffee. The clouds started to clear, given a golden view of Tiger's Nest.
Going Strong
Motivated by increasingly closer views of Tiger's Nest, we were closing in on our target :)
Tiger's Nest Summit
Our early morning start meant we were one of the first to arrive at the top. Glorious! We ditched our shoes & backpack (nothing is allowed into the monastery & temple complex itself so we have no pictures of the interior or close-up exterior) and headed into the complex. It was a maze of individual temples, each with its own unique identity and significance. We marveled at the effort & ingenuity that went into constructing Tiger’s Nest in 1692. It’s a mind-blow! Jamyang explained TIger’s Nest’s beginnings . . . “Legend” (our words, not his) has it that the Guru who brought Buddhism to Bhutan arrived at this spot and meditated in the caves for 3+ years. This was followed by a Guru who flew to the location on a Tiger demon who was tamed on the cliffs. A fire destroyed the main building of the monastery in 1998 and it was rebuilt & opened again in 2000. We only explored a few of the temples. Several more were further afar and required more extended hiking. There’s even a “glamping” site where you can stay overnight adjacent to another temple, another 3 hour hike up the mountain. Next time! :)
Hanging Prayer Flags
On our way back down we stopped to hang prayer flags that we had purchased at the halfway point cafe on our way down. After seeing thousands upon thousands across the countryside this week, we were excited to hang our very own. We got three: one for Paige, one for Sadie, and one shared between me & Doug. We each found just the right spot, anchored between two trees. I asked Jamyang if anyone ever signed their prayer flags, indicated who it was being placed there by, but he said that wasn’t something anyone did. Nonetheless, it was lovely to leave our spiritual mark on the country :) I hope Jamyang & Tashi will walk by our prayer flags with future travelers and feel an extra breeze of love as they walk by.
We wrapped up our Tiger’s Nest hike and were heading to an early lunch by 11:30am.
Jamyang said that in all his years of leading tours up to Tiger’s Nest (in his ~6 years as a tour guide, he reckoned he’d summitted Tiger’s Nest a few hundred times) that we did it the fastest! Not bad for a family from New York City with two kiddos :) Proud of us!
One For the Books
Iconic Tiger’s Nest lived up to our expectations. It’s up there as a highlight of our time in Bhutan, lodged firmly in our memories alongside so many other smaller, but equally magically memorable moments.
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