Chris hikes up to Tiger's Nest

Today, I hiked up to Tiger's Nest.   Perched 10,00 feet up a sheer cliff, Tiger’s Nest is Bhutan's most iconic landmark. Built in 1692, the sacred monastery marks the legendary site where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated after flying there on the back of a tigress.  

The hike is challenging but not horrible. It took about 2.5 hours to climb up with the altitude posing the biggest challenge. You start at about 8,000 ft and climb to 10,000.  The last stage nearest the monastery also includes stone steps which you have to descend along the far cliff and then ascend into the monastery.  This makes the return trip extra challenging because there are some stone steps you have to climb back up before walking all the way back down. 

This is from about half-way up.  

And this is from the top

After the climb, lunch included a demonstration of 10 dances and songs from different regions of Bhutan. 

The yak song was my favorite

Finally, no trip to Bhutan would be complete without a hot stone bath.  They heat the iron rich stones and then add them directly to the bath to heat the water.  Some herbs are added to the water to be the perfect medicine for some very tired muscles.  I soaked for about 40 minutes. You just yell out "stone" whenever you want them to add more hot stones to the water. 

Tomorrow, I return home. It will take about 36 hours. I have a morning flight from Paro to Delhi and then the 16 hour flight from Delhi to JFK tomorrow evening.