The Hike to Taktsang Monastery

So what is this place?

Built in 1692, Taktsang Monastery, often known as Tiger’s Nest, sits on the edge of a cliff at a height of 3,120 meters. According to the local legend it was built on the location where Guru Rinpoche is believed to have landed on the back of a tiger!

To get there, one has to hike up to the vantage points, then take cliff-hanging steps down to a narrow bridge across the gorge and then ascend a few hundred odd steps to the monastery.

I was not very optimistic about the hike as Kapil & I rarely exercise, and this was clearly beyond us. But this was probably the only time when we would be in Bhutan and it just did not make any sense to skip it. So we geared for a light trek and headed towards the mountain base. It is generally recommended to take ponies up the mountain, but I just didn’t trust those creatures on narrow trails.  It was going to be on foot and if we got too tired we would just turn back and come!

I am not sure what details I should put in here for our 3 hours trek except that the ascend to the first 1000 meters was the most difficult. Your body is getting used to the height and the sudden exertion increases your heartbeats leading breathlessness. We paused whenever tired and drank sips of water at regular intervals.

Our first stop was ‘The Tea House’, which is at around 2000 meters and has an awesome view of the monastery. A lot of people do turn back from this point which is recommended if you have vertigo or fear of heights.

We decided to march on. The trail at this point is less intense and we were soon at the final viewpoint which overlooks the gorge, on the other side of which is the monastery. There are steps going down the cliff side that then take you towards the monastery. This is the hard part. Going down the 2 feet wide steps cut in the cliffs with no railings to break a fall. The only way to make it was to NOT LOOK DOWN.

The monastery closes from 1-2 pm for lunch and we just made it to the doorstep at 12.59 pm. A little chat with the security guard and they graciously allowed us in to see the 3 of the 7 main temples even though the monastery was closing for an hour.

Inside the temple, it’s just like any other Buddhist place of worship. As the monastery is on the edge of the cliff, you do get stunning views of the mountains from its various windows and balconies. 

This was very much the grand end to our trip that we hoped it would be.