Wish I had a Flaming Tigress!

The story is the Guru came from Tibet on a flying flaming tigress and landed on the mountain side to subdue an evil being.  The Guru meditated there for 3 months and got the evil being to be the protector of Buddhism in Bhutan.  Today I would have given anything for a flying flaming tigress to fly me to the Tiger's Nest Monastery!  My sister, Wendy did this hike a few years back and she warned me twice to take the burro. . . I sadly did not listen!  Our guide was telling us yesterday that their were switchbacks and it wasn't too difficult. . .I should have know this advice is from a man who takes a 1 day walk over the mountain to visit his mother!!!  There were switchbacks but not the long ones I envisioned. . .more like short little "v's" in the vertical terrain!!

The beginning!

 As a reference we started just above the valley floor on our pilgrimage to Tiger's Nest.  One of the guides said that there has to be a little difficulty in the journey so you appreciate the end result.  Believe me I am appreciative!

Prayer Flags overlooking the valley of Paro

Tiger's Nest in the distance

Resting for a photo!

 As you climb the hill the trail takes you above Tiger's Nest and then you have to get across to the monastery.  There are 280+ steps that take you down to a really cool water fall and then back up to Tiger's Nest.  They do have a railing now so that you do not fall to your death on your way to be blessed!  All Bhutanese must wear their traditional dress to enter the monstery.

The edge of Tiger's Nest

Tiger's Nest

 AS you can see from the picture below the steps are very steep and severe switchbacks!  Then you had to climb the steps back up to Tiger's Nest. . .which sit at about 10,500ft in elevation.

The Steps leading to Tiger's Nest

 The closer you get to Tiger's Nest the more prayer flags are draped between the two mountains.  There is a deep sense of peace and spirituality as you approach the entrance or it is the lack of oxygen from the climb!

Hundreds of Prayer Flags

Getting Closer

 We are almost there and finally my adrenaline kicks in or the couple of Sharkies that I ate to boost my energy. . .but now we are like horses to the barn to be inside the monastery.  I might add at this point that I have decided to expend all my energies because I have decided to take the burro back down the hill so I am going on all cylinders!

At the Gate

We have finally made it!  As we are making the final steps to the check point we notice all these little clay mini-stupa looking things. . .we ask the guide what they were.  He replied "cremated remains of the the dead mixed with clay and put into little stupa molds.  There families bring them here and place them in one of the holiest place to Buddhists.  You can tell they keep relatives together and some of them are painted red and gold.

Cremated remains of people

 We had to check all our bags and cameras at the check point so no pictures in Tiger's Nest.  We saw three incredible shrines and the views from the top of Tiger's Nest are magnificent.  We had bought some prayer flags in town yesterday to carry to be blessed by the monks.  Our guides got one of the highest monks to bless our flags. . .complete with chanting, holy water, and rice offerings!  It was very cool.  Then unexpectedly the monk blessed us individually using the holy water. . .it was a very special moment.

Great signage!

We started back on our travel of the 280+ stairs and noticed the above sign. .. I loved it!  Now all I could think about was hopping on my burro and getting down the hill.  The stairs were even harder the second time around as the up was VERY steep!  I got to the point where the burros would be waiting and . . . NO BURROS!!!   Those of you who have hiked with me know that I am no speedster going up and I am extremely slow on the downhill!  I came to discover that it is too steep for the burros to carry people down the hill!  So we begin our 2000ft descent on the hard packed dusty dirt!

Prayer Flags

I am certainly glad that we made the long trek to Tiger's Nest it is amazing in a hundred different ways!  Jeanna loved the hike and was practically joyful the whole day!  I, as always the reluctant hiker found it to be well worth the energy expended and sense of peace found in this wonderful place.