Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon

Last night after dinner my cook brought me a fleeced covered hot water bottle for my sleeping bag. MUCH appreciated! (It was still warm in the morning and Thrashing used the contents for his wash up water. So glad I asked for the down sleeping bag + parka when I booked. it was a very cosy night even though temp was zero. Also glad I brought a toque!

Even though it was zero through the night, as soon as the sun hit, it was warm enough for eating outside. Bhutan is around the same latitude as Tampa – it’s just as few kilometres closer to the gods elevation wise.

Today was almost all downhill which sounds like a blessing but my knees soon disagreed. Today’s we stop at the Taktsang or, Tiger’s Nest, Monastery – the one that defies gravity clinging to a rock face.

Lovely old growth forests and nice packed earth trails to start with a few monastery and mediation spots along the way.

The Tigers Nest looks so close but one must go down before going up. At least 250 uneven steps in both directions – that’s two stories higher than our condo building. I may be tempted to try this at home at low altitude for comparison…or maybe not.

The monastery name comes from the legend of Guru Rinpoche aka Padmasambhava, who arrived in the 8th century from Tibet on the back of a flaming pregnant tiger – it is believed he meditated for three months in a cave at this site – it was the one temple foreigners weren’t allowed to enter.

This was the only place we visited where the pilgrims out numbered the tourists. There was police security being very strict about shoes and cameras/phones. We popped into all 8 temples that foreigners were allowed to – they mainly featured Guru Rinpoche and buddhas of course. I felt uncomfortable being in the way of people praying – the rooms were not large – so our visit was short.

The saddle stairs in reverse took awhile – many tiny asian women passed me on the way up.

It was down 300m and 1.5 km to the cafeteria for lunch then another 1.7 km of uneven stairs to the car park for a total of descent of 1200m for the day.

My knee held out and I survived – now for the challenge of packing!