Tiger Nest Monastery in Bhutan

Hello Steemit,

In 2017, I had the good fortune to ride to Bhutan on a motorcycle. It was a splendid ride. While in Bhutan, we got to experience the culture of the place, meet the really jovial, happy and smiling locals and see their wonderful architecture that is preserved in almost all buildings.

We realised that Bhutanese people are really proud of their heritage, place and culture.

Since we were in Bhutan, we could not miss out on the famous tiger nest monastery. So in Paro, we parked our motorbikes and decided to do the arduous hike to reach this famed place.

Takstang Monastery or the Paro Tiger nest monastery is the most important picture that represents Bhutan. A very important Buddhist holy site, it is built as a mark of respect to Guru Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche. He is credited to have introduced Buddhism in Bhutan along with Tibet, Nepal and Sikkim.

An arduous 8 km trek uphill takes one to the monastery. It is a strong Buddhist belief that with every step one takes towards the monastery, they cleanse their sins of past. It is not very uncommon to even see old people undertaking this difficult trek to reach to the top.

There was also the option doing the journey on horseback until midway, but we decided to trek all the way up.

These are Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags. They were tied throughout the entire path. The belief is that the wind carries the prayers all through, bringing good luck and safety for the travellers.

Through our entire trek, the local dog was our companion. He waited for us when we rested and resumed the journey whenever we were ready to move.

Once at the top, we were rewarded with this beautiful view of the valley with the town of Paro nestled right in the middle.

All in all, we had a great time visiting the monastery and understanding the Bhutanese history and culture better.