Located in the Upper Paro Valley is the Taktshang Goemba, or the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. The most famous monastery in Bhutan that is perched on the side of a cliff 900 m above the floor of Paro Valley. Tiger’s Nest (elev 3200 m) was built in 1692 and considered a very holy place by locals and Buddhists. Many travellers into Bhutan consider this as the highlight of their journey to this Kingdom.

This is my last hike in Bhutan that will take a total of 6 hours. The only way up is to walk or ride a horse. It took me 3 hours of hiking to reach the monastery – two hours to the look-out point and close to another hour to navigate the steep stairs (600+ steps). It took almost the same time to get back down. It was a little busy when I did the hike as several locals were doing their pilgrimages as it coincided with the tenth day of the month (in lunar calendar) which is considered an auspicious date.