A TREK TO TIGER'S NEST

My friends Abhishek and Deepak obliged to take out some time from their busy schedule and landed in Thimphu.Usually to visit western Bhutan one requires a week or say 4 to 5 days.One comes here to relax and not otherwise.They gave me two days in toto.I as a good host let them relax the first day and took them around Thimphu city.Now one had to offer them what is best here in one day.So I decided to show them Taksang Monastery.That is the most important monastery in Bhutan.legend has it that Guru Rinpoche (Precious Master), the father of the Bhutanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism, arrived in Paro Valley more than a millennium ago on the back of a legendary tigress. He meditated for three months in a cave where a monastery was later built and called Taktsang Lhakang or Tiger's Nest.
Due to a late evening in the bar we started as usual 'late'.By the time we reached the base in Paro it was noon.Now the expected time to trek up to the the Monastery is two hour plus and for people new to trekking three hours.We had no choice we had to do it within the time frame of maximum three hours.Since it was winters by four it gets pretty cold and chilly here.So we set out at the earnest.Abhishek had a problem with breathing so he gracefully opted out.Now it was left to three of us me my driver and Deepak.To strat with Deepak did pretty well.But half way on he was exasperated.Thanks to sepoy Mishra he pulled and motivated Deepak while I set the pace.It was warm sunny day and the Paro valley looked golden.Paro chuu (river) was like the silver serpent.It was majestic sight which encouraged us to climb faster. We had our moments of tiredness but we tugged along.Deepak specially was great sport.We managed to climb in one and half hour.An achievement since he had no trekking experience.We were back by three O'clock.Thankfully for Abhishek also as he waited down at base for three long hours.A trek to tiger's nest was a fulfilling experience as we checked our endurance after a long time.It reminded me of my days as cadet at National Defence Academy.Thankfully we were not carrying backpacks and rifles.The feeling of doing the climb was overwhelming.The Taksang is aptly named.
We were quite hungry so to end we stopped at one of my Bhutnese friend's place in Paro for Noodles.Truly a day to remember and blog.