Paro II

Today was the big day, we were supposed to save the best for last but Lisa was leaving a day before us so we switched things up a bit to have Tiger's Nest come first before Ha Valley. Even Fifa was coming to hike with us and it's his first time seeing Paro Taktsang as well so I was excited for him too.

When we got to the trailhead, it was pretty cold already. We bought our tickets which were the most expensive ones so far and rightly so since this was Bhutan's crown jewel. Emily and I both rented some walking sticks and began the hike up.

It was a pretty good trail that first started us in the forest, going higher towards rocky outcrops all the while having prayer flags and stumbling upon a giant prayer wheel or two. Emily was the first amongst us to get hit by altitude sickness since we were already above 2,400 meters. She was getting a bit of a headache but we kept on. Throughout the hike, I was chanting Guru Rinpoche's mantra as he was known to have meditated in the Tiger's Nest. Fifa overheard me and we talked about it for a bit.

We passed by the first checkpoint which was a cafe that offered views of the temple but it was still over at the other side. Looks like it was still going to be a long way. We pushed through and at this point, even I could feel a bit already with my head feeling a bit heavier and my breath getting thinner.

Soon enough we reached the main descent towards it which provided us some of the best photos we could get of the Tiger's Nest. Right as we crossed the bridge, we also witnessed a wonderful waterfall, the tallest so far we've seen in Bhutan. As we approached the main monastery, we had to give away our phones as they weren't allowed and we also couldn't bring our things inside so everything had to be put in a locker. We took of our shoes and explored every nook and cranny of the place. I paid homage to each deity especially Guru Rinpoche who I made my wishes to, all the while chanting the Seven Line Prayer. I explained some of the Buddhist lore to Lisa and Emily including the story of Avalokiteshvara and Tara. We even got to go inside the actual Tiger's Nest which was a cave that we had to do some maneuvering to get to. After we were done exploring the main monastery, another temple at the top of a mountain higher than this one caught my eye and I asked Fifa if we could go there and he said it was possible. Emily didn't want to risk making her altitude sickness worse so she decided to hike back down and wait for us while Lisa and I opted to go for it. I still wanted to go for it despite the difficulties since we were already here. Fifa said that that temple was known as Heaven.

The three of us made our way up there, passing by temples inside caves until we got to the main temple at the top. It was quite unassuming yet beautiful nonetheless. A monk asked if I wanted to enter and I said yes so he opened up the lock and I got to pray. With that out of the way, I'm glad we could finally start going down. We met up with Emily back at the cafe before continuing our way down. Fifa and I kinda just pushed on through and on the way we stumbled upon a hundred year old tree where people seemed to be leaving their holy threads. Since it was my third day too, it felt right so I left mine here as well, tying up my pilgrimage to Tiger's Nest.

The cafe was a bit too expensive so we opted to have lunch back at town and Fifa took us to a really good one, a restaurant that Lisa was able to research on even before. I got some fried cheese momos and chicken fried rice but it was absolutely delicious that I had to thank the lady for her recommendation.

Thaye had arranged for us a free tour around Namgyal Artisanal Brewery since he knew some people even after work hours and also a Hot Stone Bath at a much cheaper price so the day was far from over. First we had to check-in to our new hotel since we checked out of Khamsum Inn today, I had no idea why we had to do that but I guess that happened. After we got settled in, we went to the brewery where we were welcomed and given a private tour of the facilities. It was too bad it was already late at night so things weren't running but it was great to see the behind the scenes of the place. Since I didn't drink alcohol, Emily, Lisa, and Fifa (even though he was driving) got to do some taste testing as well as drinking some fun concoctions. My order wasn't too bad too, who knew a mocktal consisting of orange and vanilla would go so well?

Satisfied with our drinks, we went on to end the day with a much deserved Hot Stone Bath, the traditional Bhutanese way of rejuvenating the mind, body and spirit. The water is heated up with stones burned outside and dropped into the baths which made it like the onsen of Japan. It was a great way to unwind after the hike. We would just yell out our bath number and the people outside would throw in a stone or two that would immediately heat the water up. What I loved most about it were the medicinal herbs that made the water smell so good. We spent a good time here until 9:30 PM or so. Fifa was the first to leave and I followed suit to find him chowing down on some food. We all went back to the hotel afterwards, no dinner for the three of us as I felt pretty full still.Okumaya devam et