Bhutan – Where Tigers Soar and Arrows Fly
The Tiger’s Nest Monastery
The most well known attraction in Bhutan and its cultural icon is the Paro Taktsang, commonly known as the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. The monastery is built into the side of a mountain cliff, thousands of feet above the valley floor below it, and is only accessible by hiking up a steep trail on the mountain.
Legend has it the the Guru Rinpoche, who is credited with introducing Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th Century, flew to a cave on that site on the back of a tigress. Once there, he meditated in the cave for 3 years, 3 months, 3 days and 3 hours. Centuries later, Tenzin Rabgye, who was said to be the reincarnation of Guru Rinpoche, built a monastery at the cave site. The original monastery, finished in 1692, was destroyed by fire in 1998. An exact replica has now been rebuilt on the same site.
The Hike to the Top
Getting to the monastery involves a fairly strenuous hike from the valley below. Starting at over 8000′, there is a 1700′ ascent in just a couple of miles, until you finally reach the site, which sits at over 10,000′. We saved this hike for our second to last day in Bhutan, using the previous weeks to acclimate to the elevation and walk ourselves into shape. That turned out to be a smart decision.
Archery and Darts
Archery is Bhutan’s national sport. But forget about those fancy bows with multiple pulleys and gears shooting at big, round targets. In Bhutan, they still use simple bows made from wood. The targets they shoot at are small planks of wood sitting on the ground about 100′ away, with an even smaller circle painted on it. Apparently the only thing that’s big is all the trash talking that goes on during a match. We tried our hand at it and were very pleased to have hit the target on our first outing.
The other major pastime is darts. Here again, large and heavy wooden darts are thrown at a small target on the ground 30′ away. After many tries, I was finally able to hit the target on occasion. It’s nothing at all like pub darts.
Flora and Fauna
Being more than 70% covered in pristine forest, you might guess that Bhutan has tremendous biodiversity. And you’d be right. From bengal tigers and sloth bears in the tropical lowlands, to snow leopards and the Bhutan Takin in the mountains, the country is home to many rare mammals. While we didn’t see very many of these on our trip, we did nevertheless see a good variety of animals.
Rhododendrons
The rhododendron is the national flower. They clearly like thin air, as the higher we went in elevation, the more we saw. Above 10,000′ there are entire mountainsides covered in rhododendrons, and seeing them in full bloom in the spring is an unforgettable sight.
