The Land of the Thunder Dragon, Part 2: Taktshang, the Tiger's Nest

Our first dawn in Bhutan came with a lot of blue sky and bright sunshine. Since we knew we'd be hiking at high altitudes on our trip, we were a little concerned about altitude sickness. We'd done our research and consulted with the Medical Unit at the Embassy in Bangkok, so we brought with us a packet of Diamox. Diamox not only treats the early symptoms of altitude sickness, but it can also act as a preventative. As the Everest Medical Clinic of the Himalayan Rescue Association explains:

"Acetazolamide (Diamox®) is a medication that forces the kidneys to excrete bicarbonate, the base form of carbon dioxide; this re-acidifies the blood, balancing the effects of the hyperventilation that occurs at altitude in an attempt to get oxygen. This re-acidification acts as a respiratory stimulant, particularly at night, reducing or eliminating the periodic breathing pattern common at altitude. Its net effect is to accelerate acclimatization. Acetazolamide isn't a magic bullet, cure of acute mountain sickness (AMS) is not immediate. It makes a process that might normally take about 24-48 hours speed up to about 12-24 hours."

We had taken our first dose at bedtime the night before, to start tapering up to the recommended dose of 500mg per day during the trek. We also figured it couldn't hurt to have a little in our systems for our day hike to Taktshang Goemba, the monastery-temple-architectural marvel known as the Tiger's Nest.


The Bhutanese believe that Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha and founder of Buddhism in Bhutan, defeated the demon Singey Samdrup on the site of the monastery, which he reached by flying on the back of his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, who had manifested herself in the form of a tigress sheathed in mystic flame. He meditated in a cave at the site for three months, after which it was viewed as holy ground. The first monastery was built here in the late 1600s, the buildings held to the cliff face by the hairs of angels, who carried the timbers up the cliff. After a fire destroyed the monastery in 1998, it was reconstructed in its exact form -- sadly, without the help of angels.


Namgay and Tilley met us after breakfast, and together we drove out to the base of the mountain where Taktshang is perched. "The only way up to the Tiger's Nest is to walk, ride a horse or fly on the back of a magic tiger (the latter generally reserved for Tantric magicians)," the Lonely Planet guide to Bhutan told us. The monastery was about 1,250 feet (380 meters) above us, so this would be a good warm-up hike for our big trek. Namgay told us we should be able to complete the whole hike in about five hours.


There were shrines and prayer wheels along the path. Some were powered by small streams cascading down the mountain.




Guru Rinpoche is said to have hidden terma, or "treasures" -- sacred writings and objects -- throughout Bhutan. These treasures can only be recovered by tertons, treasure-revealers who are the reincarnations of Guru Rinpoche's special disciples. This rock contains a terma.


About halfway up, there was a small teahouse where we could have a snack and catch our breath. We picked up a hopeful trail dog looking for handouts.




Shortly thereafter, we began to encounter our first serious obstacle: Jennifer's left boot began to delaminate. The sole was separating from the boot. We'd seen this problem in other shoes before -- dry rot of the plastic and rubber in the sole of the shoe. Apparently a lot of people who live in the tropics have this problem. The timing, of course, was extremely bad, as we were planning to start an eight-day hike the next day. For the time being, we followed a mantra popular in the Marine Corps: Improvise, adapt and overcome.


By the time we reached the observation point before crossing over to the cliff where the temple stands, Patrick's boots had also begun to fall apart. The ever-patient and resourceful Namgay did what he could to keep us together.




All of our boot troubles were easily forgotten when we saw the temple at close range. It seemed like something from a fairy tale -- utterly astonishing. The temple was open to visitors when we arrived, so we surrendered our bags, camera and hats to the guardhouse and made our way through the complex. The temple seemed to grow organically from the rock, completely natural and integrated with the mountain.




A number of Bhutanese pilgrims were on the grounds with us -- every Bhutanese tries to make a pilgrimage to Taktschang at least once in their lives. Namgay's first visit was at the age of 13, when his father was in the military in the capital of Thimphu. In one chapel, a senior monk was distributing blessings of holy water. We received the water in our right hand, took a sip, and spread the rest on our heads.

Every surface was painted -- either with floral and geometric designs or elaborate murals of Buddhist deities, demons and parables, all done in mineral paints. Every statue, mural and object seemed ancient, and we had to remind ourselves that the temple had only been reopened in 2005. Namgay opened a trapdoor in one chapel and allowed us to peer down into a cave where a famous monk had meditated for three years, three months and three days.


Soon it was time to leave and we made our way back down the mountain. Just after the observation point, Patrick's boots completely fell apart -- he stuck the soles in his backpack and hiked the rest of the way down without them. We were astonished to find that we'd done the hike in just over five hours, just as Namgay had predicted. "I think we could have done in four," he said.


From Taktshang we headed to a restaurant called the Yak Herder's House for lunch. Again we ate a delicious meal of Indo-Chino-Bhutanese tourist food, but the real treat came when Namgay brought in a large iron bowl and a bamboo straw. "Thongba," he said -- and so it was!


Thongba is fermented millet (when made from rice, it's called chhang). One pours hot water over the millet, allows it to steep, and drinks the liquid through a straw. It's mildly alcoholic, supposedly good for the circulation and digestion, and very tasty. It's a bit sour and yeasty, with a touch of effervescence. Thongba is popular in eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and in western Bhutan. Namgay, being from the far east of Bhutan, preferred ara, but he was very pleased that we were so excited to receive this gift. He told us that he'd asked a local farmer for a batch, and the farmer had given it to him for free -- but made Namgay promise to bring back his good bamboo straw!


After lunch we headed back into downtown Paro to see the local cobbler about our boots. As we'd feared, he pronounced them unrepairable. We loved our boots -- Patrick had worn his REI boots since 2003, Jennifer's Lowas had been around since 2004 -- and were really sorry to have to throw them out.



Jennifer got lucky -- sort of -- and found a pair of counterfeit men's North Face boots that fit her reasonably well. Patrick couldn't find anything that fit him, but he thought he could get along with a pair of light leather boots he'd worn in Mongolia.

Namgay and Tilley took us back to the Uma Paro, where we enjoyed a dip in the heated pool and a brief steam bath, then organized our gear to head out on our trek the next day. We had another fantastic dinner in the hotel restaurant, took another dose of Diamox, and headed for bed. We had a big day ahead of us in the morning....