Friday, August 17, 2007

Tigers Nest


There are some things that you see while you travel, or during life, that make such an impression on you…whether it be mentally, spiritually, physically… so many ways to make an impact—some good, and some not as uplifting—everything has a yin and yang, right?

Some amazing sights I’ve been lucky to see while traveling include Machu Pichu (which is breathtaking especially seeing it during sunrise), Mount Everest (which is just jaw dropping), Galapagos Islands (incredible adventure)…and now I can say, Tigers Nest in Bhutan.

I just came back from visiting this most holy Buddhist site in Bhutan, and it was, in one simple word: Stunning.

We started at 8:15 am from the base of the mountain…I did not use a mule to climb up…as one tour guide said, ‘it’s a spiritual place, try to walk and not use a mule’…so I took it to heart, and climbed, hoping that I could do it—as I’m not a hiker/trekker.

And climbing we did.

We were sweating bullets…our shirts were soaked at the half-way point. It was fortunately a cloudy day, so no hot sun beating down our backs, but it was steep, and muddy climb (monsoon season is on, so every night there is a bit of rain). We cheered each other on, as I found some Germans who I had met in Nepal who were with me today here in Bhutan (travelers have crossed my path so many times, it has been awesome that I’ve seen people and over and over again….)

When the clouds parted while we were at the half-way viewpoint, we saw the stunning site….and all of us sat down, in silence to take it in. We watched the clouds coming and going, hiding this precious site, and tried to take it all in. After a 20 minute rest, we continued…. Upwards…and onwards…

It was a journey…a fantastic one at that…and then we entered the Dzong…and it was such a powerful spiritual attraction…words would not be worthy to describe it.

We left our bags outside, as no cameras, or any sort of purse is allowed in, and our guide explained everything to us…we saw the cave where *(&&& meditated, and then saw the ‘Nest’ where the Tiger meditated…I could not believe I was here.

I had heard of Tigers Nest only a few months ago, while watching the Discovery Channel, and a show in which they were sending a couple around the world to visit some of the sites to visit the ‘1000 places to go before you die’ book (which I own). The particular episode I watched was on Bhutan, and I watched with mesmerized eyes. The couple hiked to this Dzong, and the beauty of it was enrapturing.

And now, I have seen it too.
I feel so fortunate and lucky to have seen it.

As we exited, it began to rain…so we slowly climbed up some stairs to get to a second view point and made it to the first viewpoint which held a cafeteria which fed us some lunch….we waited a bit to see if the rain would die down, and then we left…hoping that the trek down would not be too slippery.

While walking down, I could not believe how much we had climbed up…walking down was much simpler..and I felt lighter…

Bhutan and Tigers Nest is one of the sites on this planet to behold. If you get a chance to go, take it, grab it, and just go for it.

And trek it…simply remember, that if I can climb it, you can too. Promise.

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