Today we were up and out the door by 7:30am heading toward the very famous Taktshang Goemba "Tiger's Nest Monastery" that hangs on the cliffside about 1,000 meters up above the valley floor just a little outside of Paro. As Leslie is already limping around with her left hip issue we decided to take the mules up the mountain to the drop off point. From there you have to walk down along the cliffs past a waterfall and then up on the other side of the cliff to the Monastery which is believed to have been built in 1629 originally. A fire in 1998 destroyed the main structure which was rebuilt in 2000. The views of the Paro valley as you climb are outstanding. This hike is on every tourist's itinerary and for those trekking this is used as the first day acclimatization exercise.
We enjoyed our lunch at the cafe and viewing area at the half way point on our way back down. It took us a little over 2 hours to walk down and we were very happy to have our hiking poles. It was a bright sunny day so we saw some interesting birds on the way up. At the cafe stop on the way up for morning coffee we met another guide that was carrying binoculars so we asked our guide if he might know something about birds and help us identify some of those we had pictures of but had problems identifying. Turns out that fellow was a trekking guide with specialization in birds and used by National Geographic. So with his help we identified more of the birds that we will post separately as our bird list. We were very tired after this hike ( altitude starting is about 2,200 meters) so were happy to have a tea in the hotel courtyard, repack our bags as we will be flying back to Thailand later tomorrow afternoon, and have an early evening.
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