Travel Diaries: Bhutan

Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan has long been on my and Hayden’s list, but it’s a relatively difficult country to visit. Bhutan has a population of roughly 800,000 and they only opened to tourism in 1974. They’ve long put happiness as a nationwide priority and have focused on high quality, low volume tourism. Because of this, they have a $100/day visa (down from the previous $200/day) in an effort to minimize tourism. To visit, you also have to travel with a tour guide, essentially requiring you to book a private tour. Because of all of this, Hayden and I opted to visit for just 3 days.

We managed to find the most affordable tour offered and the fun began before we even stepped on Bhutanese soil. There are only two airlines that can fly into Bhutan and we opted for a flight that left out of Kathmandu. This allowed us one night to explore a city we both love, get food at our favorite restaurants, and do a bit of shopping. We naively thought that the weather in Bhutan would be cold (because that’s what the weather app said) and so we each bought a beanie and I bought a vest, which put us out a whopping $8. It turns out that it was 80 and sunny every single day we were there.

Our flight from Kathmandu to Bhutan gave us the most amazing views of the Himalayas, Everest included.

The approach into the Paro airport is truly crazy and this is the opinion of two people who have flown into Lukla, the world’s most dangerous airport! In an Airbus 319 you bank hard right and then left and then right again as you snake your way through the Himalayas.

After landing, our guide Phuba met us outside of the airport and we set off for our day. Hayden peppered him with endless questions about Bhutan and whether or not he was allowed to kayak their gorgeous rivers and Phuba had all the answers. After a bit of sightseeing, we stopped for lunch where we thankfully met two American girls who were traveling on a similar itinerary. We compared itineraries and learned that we were headed to a paper making factory (tourist trap) and they were doing a short hike to a temple. We relayed this to our guide and he happily let us switch to the hike. The hike was a lovely walk through the woods to Wangditse Ihakhang temple, which was built in 1715.

Tiger’s Nest

Our one full day in Bhutan was dedicated to Tiger’s Nest, a temple that is quite literally built into the cliffside. Built in 1692, the temple sits at an elevation of 10,236 feet. While it was built in the 17th century, it is rumored to have been a religious site since the 8th century.The story goes that Guru Padmasambhava flew to the cave on the back of a tigress and then meditated in a cave for three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours. The cave where he meditated is now considered very special and sacred and is only open once a year. But the cave where the tigress rested, is THE Tiger’s Nest, hence the name of the temple.

Now, most people visit Tiger’s Nest the temple, but not that many people actually climb down into Tiger’s Nest the cave. This is probably mostly due to the fact that the majority of people who visit Bhutan are 65+ and it’s a bit of a dark climb. You cannot take photos inside of the temple, so you’ll have to use your imagination—but we did make the climb into the true Tiger’s Nest. It consisted of walking into a cave and then down a series of chicken coop style ladders deeper into the cave, then walking down a short, dark tunnel to where a single candle was lit at the end. It was very cool!

Past that, there are multiple temple rooms within the complex and we enjoyed exploring them. The Buddhist temples are all decorated so beautifully and are very colorful. Our guide told us that there were about 6-10 monks that live at Tiger’s Nest year round, which made us think how cold it must get up there in the wintertime.

Before we even started this hike, specifically at the trail head, we were looking up at Tiger’s Nest from the ground and Hayden noticed that there was another temple off to the right of Tiger’s Nest. He asked the guide if we could go there too and he said no, maybe if we had another day, as you have to hike up to Tiger’s Nest, above and around and then back down to the other side to reach this other temple. After some more pressing, we learned that our guide had actually never been, didn’t fully know the way, but that it was on his bucket list to visit. So it was then decided that he and Hayden would hike to this second temple and fulfill his bucket list! It was also decided that I hike back down by myself and have a cappuccino because we’ve learned that if it’s a hike I want to do, I can skip up any mountain without complaint. But if it’s a hike I am not fully sold on, I turn back into a moody 16 year old and complain a lot.

So I enjoyed my cappuccino with a view of Tiger’s Nest and read my book while they trekked on. Once they arrived at this second temple, they were met by two monks who live there and not another tourist in sight. Hayden was blessed by one monk and the other monk served them tea. They had also packed beers to celebrate achieving Phuba’s bucket list item, which they enjoyed outside the temple on the side of the mountain.

Hayden and Phuba enjoying their beers outside of the second monastery

Bhutan was absolutely beautiful and we so enjoyed our short but sweet visit.

What I would tell you before your first big trip abroad

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