Tour of Bhutan 2024 | Day 4 | Paro – Tiger’s Nest – Paro | 32.9 kms

I get up around 6:15 am and immediately start to get ready. We plan to start early as we are going for the tiger’s nest monastery hike. I am ready by 7 am but, it takes some time my phone as is not charged upto the required level. I pack only the necessary stuff required for the hike as I don’t want to carry excess stuff and add to the misery during the climb. By 7:30 a.m., I am down at the restaurant for the breakfast. It’s still getting ready as I have to wait a while. After some time, the breakfast arrives and we have option of Poha, Aloo Paratha, Pasta, Bread and Butter. I go for Aloo paratha & Poha and after that butter toast with coffee. I meet with 2 Kerala girls during breakfast but sadly, it’s their last day. I wish them safe travels. After the breakfast, I load up the stuff onto the bike.

Phub is also almost ready. We fire the bike but it takes some time as they are completely frozen from yesterday’s chilly temperature. There is a thin crust of ice on our bike seats. I take a photo and keep the engine running till the bike’s sounding normal. We leave the hotel around 9 am, 1 hr more than our planned departure. It’s a 5-6 km drive to the base of the hiking trail. We reach there in no time, find a good parking spot and get myself an entry ticket. The ticket costs a whopping 1000rs. It’s free for my guide. Somehow, Phub manages to keep our helmets with his other guide friends. I remove all the winter clothing on me as I know that further up the hike, it’s going to get warm naturally. We start the hike around 9:30 am making our way upwards slowly.

Initially, I feel a bit cold but as the body warms up, it all comes down to normal. The trail is all rocky and the elevation is gradual. Along with us, many people are starting the hike. Most of them are Indians while the remaining are the locals dressed up in their traditional costume. We maintain our speed constant and within an hour, have reached at midway. We rest for a while before moving ahead. The trail passes through dense cover of trees. Very soon, we arrive at the only cafe along the trail. We decide to pause our hike and have some hot beverage before moving further. I feel like little tired and my speed drops but I still continue pushing further at a slow pace. Very soon, we are level with the Tiger’s Nest Monastery and come at it’s viewpoint from where most of the pictures are taken. There’s huge line of people wanting to take photos. We have to wait a while before our turn comes. With the pictures clicked, we move down the stairs before climbing back up to the same level. Along the way, we get to see a large waterfall.

We are at the entrance of the Monastery now where we show our permits and deposit all our electronic items in a locker box. Phub gives me his collared winter jacket, as entering the Monastery with round neck tshirt is not allowed. We show our permits and visit the many temples inside the Monastery. Phub helps me in explaining the significance of each one of them and we even offer our blessings. Phub tells me the main story of how the Tiger’s nest Monastery come into existence. It’s a peaceful and serene atmosphere and many people can be seen meditating. We exit the Monastery after we are done seeing everything and start to hike back down. We start around 12:50 p.m and touch base around 2:20 p.m as we take a short cut while coming down. Its a steep decline and I even fall down once. That’s the reason, we did not see anyone going back down. We hop onto our bikes immediately and move on towards Drukgyel Dzong. The scenery is beautiful as usual. We travel for like 10 kms before we set our sights on Drukgyel Dzong. We click pictures of it before returning back to Paro. Phub tells me that tourists and particularly Indians are not allowed beyond that point as it being a sensitive area due to the country’s bordering with China. Its well past lunch time and I am really hungry after the hike. We decide to have lunch at a small hotel frequented by Phub. It’s like a small shack located at the side of the road. I have noodles which is called ‘Koka’ in local language. It’s been made spicy as per my demand. My lips burn when I’m almost done with it. After the lunch, Phub & I retire to our hotels for rest. I check into the hotel and have a warm shower, get myself ready again to have a leisurely walk in the town.

The time is 4:45 p.m. and there’s ample of daylight left. The walk helps my leg muscles to relax after the arduous hike. The clouds and lights are just adding to the scenery. I click some photos as I walk. Visit some souvenir shops and buy some things which I like. A local cafe by the name of ‘Mountain Cafe’ catches my eyes. I have my evening dose of coffee there and spend some time writing my diary before getting back on the town walk. The cold by now has set in as I take a stroll on the handicraft shop lined streets. I get a chance to see live ‘Thangka’ painting being done in one of the shops. It’s just out of the world feeling to see the painters meticulously add in the finer details to the paintings, some of them taking months to complete Handicraft chapter is done for me and so the remaining evening, I spend at a local cafe named ‘Park 76’. The ambience is lively with live music being played with the lights being dimmed out.

I happen to get chance to meet the cafe owner. I congratulate him for the cafe and it’s ambience. I present my tour sticker to him which he happily pastes on the cafe entrance door. In return, I receive a cafe pin badge and a lapel pin with flags of India & Bhutan crossing each other. My heart just melts and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. By 8:45 p.m, I leave the cafe and head towards my hotel for the dinner. Dinner consists of mix veg, dal, rice and Papad. After the soulful dinner, I retire to my room for a good night’s sleep.