The reason d’être for our trip happened today. We climbed to Taktsang Monastery which is also known as the Tiger’s Nest. This monastery is the best known shrine in Bhutan and all Bhutanese people will try to make a pilgrimage here at least once in your life.
Yesterday afternoon we got our first rain we have seen on our trek through four countries. The guide was worried and said that if it was raining this morning that we would not be able to climb because the rain would make the path too slippery and dangerous. I put my foot down and said even if there was a flood of biblical proportions I was climbing to that monastery. When we woke up this morning, I rushed to the window to check the weather. I could not see the sun as the clouds were low and even blocking views of the mountain. It was not raining. Our guide said the Gods were favoring us today.
The tour books claim that it takes 45 minutes to reach the tea room and from there it is another hour and 30 minutes to the monastery. Our climb to the tea room took an hour and a half. It was a steep climb. We got into the rhythm of taking 5 steps, stop and breath deeply, repeat. As we reached the top of the mountain, we were devastated to see steps that went down and back up to reach the monastery. Later we counted and there are 788 steps one way. These steps would make any aerobic class look like a picnic. It took us over three and a half hours to reach the monastery. All I can say is that it was worth every step to make it to that monastery.
At the entrance to the monastery we made a group picture with our guide who was wearing the Georgia bulldog t-shirt we gave him. The monastery has statues and treasures that are priceless. The monastery was completed destroyed in a fire in 1999 but miraculously none of the statues and treasures were damaged even though all the buildings were completely destroyed. I guess the god’s know what to protect and what is worth letting go.
It took about an hour to traverse the 788 steps. Right when we though Mother could not take another step, Anne was ahead rounded a corner and saw the most amazing site. There was an older Bhutanese woman in traditional steps standing there with a prayer wheel telling Anne that she could make it. Anne turned to us and told us what she saw and said the lady has the most angelic look on her face. When we reached her, she was smiling as advertised. We took pictures. I climbed up and showed her the picture on my camera. As I climbed down she chanted om mani padme hum. I repeated the chant back to her. I am convinced the lady was a figment of our imagination but why question the blessings of a gods that favor you.
Our round trip climb took five and a half hours. The gods clearly favored us because they kept the clouds low blocking the sun. By the time we started descending the sun was up and it was very hot but the gods decided to have a quick rain shower that cooled the temperature down 10 degrees.
When we finally reached the car, we were devastated to learn that a gentleman tourist from Germany died instantly of a heart attack at the tea room. There was not much they could do and they strapped the body to a horse which took it down. The wife was unable to make the climb to the tea room so she had turned around and was not aware what had happened. I cannot imagine being in a foreign country and having to deal with the death of your spouse so we keep her in our prayers.
After that long trek we stopped at Drukel Dzong which burned in the 1950s so it is basically a ruin. The government has no plans to rebuild it so it is preserved in its present condition. It was brutal climbing up to the Dzong after already climbing for five and a half hours. Anne and I made the visit and mother stayed in the car.
Ugen, the Bhutanese man living in America who runs Wind Horse Tours, came home to Bhutan yesterday. Today he stopped at the hotel just to visit us. They were filming hotels to create a DVD to send to potential clients. He interviewed me and if I make it on the DVD that will be my 15 minutes of fame.
At dinner we had drinks and celebrated our success.
