Day 13, Paro

May 5, 2009

Technically, this is the last day of my trip. So I decided to test the limits of my physical endurance today by taking a trip to the Paro Taktsang.

Taktsang, or more commonly known as the Tigers Nest, is a monastery in built on a cliff at an altitude of 3100m above sea level. It is built around a cave where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for a considerable duration in the 7th century. The challenge here is that there is no road to the monastery and the only way to reach it is by foot from the adjoining Paro valley, some 700m below the monastery.

I hesitated for a while when I looked up at the monastery looming precariously an the cliff. My guide warned me that the path is steep, slippery and often dangerous, and that most tourists return midway. But what the hell, you live only once. And I don’t believe in tomorrow. So I decided that I would take my chances and try to make it to the monastery.

As expected, the trek was grueling. It has been years since I worked out and the trek made it very obvious that I am in a bad shape. I stopped to catch my breath after every few steps and found that the only sound I could hear was that of my heart beating in my chest. But I was utterly glad that it was still beating, because at one point I thought I was going to die. No, I knew I was going to die. I ached, I perspired and I whined. Yet I kept going on because I wanted to do it, for myself. I needed to know that I am still capable of doing what I set my heart on, that I am just as adamant and perseverant as I was when I took on life ten years ago.

Two hours after we started at the base camp, we were inside the monastery, just before closing time. I was triumphant, tired and awed.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. I had thought going up was much harder than coming down. I soon discovered how wrong I was. As I descended the mountain after offering my prayers at the monastery, I could barely walk as my legs were trembling under my own weight. Curse McDonalds and Pizza Hut! After another two arduous hours, I made it back to the spot where we left our car in the valley below. Alive and kicking. Actually, I could barely walk, leave alone kick.

There were other places that I was supposed to visit today after the Taktsang. But I had neither the time nor the energy. I did manage to go to the Rinpung Dzong though. I limped around for a while and headed for my hotel.

On the way, I called home and learnt about the upheaval going on in Kathmandu. Later my driver told me that the day after we left Jaigaon, there were riots among the local groups and there was a curfew in the town. It seems like I am turning every place I am going to upside down and getting out just in time.