Tiger's Nest hike

Taktsang clings to a granite cliff nine hundred metres above the Paro valley floor, where Guru Rinpoche is said to have arrived on the back of a tigress in the eighth century. From the trailhead it looks impossible. By the time you stand at its gate, lungs full of pine and juniper smoke, it feels inevitable.

The path climbs through blue pine and rhododendron, past prayer wheels turned by streams, to a cafeteria perched at the halfway point. Beyond it the monastery reveals itself across a gorge, then disappears behind a shoulder of rock, then returns, closer each time. A final staircase drops to a waterfall and climbs again to the door.

Inside, shoes and cameras are left at the entrance and the air is thick with butter lamps. Your guide walks you through the shrine rooms quietly, explaining what you may touch and what you may not. We start you early, before the valley warms, so the descent is slow and the afternoon is yours.