Tiger's nest (Taktsang ) monastery

I have had this awesome sight memorized by heart. I had seen it so many times in pictures or powerpoints, but never even dreamed I would some day make it there.

Hung far up on a cliff overlooking a spectacular valley, it is the place where Padmasambava landed when he brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the seventh century. He arrived on a flying tiger which had recently been his Tibetan concubine. 

Now, I did not have a concubine (flying or pedestrian), so the two and a half hour climb from the valley floor was the only option. Short on breath because of the altitude, I kept going as the monastery appeared and disappeared in and out of the trees. At the last part, the cliff drops a couple of thousand feet in front of you and in it are steps carved into its exposed face. No handrails. I stood in awe, soaked in the spirituality and took hundreds of images, knowing that deciding on the best one is going to be excruciating! Seeing it in person is more moving than I had anticipated, due to the cliff’s sheer danger and high altitude.

On the return journey I knew I had to leave Bhutan right after. Nothing else could even come close to matching this experience.