IMMERSIVE – Bhutan Series w/ Breathe Bhutan – Hiking to Tiger’s Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang) EPIC
In this immersive, audio-only episode of the Winging It Travel Podcast, I take you with me as I hike to Tiger’s Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang) in Bhutan — one of the most iconic and spiritual hikes in the world.
This episode starts early in the morning in Paro, with pre-hike nerves, breakfast, and my first distant glimpse of Tiger’s Nest clinging to the mountainside. From there, we journey to the trailhead and begin the steady uphill climb through pine forests, open valleys, and sweeping mountain views.
As I hike, I share real-time reactions, heavy breathing, and honest reflections as the monastery slowly reveals itself through the trees. About halfway up, I stop at the famous café for a much-needed coffee — and the first truly jaw-dropping view of Tiger’s Nest sitting impossibly in the distance, tucked into the mountains.
From there, the trail continues toward the most iconic viewpoints on the hike, where the scale of the monastery really sinks in. I take you to the famous photo spots before descending hundreds of steps, crossing bridges and waterfalls, and finally entering the temple itself.
Inside Tiger’s Nest, there are no cameras — only flickering butter lamps, chanting monks, incense in the air, and a deep sense of stillness. I reflect on what it felt like to experience the monastery without distractions, and why this hike is considered one of the most unforgettable experiences in Bhutan.
The episode finishes with the walk back down to the parking lot, lunch in Paro, practical hiking tips, and reflections on why Tiger’s Nest isn’t just something you visit — it’s something you feel.
This episode is part of my Bhutan Series, recorded while travelling with Breathe Bhutan, a locally owned tour company creating immersive, meaningful journeys across Bhutan.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to hike to Tiger’s Nest Monastery, this episode is for you.
🎒If this episode sparks your imagination and makes you want to visit Bhutan, you won’t regret it.
Across the Bhutan Series, you’ll hear:
Conversations with local Bhutanese voices
Immersive episodes on hiking, culture, food, and daily life
Solo breakdowns explaining how travel in Bhutan actually works
This is not just a travel podcast episode — it’s an invitation to slow down, listen, and understand Bhutan on a deeper level.
🎧 If Bhutan has ever been on your travel radar, this series will show you why it deserves to be.
This entire journey through Bhutan was made possible by Breathe Bhutan, who created an incredible, deeply immersive itinerary that allowed me to experience the country far beyond the surface. From meeting local families to having honest conversations like this one, their focus on authentic, responsible, and meaningful travel is something I’ll be showcasing throughout this series.
🎧 Next up: The third episode will feature an interview with the llama at Wangditse Lhakhang, whom I had the pleasure of having breakfast with before the temple opened to tourists. The view of Thimphu was breathtaking, and we had a fascinating conversation.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review on your favourite podcast app — it helps new listeners discover the show. And share this episode with a friend who loves adventure, travel and big ideas.
Buy me a coffee if you like, for $5, this helps with the production costs of the podcast - Here
That was the Tiger's Nest Monastery in the distance. And in this immersive episode, I'm taking you with me as I hike the Tiger's Nest Monastery trail in Bhutan. We'll start down in the parking lot where the trail begins quietly beneath the trees. Step by step, the views start to open up. The valley dropping away, prayer flags fluttering, and then that first distant glimpse of the monastery clinging to the cliff face.
Halfway up we'll stop for a coffee, catching our breath and taking in the scale of what's ahead before pushing on towards the best viewpoints on the trail. This is where the monastery starts to feel unreal, hanging impossibly above us. It truly is a sight. We'll pass through the best photo and video spots before reaching the temple itself, walking its paths, soaking in the atmosphere, saying hello to the monks before heading back down the mountain.
reflecting on why this hike is considered one of the most unforgettable experiences in Bhutan. So lace up your hiking boots, slow your breathing, and let's hike to one of the most extraordinary monasteries in the world. Welcome to the Winging It Travel Podcast, your weekly ticket to the world, dropping every Monday and hosted by me, James Hammond, proudly part of the Boy Escape Network. This is a travel podcast that throws out the itinerary and dive straight into the raw, real,
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and experiences to inspire, then you're in the right place. There's so much travel content coming your way, it might just spark that trip you've been dreaming about for years. You can find Winging It, a more fantastic travel podcast from around the world at voyescape.com. The link is in the show notes. Let's go and explore the world. Morning all, morning from Paro in Bhutan. Had a great first day yesterday, really busy, really tiring.
And now I'm up this morning early packing and gonna have breakfast and then it's the hike up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, probably the number one thing to do in Butan for lot of people. So I'm really excited for that. It's gonna be a fairly challenging hike. It's gonna be cold as well. So I'm packing in preparation for that. And once I get that done, it'll be off to Timpu for the afternoon. So let's see how the hike goes. I'm expecting great views, a little early peak outdoors, clear blue skies. So I should get the colors that I need and want. Let's go. But first, breakfast.
So historically on big hikes, I get the nerves just before we set off to the base camp and this is no different. So I take a walk around the camp admiring the blue skies and the views around me. And just in the distance I can see Tiger's Nest perched on the mountain. It's quite intimidating, but I'm also very excited. But I'm not too bad because I do fancy a bit of breakfast, which means I can eat and then crack on with the hike.
It's time to go to the dining room and tuck into breakfast.
Can you believe there was baked beans for breakfast? Amazing. After soaking in an Americano and breakfast, it's time to pack up the stuff and walk to the car. The camp is surrounded by waterfalls, as you can hear in the distance. Now it's time to take a journey in the van for about 45 minutes to the base camp where we start our hike.
After a smooth ride, we've arrived at the parking lot. This is the base camp where people park up their cars and their vans, get ready and start the hike. We're starting at approximately 2,600 meters in elevation, so that's 8,500 feet. The monastery itself is perched at 3,120 meters, or 10,240 feet. So that's about a 550 meter climb. No slouch, but I'm excited.
We purchased a walking stick just to be sure and we're all gathering ourselves ready for the hike itself. Right, here we go. Hike to Tiger's Nest Monastery. Got my hat, got my pole, got my crew. There we are. And how long is it going to take? One way. That depends on with your pace. Very slow. Very slow, let's say two hours, 30 minutes. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. Yeah, yeah.
and we'll have a nice little cafe visit halfway through, a little tea break or a washroom break.
we will reach to halfway to the cafe. Lovely. will stop there. Nice tea. We will a cup of tea, a good watch room. Yeah. will a picture with you. Is that the best place to take a picture? Not really the Okay, cool. But at least you will get a certain like a side of the monastery. Yes, yeah. Can't wait. And the elevation is, it's going to be a thing. Starting from the house.
we are going to ascend up to:
Are you ready?
As with most uphill hikes, the first 20 to 30 minutes are a killer and this is no different. I just need to keep pacing up and up and up, making as much ground as I can, keep pushing through and get to the viewpoints that lay ahead. Magai's Sonam and Ratu are easing through the paces uphill. They've done this hike countless of times into the hundreds and for them this is natural. The elevation is not a problem.
and it's a stroll up to Tiger's Nest. For Parbati in our group, who's part of Breathe Bhutan, she's struggling a little bit and I'm wondering if she's gonna make it. I have full confidence, but you just never know. No rush, it's time to take it as slowly as we can.
Nice general start so far, not too hardcore. Apart from elevation. We keep going.
There's the crew. Up they come. ⁓
Slowly, slowly. After 30 minutes into the hike we start to see some vistas in the distance and Tiger's Nest gets ever closer. It just looks absolutely unbelievable. The views around are not too bad either. Clear blue skies, mountains and greenery as far as the eye can see and every now and then as we go up the trail
Tiger's Nest appears through a clearing through the trees. It's already magical.
Tiger's Nest Monastery or Paro Taksang is Bhutan's most iconic landmark. It's a sacred Buddhist monastery clinging dramatically to a sheer cliff face, nearly 3,000 meters above sea level in the Paro Valley. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche, the father of Bhutanese Buddhism, flew here on the back of a tiger's nest in the 8th century and meditated in a cave, making this one of the most important spiritual sites in the country.
Today, reaching Tiger's Nest requires a challenging uphill hike, but for Butanese people and travellers alike, the journey is as meaningful as the destination.
at the halfway point to the calf. Yeah, I need a tea or coffee. I must admit, there's a gentle incline I'd say. You know, I'm no person to really rate a hike because I'm not a very good hiker. But I have done a lot of hard hikes in my time. I actually think most of it is mental really. Just got to keep going. But my honest review is the first half to the calf, not that difficult. You just need to it slow, step by step.
and the incline is not that big, like compared to the Acasadango for example. So, I won't carry on walking and talking again, because I'm out of breath. That's God behind me. He's our driver, most important person in the group. Keeps us going to places. And he's with us, which is great. I'll buy you a tea or coffee at the top. And just one more little bit to go.
get hiking in, you've got to push yourself, don't you? And the views. You're probably getting bored of me mentioning it at this point, but it's just so good. The guide, Sonam, said this time of year is perfect for hiking. It's a bit cooler, less crowds, and guaranteed blue skies. So really happy that I chose early December to come to Butan. Right, let's go. what's that over there?
Let's get to the halfway point. They've got a cool little view here actually. There it is. I love Buddhism and temples. Hits the feels.
halfway point, cafe, tea, coffee, water, coke, bring it all on. But it's only 9.30 in morning. Look at this view.
Love and Bhutan, master mate. I am told as I approach the cafe that the views here of Tiger's Nest is the first proper sight with a brilliant clearing of the mountain. So I'm really excited to get to the cafe to get a coffee and get the first clear glimpse of Tiger's Nest. I'm so excited.
There it is. Wow. About halfway up, this cafe is the first real pause on the climb. It's a place to grab a coffee, steady your breathing and take in the view. And my word, this little mountainside cafe is perched above the valley. The view straight ahead is one of absolute awesomeness. I cannot believe what I'm seeing. For many people, this cafe marks the moment the hike truly sinks in and it has for me. Made it halfway to the cafe.
And honestly, this view right here is absolutely sensational. Review of the first half. Very doable, very moderate for an average hiker. But the views get better as you go up. And when you get to the halfway point at the cafe, I've got coffee here. Cheers. And honestly, when you sit down and have that coffee and just look up there, that is one of the best views I've had for a coffee.
I can't quite believe I'm here to be honest. But anyway, I'm here. We've got another half to go. So we're halfway up, 250 meters. But it took an hour and 15 minutes from the base camp, not too bad. And then we do another hour and 15 minutes to the famous viewpoint where you see the pictures on Google. So I'll get my thumbnail and I'll get my photo there and I can't wait to get out there. But I'm loving this hike and I'm actually quite relieved it's not too hard at the minute. The viewpoint here is, Tiger's Nest is there.
To the left you've got the famous viewpoint where you have the photo. And to left you've got other little temples in the hills. And we're gonna go up to the viewpoint there, back down, cross a river, and there's a tiny little temple in the hills just to the left. And we're gonna visit that temple. And that'd be so cool to go and visit. Gonna finish my coffee, have a biscuit, get ready to go up to the next point, and I'll see you at the top. Wow, can't wait. Look at that. ⁓ there she is. Majestic.
What a view. I take the last remaining sips of my coffee, couple of more biscuits, pack up my gear, and now it's ready to get back on the trail and get to that viewpoint. I could not be more excited. Just a quick pause in the episode there. If you're enjoying the podcast and getting value from these conversations, one of the biggest ways you can support Winging It is by leaving a five star rating all of you on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now. It generally helps the show.
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The further uphill we hiked, the more vistas of Tiger's Nest appears, and it's one sight after another after every corner. It's truly breathtaking.
So cool. Anyway, we move. We carry on.
One step after another just working towards that photo point. By now if you're wondering what it looks like you put in Google Tigers Nest Monastery. That photo you see on Google is what we're aiming towards. That point is the creme de la creme of this trail but it's tough work.
All right, what have we got here? Looks a bit of a clear in here.
Ooh, this could be it. This could be it.
This could be it. Sonam is waiting just there. Is this it? Wow. Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. Damn trees. How dare they? Yeah.
You can sense the anticipation. Oh my God. I cannot wait to see this. Here we are, we're approaching the first viewpoint. I can hear the mumblings of people. I can sense the anticipation of what the view is gonna be and I couldn't be any more excited. Here we go. Let's see what we get. There she is.
⁓ look at that. Wow. Wow. I walk a bit further and then the trail bends. The trees thin out and everything around me just slows. I look up and across the mountainside there she is. Tiger's Nest Monastery. Clinging to the cliff, completely unreal. Like it's been placed there on purpose to make you stop. I can't quite comprehend how they built that.
But I don't rush forward, I don't say anything. I just stand there, breathe it in, drink it in. And actually realise that I walked up here to see this with my own eyes. I've seen this on Google and on social media for five years. It's been the number one thing to see. And I was worried it would be an anticlimax. But trust me, this isn't a photo. This isn't something I've seen online a hundred times only. I'm here.
And even now, staring straight at it, I'm still not done yet. I have to go and see this place. This is truly magical and already one of the best things I have done in travel so far. I can't quite believe it. Sonam wants us to move on because he wants the photos and the videos taken afterwards. So we start to head down the trail towards the temple. But even then, there are still more photo spots.
more video spots and I have to stop and get the photo. It's anxiety I don't want to miss out. But just one more time, let's have a look. Look at this. The dream. Top thing to do. Life complete. Now we get to go and see it. To see the temple, you have to walk all the way down the staircase, over a bridge, over the gap.
in the mountainside, then up again into the temple. And as you can hear, there's a waterfall nearby and that falls right down below into the river. Arguably, this is the hardest part of the hike. There's so many steps going down and I wasn't worried about going down, I was more worried about coming back up. And I joked to Sonam, this could be the hardest part of the hike and he absolutely agreed. But let's not worry about that for now. Let's go and see the temple. And a word of note.
No cameras, no phones in Tiger's Nest Monastery. So there'll be no content from being inside. I'll let your mind wander about what it's like.
I was not wrong. It's about 700 to 800 steps down and then back up. This is tough. I'll give my reflection on what I saw in the temple when I get back to the main photo points. But now it's one step after another until that point.
The tiger's nest inside is completely different. The noise drops away. The space feels smaller, quieter, but heavier somehow. The walls are quite dark and worn smooth by time, lit softly by butter lamps that flicker and cast shadows across the paintings. There's a smell of incense in the air, thick, earthy maybe, and it clings to my clothes. There are suddenly monks in the temple. They move quietly past, murmuring prayers under their breath.
You hear the low hum of chanting and the shuffling of feet on wooden floors. The creak of beams that feel impossibly old. Sonam is giving me the rundown and the history of the temple. And it's staggering. There's too much to take in, too much to learn. No phones, no cameras. And for the first time in a long while, there's nothing to distract me. I'm not here to capture the moment. I'm here to sit in it, learn and drink it in. It's quite serene.
and magical at the same time.
There she is, Tiger's Nest. Number one thing to do this year.
Absolutely stunning. No cameras allowed inside. That makes it even better.
We made it back to the photo points and now it's all about getting the last remaining content. Videos, reaction, photographs and just soaking in that viewpoint for one more time. and I'd say it's moderate if you're an average hiker. For me, it's definitely worth the hike class, especially to the teahouse at Hardaway Point. Get your cup of tea, have a view, and make the extra hour, hour and fifteen up to get this view. You can go inside, no cameras allowed.
After capturing more photos and videos and recording some content there's a final few goodbyes to Tiger's Nest and then it's the trail back down to the parking lot. And the walk back down feels a bit different. The hard part's over, the pressure's gone and everything around me feels a bit quieter somehow and quicker. We are getting a move on to get to lunch. People talk a bit more now, footsteps a bit lighter.
and the valley opens up again in front of us. Hiking downhill for me, controversially, is easier. I can rattle downhill, create a new same bolt. That's because I need lunch and it's not too steep or decline, I can rattle through this. Not too careful, it? Pretty good on the awareness, pretty good on the steps down. If it's like four hours down, then I might be a bit more careful, we should be safe, but nah, let's get down there.
get some beach news lunch. Right, back to the car park.
I keep looking back over my shoulder just to catch one last glimpse of the monastery still clinging to the cliff like it hasn't moved at all and that feeling that I've been somewhere so high on my bucket list that I'll carry with me long after I've left the trail what a moment and what a journey but I'm hungry it's time to head back down to the car parking lot into Paro and for lunch and trust me I'm absolutely starving done
Tiger's Nest monastery completed. Until next time.
And just like that we are back in the bustling town of Paro and for lunch which of course is pretty much like a buffet lunch. There are five to seven dishes, rice, chilli cheese, meat, veg curry, momos, everything you can imagine and this happens for every meal. It's pretty cool. Now we head to Thimphu for the next day and it's time to check into the hotel and head to Kinley's house for an evening dinner and drinks.
Kinley owns the Breathe Bhutan tour company so I'm looking forward to that and then tomorrow we continue our journey. I just want to say for the Tiger's Nest Monastery hike a few things of note. I would say it's moderate in terms of difficulty going up, a few steep parts of course and the elevation might be a thing so you might need to climatise if you're in Paro first for a couple of days but they actually normally put this at the end of the tour. For this tour I'm supposed to be going to another hike later.
in my journey in Bhutan. You can buy a walking stick at the car parking lot for a hundred Bhutanese money. That's the same as rupees in India, so it's a hundred rupees. That helped me as well massively. You bring it back when you're finished. Finally, make sure you take some warm clothing, some water, some snacks, good hiking boots, sunglasses and a hat, and make sure you cover your legs to enter the temple. These are all crucial for the hike. A fantastic day. One of the best.
in travel I've experienced and honestly it really makes me happy that I've experienced this hike and this temple and this journey. If it can make you travel to Bhutan to see this you won't regret it because that's the ultimate aim of this podcast and this episode to give you the imagination to imagine what it's like and hopefully for you to book your tour. If you want to head to the show notes you can see Bri Bhutan's website for their tours. They obviously include Tiger's Nest in every tour that they do. They're great company with great guides.
and they'll look after you in Bhutan. But for now it's time to say goodbye for this part of the journey and it's time to head deeper into Bhutan and the rest of the tour. I'll see you at the next episode on Winging It for more Bhutan adventures. See you there. And that's it for this episode on Winging It. I hope you took something from this episode, whether it sparked a new idea, offered a different perspective or simply that you feel part of the journey. If you enjoyed it, leaving a quick rating or review on your podcast app really helps the show reach new listeners.
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