A visit to Bhutan is not complete without hiking into the Tiger's Nest. From what I understand, a permit is needed to actually go inside, so this is worth checking on with your tour operator. It is well worth the visit - words cannot describe the feeling I had when I first saw it in person.

Everyone says that if there is one thing that you have to do in Bhutan then it’s the visit to the Takstang’s Monastery. Completed in 1692, Takstang’s Monastery a.ka Tiger’s Nest hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres – built on a the location where Guru Rinpoche is believed to have landed on the back of a tiger! To get there, one has to climb up to 3000 meters to the vantage points, then take cliff-hanging steps down to a narrow bridge across the gorge and then ascend a few hundred odd steps to the monastery. I rarely exercise and this was clearly beyond me. But this was probably the only time when we would be I Bhutan and it just did not make any sense to skip it. It is generally recommended to take ponies up but I just didn’t trust those creatures on narrow trails – no way! It was going to be on foot and we got too tired we would just turn back and come !I am not sure what details I should put in here for our 3 hours trek except that the ascend to the first 1000 meters was the most difficult – your body is getting used to the height and its facing sudden exertion making your heart beat very fast leading to breathlessness. We paused whenever tired and drank sips of water at regular intervals. Our first stop was ‘The tea house’ – which is at around 2000-2005 mtrs which had an awesome view of the monastry. Now we needed to decide whether we should go ahead or not – I guess as we both figured that is the our last visit to Bhutan it just made sense to go for it. So we went back on the trail. It was surprisingly less exhausting and when we reached the final view point it was totally worth it. Now came the hard part – going down the 2 feet wide steps cut in the cliffs- with no railings to break a fall . Needless to say I completely freaked out. The only way to make it was to NOT LOOK DOWN.
The monastery closes from 1-2 pm for lunch and we just made it to the doorstep at 12.59 pm. A little chat with the security guard and they graciously allowed us in to see the 3 of the 7 main temples even thought the monastery was closing for an hour. Inside the temple , its just like any other Buddhist place of worship. I guess the sense of achievement of having made it to the top is more satisfying than any religious sentiment, atleast, for us.

Tiger Nest Resort is one of the finest mid ranged hotels in Paro. Its around 10 mins drive from Paro town. But the view from the Hotel especially from Room-127 Cottage No- 115 are too good. The Taksang (Tiger's Nest) view from the this hotel is one of the best. The Tiger's Nest hotel is really a home away from home. The hotels staffs are very polite, well behaved co-operative. The service is also very good. Its an ideal place for Nature lovers, honeymoon couples...at it fits within the Budget... Food though is not as you would love to have... especially if u r an Indian... But thats the way it is throughout Bhutan.... In fact i would rate Hotel Tiger's Nest as 4 out of 5... Souvik Gupta Holidaying Date- 7th 8th June 2010

This should be one of the wonders of the world.  An ancient monastery perched at the top of a hill and no one seems to know how they built it. 

Beautiful area, nice temples and a great little hike.