The trek begins with a 1-hour drive from Paro to Sang Choekor Buddhist College where you start walking at an altitude of about 2800m. You climb gradually upwards through blue pine and juniper forest (sadly nowburnt out in a recent forest fire). After about 3 hours’ walking you will reach Chhoe Chhoe Tse Lhakhang (temple). Carry on climbing for another 20 minutes or so until you re-enter the forest. After about 40 minutes more you will emerge onto a large meadow where you will find many chortens and prayer flags. Your camp for the night is below the nearby Bumdra Monastery, at about 3800 metres, where there are wonderful views across the Himalayas. Later you can visit the monastery, and if you are feeling strong climb the 4000m peak to admire the views before returning to camp.

After a couple of hours you will startto see numerous temples - from the gardens of Sangtopelri you will be able to look down and see the roofs of Taktshang Monastery far below. Guru Rinpoche is said to haveflown to the site riding on a tigress. He subsequently meditated here for three months.It is one of Bhutan’s most holy sites and draws pilgrims not only from Bhutan but also from neighbouring Buddhist countries. Keep on descending and you can visit the splendid Tiger’s Nest monastery itself. From here it is about an hour down to the bottom where you can meet your vehicle to return to Paro.