We were up around 4:30am. It was a bit rainy plus we were sort of gated into the complex and weren’t sure we could get out. We used both as an excuse to be lazy and skip our walk.

Breakfast was at 7:30. The star of the lineup was oats that were surprisingly good.

We were on the road by 8:30.

We got to our destination a little after 10am. Kila Gompa Nunnery is the oldest in Bhutan, built in the 9th century as a meditation site. About 70 nuns live here now in self-imposed isolation.

It is built into cliffs facing the Paro Valley, it is fondly called “the 2nd Tiger’s Nest” which is where we are going tomorrow.

My vertigo kicked in on the drive up to it. The last mile or so was a gravel road. I was on the side of what looked like a straight drop down and felt like we were dangerously close. At this point I’d trust our driver, Phurpa, anywhere so had to remind myself I was being irrational and just close my eyes. But the views were stunning.

The trek to the nunnery started easy enough on the same gravel road. That’s it in the circle with Ash and Ari on the right.

The road turned into an at- times frightening narrow path which hugged the cliffs. That small red circle off center is Ash and Ari. I fell behind taking photos and walking slow.

The destination zoomed from that same point.

Looking back. See what I mean? Gorgeous.

At some point I caught up to them as they were resting and passed them. Did I mention it was steep, too? Looking back at Ash and Ari on the left with the valley view on the right.

Melanie got this of me at some point.

Another courtesy of Melanie. Almost there.

A dog to greet us at the humble entrance.

Me looking back from the entrance, Ash and Ari on the right.

Melanie and Phurpa passed Ash who took this.

More steps inside. These looked like they were chiseled out of the mountain.

All of us but Ash went into the temple where the nuns were chanting. He didn’t want to take his shoes off – did I mention it was pretty cold, too?

I was first to leave the temple to discover Dorji, Lawrence, and Nathan had joined us. They did a more difficult hike to get here which was steep, rocky, muddy so slippery. Even 14 year old Nathan said it was rough. I thanked him for validating our decision to skip it. The nuns brought us hot milked tea and cookies which hit the spot.

The town of Paro where we were headed next.

This was on the way down. At some points the path was only about 18 inches wide. My vertigo gets worse the older I get and this was a real test. But I was glad I did it.

The fortress we would be going to after lunch, taken from the road.

Lunch was at Mountain Cafe in town.

I had butter chicken masala with roti (the bread). Ash had a paneer dish which looked similar. We both enjoyed our choices.

We walked around after lunch for ice cream and various shopping.

An ice cream shop called Brioche.

Ash had toasted hazelnut and salted caramel on top; mine was burnt honey and coconut.

Next was the fortress we had seen from a distance on our way into town.

This was built in 1644. As the others we visited it is both administrative and monastery.

Beautiful view of Paro Valley from there.

Circled on the left is the airport. It’s the only commercial airport in the country. Only 2 airlines operate from it, both Bhutanese.

The temple courtyard. We passed on going inside. We were pretty done.

Resort Thim-Dorji Para Riverfront.

Huge comfortable lobby.

It has been difficult to communicate we would prefer one bed but we were too tired to fight it.

At least there is lots of natural light.

We had made it to our room about 4:15. We layed down to rest but neither of us were able to nap. I got up about 5pm to get me this far. We head out for dinner at 6:30.

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We went downstairs for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The gang’s all here.

It was a pretty nice buffet.

I started with tomato soup.

I did pasta because I was tired of rice! But it wasn’t great. Should have known. Mixed vegetable Marsala, chole which is a spicy chickpea dish that was wonderful, and daal.

A very light caramel custard. It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting which is a good thing.

Tomorrow we leave at 5:20am. No, that’s not a typo. We are hiking to Tiger’s Nest which is “the” thing to do in Bhutan. Dorji wants us to get an early start to beat the crowds. She anticipates it will take us 6 hours round trip.

Yikes.

Come back tomorrow to see what it’s all about and how we do.