Paro Things to Do

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Probably the most famous site in Bhutan for outsiders, the Tiger's Nest Monastery, sits alongside a sheer cliff thousands of feet above the valley. This Buddhist enclave was consecrated as the site where Guru Rimpoche, riding a flying tiger, faced, battled, and defeated the demon that lived on the mountain. This pious deed was remembered in the construction of the monastery, which now accepts pilgrims from across the Tibetan Buddhist landscape.

While the monastery seems to be just a 20 minute drive from the city center, that's just the beginning. To get to the monastery, there is a hike that requires you to ascend the 900 m from bottom to top. It is a steep set of switchbacks for most of it, with a place to rest about halfway. The end is steps, steeply rising to the monastery.

Note: no cameras or cell phones are allowed inside, and they check each guest, local or foreigner. You leave your stuff in a guarded room and then can ascend into the monastery, visiting the various shrines and praying to Buddha and receiving blessings. The view from the monastery, as along the hike up, is tremendous, and the architecture of the buildings is awe-inspiring. So soak in the view, feel the atmosphere and reverence that is upon that place.

more information is available at my travelougue The Pilgrimage to Takstang Monastery

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I couldn’t find out which word is the most proper one to describe them. So, I am still using “male organ” or phallus to mention them. In Bhutan, houses are generally decorated with many different pictures from Buddhist culture. Also they use male organs with ribbons as a decorative picture at the entrance of a house. It is very common in a certain part of Paro. We saw many examples on our way to Drukyel Dzong. We even stopped by a house to see them in the middle of nowhere.
Their origin is the Divine Madman, Drukpa Kunley. This distinguished character has a powerful effect and many stories in Bhutan.

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This place gave me everything I have as an image of mystic Far East. We visited the place on our last day in Bhutan and it was a rainy day. The mist was all around us. Everywhere was green; there were raindrops over the leaves. Climbed a small path and reached the Dzong.
Behind the Dzong, Chomolhari Mountain (7314m) can be seen. It is the border between Bhutan and Tibet and they believe that Goddess Jomo lives in this mountain.
“Drukh-yel Dzong” means “Castle of the Victorious Drukpas”.
This Dzong was built in 1647 by Shabdrung Ngavang Namgyel, as a reminder of the victory against Tibetan army in 1644. But it burned because of an oil candle in 1951. Now it is a mystic, beautiful ruin which covered by a replica roof according to a National Geographic photo taken in 1914.
Drukgyel is just 16 km far from Paro. On the road, from a certain point you can see Taktsang Monastery.

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This is not a “things to do”, it is a must. You cannot pass all the mountains to reach Bhutan. I know that. But it is also an amazing experience.
I don’t like amusement parks but there isn’t another thing to compare this feeling. We flied to Paro from Kathmandu and I was so sleepy after all the flights we had to reach Kathmandu. Luckily the gentleman sitting by me was so kind to share his excitement with me and he let me see the amazing path we were flying.
Paro Airport is located in the only place where they could build one. In a country surrounded by mountains, it is hard to find a plane area. So, there are high hills around the airport, too. That means you have to land the airport through a valley. The valley is a little bit small for the plane, so entertainment begins when the plane starts to descend. The valley, as any other ordinary valleys, was curvy. That means we have to change direction while descending. For changing direction, the plane was lowering one wing. When it was about to touch the trees, it was lowering the other wing.
It was the strangest flight I’ve ever had. The landing was smooth and we had a very comfortable flight, but it doesn’t change that it was the most exciting one for me. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

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This building (Ta Dzong) was the protection and the watchtower of the Rinpung Dzong. Built in 1651 by Tenzing Drugda. It’s been decided to turn into a museum in 1965 by Cigme Dorce Vangchuk and opened in 1968. Circular planned structure has 7 flats. Each one of them has different objects like thangkas (Buddhist banners used in religious ceremonies), sculptures, photographs of the royal family, weapons, valuable postage stamps, etc. (Yes, stamps. I’ve been told that Bhutan’s stamps were so popular among philatelists.) The top floor has a 3 dimensional mandala called the Tshogshing lhakhang or the 'Tree of Life'. So, the top flor is also a temple.
The collection of the museum is not so rich. But it is a good opportunity to understand the life in Bhutan and see the amazing structure. It has many holy relics, so local people visit the place as if it was a temple. Also you can see a model of Taktshang (aka Tiger’s Nest) monastery in this museum. It is luck, because this monastery is hard to see because of the mist.
Museum is located over the Rinpung Dzong and Paro. You can see Paro Valley perfectly, and have some nice shots of the Dzong around the museum.
There was a construction going on while we were there. It was a wooden building, may be an addition to museum, I think. They were still using the old methods for construction.

There was a construction going on while we were there. It was a wooden building, may be an addition to museum, I think. They were still using the old methods for construction.

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Its name means “The Castle of the Jewels”. It’s first built in 15th century as a small monastery. Then it changed into a big Dzong in 1646. Dzong means “castle monastery”. It burned down in 1907 and lost its all treasures except huge Tangdrol Thangka (Buddhist banner used in religious ceremonies). It was built again by traditional methods right after the fire. Traditional methods of construction mean that this wooden building has no nails or bolts. It was built just by fitting the pieces together. It could be ordinary for making a shelf or table but it is an amazing way to build a huge structure like this.
Today Paro Dzong is the center of government administrative offices and 200 priests are living here.

The name Taktsang means “ Tiger’s Nest ”. The monastery is perched on a rocky ledge with a sheer drop of nearly 800m, and overlooks the Paro valley and the river. It is said that in the second half of the 8th century, Guru Padma Sambhava known as the second Buddha in Bhutan, meditated at the spot where the monastery is situated having alighted there on the back of a flying tigress.

It's an ideal place for a short trek. The round trip hike takes about 4 hrs.

A picture of this Taktsang Monastery appeared as a cover picture of one edition of Lonely Planet "Bhutan".

Known as a ruined fortress, this Dzong, with a delightful village nestling at its foot, was built in 1646 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Although in ruins today, this Dzong is of great historical importance. It was here that the Bhutanese finally defeated the invading Tibetans and drove them back. From here, the peak of Mount Chomolhari “ Mountain of Goddess ” can be seen on a clear day.

This massive fortress is located in the Paro valley and is approached by a gently sloping flagstone road and a beautiful wooden bridge roofed with shingles and abutted by two guard houses. Today, as two of the functions for Dzongs, it is the Administrative seat of the district of Paro and it also contains a state monastic community of about 200 monks. The central tower ( Utse ) of the Dzong is one of the most beautiful in Bhutan with its superb woodwork. The Dzong was built in 1645 A.D.

Built in 17th century, this was actually the Watch Tower of the Paro Rinchen Pong Dzong. It was converted into the National Museum in 1968 and holds a fascinating collection of art, relics, religious Thangkha paintings and Bhutan's exquisite postage stamps.

Unlike the rectangular shape of the Dzongs, Ta Dzong is round, more like parts of an European castle. It is the only round shape Dzong in the whole country.