If you take the alternative hiking trail when leaving Taktshang Goemba, you will descend steeply from the back of the Ugyen Tshemo Lhakhang for 15 minutes to a right turn-off, past a chorten to the cliff-face Shama Lhakhang. It's just next to Taktshang but inaccessible from there, and is a good place to spot jaru (mountain goats).
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
16.65 MILES
This splendid dzong, north of the city on the west bank of the Wang Chhu, dominates the valley, looking out over a cascade of terraced fields. It's…
0.05 MILES
The 'Tiger's Nest Monastery' is one of the Himalaya's most incredible sights, miraculously perched on the side of a sheer cliff 900m above the floor of…
3.57 MILES
Kyichu Lhakhang is one of Bhutan's oldest and most beautiful temples. The main chapel has roots as far back as the 7th century, with additional buildings…
16.27 MILES
This traditional Bhutanese temple perched like a fortress on a ridge above central Thimphu hums with pilgrim activity. It was established in the 12th…
16.73 MILES
Thimphu's best museum is part of the Royal Textile Academy. It features a stunning display of ancient and modern textiles, and explores the rich…
5.78 MILES
Paro Dzong ranks as a high point of Bhutanese architecture. The massive buttressed walls that tower over the town are visible throughout the valley,…
19.12 MILES
About 5km south of Thimphu on the old road to Paro and Phuentsholing, the handsomely proportioned Simtokha Dzong was built in 1629 by Zhabdrung Ngawang…
5.75 MILES
Perched above Paro Dzong is its ta dzong (watchtower), built in 1649 to protect the undefended dzong and renovated in 1968 to house the National Museum…
Nearby Western Bhutan attractions
0.05 MILES
The 'Tiger's Nest Monastery' is one of the Himalaya's most incredible sights, miraculously perched on the side of a sheer cliff 900m above the floor of…
0.11 MILES
This quiet temple above Taktshang Goemba has an unusual set of four exterior protectors and an interior 3D mandala that you can climb via a series of…
0.14 MILES
Just before Taktshang Goemba, this spectacular stupa viewpoint at 3140m puts you eyeball to eyeball with the monastery, which looks like it is growing out…
0.16 MILES
After visiting the Tiger's Nest it is possible to take a signed side trail uphill for 15 minutes to this charming lhakhang, where Bhutanese pilgrims come…
0.19 MILES
A 15-minute hike above Taktshang Goemba brings you the Zangto Pelri Lhakhang, named after Guru Rinpoche's heavenly paradise and perched on a crag with…
0.2 MILES
This small temple sits high above Taktshang Goemba and can be visited if you are hiking in the area above that temple. You can also visit Yoselgang on the…
0.87 MILES
Just below the trailhead parking for Taktshang Goemba is a white chorten and this small but charming temple that remains almost completely unvisited.
1.99 MILES
The small and inconspicuous Satsam Chorten by the Zhiwa Ling hotel once marked no man's land between two rival penlops (governors; satsam means 'border')…