So a little bit of background is in order, I suppose. Tiger's Nest is a Buddhist monastery, considered to be the holiest Buddhist site in all of Bhutan. It's situated at 10,000 feet (about 3,400 meters) above sea level, and the parking lot is about 2,000 meters, so that's more or less a 1.4km elevation change. The trek length is 4.5 kms, most of it pretty much up, up, up. None of the things I've read about Tiger's Nest mention the trek – everyone talks about how beautiful it is, how spectacular it is, and all that. Nobody actually talks about getting there. So like, I knew there was a trek to do. I also knew you could ride horses halfway up, which I consider cheating. What I didn't know is just how hard this trek is. The previous night during our drunken debauchery with the tour company's owner, he mentioned that there was a shortcut; that it was "harder", but made the trek "shorter". Since I am not one to ever shy away from a challenge, I demanded we take the shortcut. My guide looked very skeptical, but acquiesced… and so off we went.