The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are tackling an energy-sapping six-hour trek 11,000ft up in the Himalayas to visit one of Bhutan’s holiest sites.
The royal couple are making their way to the Taktsang Palphug Monastery, better known as the Tiger’s Nest, which is the cradle of Buddhism in the country.
Getting to the spectacular site, built onto the side of a cliff, involves a three-hour hike each way, scrambling over slippery boulders in the thin mountain air.
In the 8th century, Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in a series of 13 caves at the site.
Legend has it that the guru flew to the site on the back of a tigress, giving the site its name. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan.
The first temple on the site, in the Paro valley near the capital, Thimpu, was built in 1692 by Tenzin Rabgye, who some people believe to have been a reincarnation of Guru Padmasambhava.
The Prince of Wales followed the same trail when he visited Bhutan in 1998, but opted to stop halfway up the mountain to paint a watercolour of the Tiger’s Nest rather than carrying on all the way to the monastery itself.
The Duke and Duchess will be able to give him a first-hand account of the monastery on their return.
Because the Tiger’s Nest is a sacred site, no journalists or photographers will be allowed to accompany the Duke and Duchess into the monastery itself.