Travel with Me to the Two Most Beautiful Places on Planet Earth

Tiger's Nest in Bhutan and Meteora in Greece 

Photo Credit: Dodie Katague Face Book Page: In case you have not heard of Meteora, Greece:

Five weeks ago I got an e-mail from Dodie ( my oldest son) who was vacationing in Greece with his wife Ruth. He send me several photos including Meteora. A week before that, I was also reading the Face Book page of Yong Nieva (Macrine's first cousin) with the picture of Tiger's Nest in Bhutan. The similarity is astounding.        

My actual traveling days are over. I have been to several countries in Europe, in the Caribbean, Mexico, Far East and North Africa 💥. This was during my younger days.

 Last month, as I comfortably look at my huge PC screen, I enjoyed traveling digitally to the two most beautiful places on Planet Earth. They are located in different continents but look similar. Here they are: Enjoy with me the mesmerizing scenery.  

The Meteora is a rock formation in the regional unit of Trikala, in Thessaly, Greece, hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos. The six (of an original twenty-four) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the twenty-four monasteries were established atop the rocks. Meteora is located near the town of Kalabaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains.

Meteora was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 because of the outstanding architecture and beauty of the complex, in addition to its religious and artistic significance. The name means "lofty", "elevated", and is etymologically related to meteor( From Wikipedia).

This is the second place I virtually travel last month. It is taken from Yong Nieva (Macrine's first cousin) FaceBook page

Paro Taktsang  also known as the Taktsang Palphug Monastery and the Tiger's Nest), is a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan. It is one of thirteen Tiger's Nest caves in historical Tibet in which Padmasambhava practiced and taught Vajrayana.

Tiger's Nest in Bhutan- Photo Credit-Yong Nieva

A later monastery complex was built in 1692, around the Taktsang Senge Samdup cave, where Guru Padmasambhava meditated and practiced with students including Yeshe Tsogyal before departing the kingdom of Tibet in the early 9th century. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing VajrayanaBuddhism to Bhutan, which was then part of Tibet, and is the tutelary deity of the country. Today, Paro Taktsang is the best known of the thirteen taktsang or "tiger lair" caves in which he and his students meditated.

The shrine dedicated to Padmasambhava, also known as Gu-ru mTshan-brgyad Lhakhang or "the Shrine of the Guru with Eight Names", refers to Padmasambhava's Eight Manifestations and is an elegant structure built around the cave in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. It has become the cultural icon of Bhutan. A popular festival, known as the Tsechu, held in honor of Padmasambhava, is celebrated in the Paro valley sometime during March or April. (From Wikipedia)

💥https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-places-we-have-visited-outside-us.html