Come May and June, caravans of people from Nepal head to higher altitudes in the Himalayan mountain region to search for the world's most expensive medicinal fungi. Yarsagumba, one of the most expensive fungi in the world reportedly costs more than Rs 10-12 lakh per kg in the international market.
However, the search for this expensive mushroom recently turned into a risky affair for as many as hundreds of Yarsagumba collectors who found themselves trapped in huge snowfall and heavy rainfall at Phugaon of Manang area. Contactless and stranded for five days at an altitude of 17,000 ft, 70 of them were rescued on June 18 by Altitude Air, a helicopter airline based in Kathmandu.
According to Routine of Nepal Banda, a Nepali news page on Social media, stranded villagers were found starving and very weak when the helicopter reached the rescue site. Nearly 30 collectors could be still unreachable.
Captain Anand Thapa who led the rescue mission told The Himalayan Times, "They were safely brought to the lower belt of Phugaon. The landing zone was very critical at an altitude of 17,200 feet and 14,500 feet and the weather was very challenging."
Yarsagumba, a precious medicine in Southeast Asia
A kind of fungi that grows out of the head of the dead caterpillar, Yarsagumba is scientifically known as 'Ophiocordyceps Sinensis', formerly Cordyceps Sinensis, and colloquially as caterpillar fungus or Himalayan Viagra.
According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Yarsagumba is a widely used component of traditional medicine in China and is very popular in several Southeast Asian countries. This parasitic fungus of the special caterpillar can be found usually in the high-altitude mountain regions of Nepal, China, Tibet, Bhutan, and India.
While in Nepal, it can be found in Darchula, Dolpa, Jumla, Mugu, Bajang, Rukum, Myagdi, Manang, Gorkha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Sankhuwasabha districts, in India, it is usually found in high Himalayan regions of Pithoragarh, Chamoli and Bageshwar districts of Uttarakhand.
Documentary on lives of poor in search of gold rush
A new documentary titled Mushroom at the top of the world that premiered in May 2021 on the Himalayan Archives page on Youtube follows the story of a village in Nepal's Rukum district, wherein the aftermath of the People's War, the villagers have turned to mushroom picking in order to restructure their livelihoods. The documentary film addresses the issues of the precarious world of rural Nepal and portrays the people and their resilience in daily struggles to make a living in the relentless mountainous landscape.
