원정 개요

Peter Ackroyd - 15 Feb 2014

After 20 years of going to Nepal there was bound to be one disappointment.

Dolpa is a wonderful area with many unclimbed peaks, no roads, few villages, fewer people and tourists, making it one of my favorite places in Nepal. This was the case in 1998 and would have still been the case, but for the recent interest in Yarsagumba (Cordyseps Sinensis), a caterpillar fungus.

Unbeknownst to Sam, Richard and me, thousands of Nepalis, mostly women, children and hundreds of mules now flock to elevations above 4000m to pick this caterpillar fungus for a few weeks in the spring. Pickers can make up to $8000 per lb of this plant, a fortune in a poor country. It sells for $40,000 per lb in Shanghai. The reason? It is believed to be an aphrodisiac by the Chinese.

Because of this there were no porters available, even though they had been promised to us, only mules and they cannot travel through the higher snowy passes. This forced us to turn back after a week of hiking to find a different route. Then we got a bug from contaminated river water, even after all our precautions. The rivers were particularly dirty in this area. Despite antibiotics I was not recovering and after another 8 days had to head out on my own, glad to be in Kathmandu four days later. The saga continued for Sam and Richard with a dead mule, a drunken muleteer, heavy snow and another turn around. They reached Kathmandu a week after me. We did not get a chance to attempt the peak, Kagmara.

The degradation to the environment from the picking of this fungus is severe and the crowded trails are no fun. During the picking season there were at least 13 deaths from hypothermia and 2 murders this year. Of course, we enjoyed the companionship and scenery. I love Nepal and it's people but, like many places, change can make it hard to return."