Industry & Tourism

Yarsagumba, the Himalayan Fungus Worth More Than Gold, Is Running Out in Nepal (2026)

Nepal's Rs 2.7-million-a-kilogram caterpillar fungus season just closed in Dolpa, and four collectors didn't come back down.

By Laxman Rawal · Aug 31, 2026

Read the full story

High in Nepal's Karnali region, above 3,500 metres, there's a harvest that pays better than almost anything else a rural family can do, and it isn't a crop. It's a fungus that eats a moth from the inside out, and for six weeks every spring, whole villages in…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

A season that keeps getting harder, not easier

For many families in Dolpa, Mugu and neighbouring districts, this single harvest supplies more than half of their entire year's cash income, more than farming, more than day labour, more than anything else available at that altitude. That is exactly why…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you If your Nepal trip runs through Dolpa or the Karnali region, and it does on our Upper Dolpo trek and Lower Dolpo trek , you're walking through the same high pastures this harvest depends on. May and June camps you might otherwise pass…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Plan your trek

Upper Dolpo Trek — 22 Days

NMA-certified guides · permits sorted · 5,000+ treks since 1998.

$4950 pp

Plan this trek

Free guide

Get the free Nepal Trek Insider Guide

Permits, costs, seasons and routes — the essentials we send every traveller, plus a free, no-obligation trip quote.

↑ Swipe up

Your free Nepal trek kit

Read the full report and grab the free Nepal Trek Insider Guide — or ask our Pokhara team for a tailored, no-obligation quote.

Read more & get the free guide Plan my trip — free quote Browse Upper Dolpo Trek — 22 Days