Honey Hunting in The Himalayas

OVERVIEW

Experience the harvest of the gods in gods’ own terrain

For centuries, the Gurungs and Tamangs of Nepal’s mid-hills have gathered wild honey from combs hanging off precarious cliffs near their villages. The honey sourced from cliffs at higher altitudes is known for its psychoactive properties, while those cut from hives at lower altitudes are renowned for their healing powers.

The lower-altitude honey, whose harvesting you will witness, is regarded as an elixir, an aphrodisiac–as something like manna provided by the gods. The honey-hunting season spans just about a month, starting around mid-June.

On your trip, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the rich living rituals around honey hunting as practiced by the villagers of Bheer Gaoun , a Tamang village in Lamjung, in the hills of mid-western Nepal.

Hunting for cliff honey is an exceedingly dangerous undertaking, so the villagers call upon the spirits of nature to bless every aspect of the hunt. On the days preceding the hunt, you will be able to intimately observe how the villagers prepare for the daunting task.

You’ll participate in the prayers, rituals, and processes to do with the weaving of the baskets used for carrying back the honey, the crafting of the various ladders and fixings made from bamboo fiber, and the sharpening of the sickles and the wooden extensions used to cut the hives.

ENGAGE WITH THE MAGIC AROUND A SACRED HUNT

On the day of the hunt, you will walk with the honey-hunting team to the base of the cliff that the team will climb that day. Once at the base, you will take in the entirety of the hunt: from the building of the fire whose smoke will drive out the bees from their hives to how the hives are cut and ladled into baskets, which are lowered by the climbers to the villagers below. After the honey is gathered for the day, you will participate in the filtering and refining of the gathered honey, and finally make your way back to the village.

Honey-hunting of this kind is a dying tradition in Nepal, largely owing to the adverse impacts of climate change on the wild honeybees and their ecosystems. Members of many of the traditional honey-hunting families are increasingly opting for other avenues of making an income. Your tour fees will go towards the running of a school in Besisahar that the children of the villagers attend.

That said, although you will be completely immersed in Lamjung’s traditional, rustic Tamang lifestyle, you’ll be living inside tents that offer all the amenities you demand. Depending on your need, we can even make available portered attached commode toilets. If you let us know in advance, we can meet all your demands.

We are a consortium of travel, trekking, and logistics companies headed by seasoned professionals who can take care of your every need from the moment you enter Nepal to when you leave the country, fully satisfied at having experienced a one-of-a-kind experience found nowhere else on earth.

Furthermore, if you would like to revisit the honey-hunting sites later, and you would like the best in the sector to handle all the logistics pertaining to researching or filming honey-hunting and other cultural practices, we can offer you unmatched full-fledged services.