Trekking Nepal: The Rare Yarsagumba Caterpillar Fungus

UMM, NATURE IS CRAZY!!! 🌿🔥 One highlight of trekking in Nepal is spending time with the porters, who are full of local knowledge and stories. Kim, seen above, was one of the porters from my Mohare Danda trek in the Annapurna Region. ⛰️ One of Kim's many talents is finding the difficult-to-spot Yarsagumba (pictured if you swipe right), a highly-sought-after caterpillar fungus. It's actually quite horrifying. 😱👇 If you can believe it, it’s a rare fungus that parasites on the body of a moth caterpillar that lives underground. Shockingly, the fungus kills the caterpillar and then sprouts through its head. 🐛 The reason people want it so badly: It’s an aphrodisiac growing only at high altitudes in Nepal, Bhutan, North-East India, Tibet, and China. Have you ever heard of such a wild occurrence in nature?! #BeyondTheGuidebook 💕 A big thanks to the @nepaltourism + PATA for hosting my trip! 🎉 * * * #nepaltravel #visitnepal2020 #HTM2019 #nepal🇳🇵#travelnepal #travelnepal🇳🇵