Asian Geographic - April 2018

A heaving storm lashes at the bent backs of

200 hopefuls as they scrabble at the earth.

Crawling on all fours under pouring skies –

some mothers with blanketed babies strapped

to their backs – their nimble fingers unearth

caterpillar-like brown roots in shades of

yellow, white, and black. The yellow ones

are worth the most. But a Layap will settle

for any one, spending weeks on the steep

mountainside to excavate them, clean them

with toothbrushes, and tote them off to

auctions in Gasa, where buyers await.

Traditionally, Bhutan’s semi-nomadic

people were yak rearers, spending their days

tending herds some 4,000 metres above sea

level. But a decade ago, a new practice was

born: For a month in June, entire families

ascend even higher up the Himalayas to

harvest yartsa gunbu (meaning “summer

insect, winter plant”), the local name for

cordyceps. Gathering the coveted medicinal

plant is prohibited for most of Bhutan’s

population, except 1,200 inhabitants of

seven villages, including the Layap, under a

2004 royal decree designed to supplement

highlanders’ income on top of sales of yak

meat and dairy.

Cordyceps starts as a

parasitic fungus that

seeks a caterpillar

host. It germinates in

the victim’s body, then

kills and mummifies

it as the insect buries

itself into the soil.

A brown shoot then

grows from the mouth

of the corpse.

Cordyceps

Ophiocordyceps

sinensis

2cm to 5cm

SIZE

LOCATION
Cold grassy alpine
meadows in Nepal and
Tibet at elevations over
3,800 metres

USES

Effective against

tuberculosis, leprosy,

leukaemia, tumours

and kidney infections

TIBET

NEPAL

“I would have continued

picking cordyceps if I

hadn’t been told that

my daughter was born. I

only came down from the

mountains for a few days

to see my wife and baby”

Tashi, Layap

But cordyceps commands a price of up to

USD42,000 per kilo, and this eye-popping

price tag has led some Layap to change their

age-old traditions: When a single trip can

feed a family for a whole year, why should

they still shepherd?

“I would have continued picking cordyceps

if I hadn’t been told that my daughter was

born,” says Tashi, the Laya village headman’s

son-in-law. “I only came down from the

mountains for a few days to see my wife and

baby. The weather is ghastly, with strong

wind and rain, but we are still harvesting

with enthusiasm.”

right The Layap once
lived in yak wool tents
when herding on the
mountain, but these
are becoming a rare
sight as plastic tents
take their place today

NATURE