Photo Taken: June 2026
I reached Chholophu from Ringmo that day and it was a very uphill trek especially carrying the Nikon D7500 with the 18-300 on my neck and all my camping gear made the journey very slow. I was also not properly acclimatized to the high altitudes of Nepal as I had come back from Melbourne only a week before I got here. The journey was very difficult. On the way we saw a lot of people returning on the trail, hundreds with their yaks, mules and tons of supplies. Turns out they were people from various hilly regions of Nepal coming to Upper Dolpa to collect Yarshagumba.
We reached the lake side camping spot in the evening very tired, I was struggling with the altitude and we saw a couple of people with tents and camp fire on the site. We talked to them and decided we would camp by their side. After setting up camp we talked to them and turns out they were the last group returning after the collection season had ended. They were a group from Jumla and were members of the same village that grouped together to come and collect the caterpillar fungus. Some of them have been doing this for decades. One of the most interesting things for me was that these people were walking through actual passes and did not use the same routes as trekkers. They were literally climbing up hills through the passes and getting to and from Jumla. They told us that it would take them 2 days to reach Jumla and I am sure it would take me at least 5 days.
It was almost the end of day so everyone was enjoying their tea and getting ready to cook.
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