“One month a year, giant Himalayan Cliff bees, the biggest bees in the world, come to collect nectar from a poisonous flower, giving the honey they make certain medicinal, aphrodisiac, and hallucinogenic properties.”
Ghale Gaun tour with Honey hunting program
Honey hunting is traditional skill used by tribes to collect honey from wild bees in the Himalayan foothills. Tribal elders hang by the cliff with the help of locally made rope and ladder to collect honey of the world’s largest honeybees. Climbing through the thick smoke used to disperse the bees, honey hunter poke the hive with one stick and collects the chunk in the basket he is balancing with another stick. The hunting needs great courage and balance to work while dangled hundreds of feet above the ground. With the world knowing the benefits of wild honey and its medicinal value, excessive honey hunting is done with modern technics (trafficking) putting the tribal way of life at risk. Native wild bees have also been victim of global warming and other environmental issues. This honey hunting program is lunched to preserve the tribal ways of life and keep the tradition with the help of sustainable tourism.
We will drive from Kathmanddu to Khudi via Besisahar. Watching an amazing view on highway we will reach Khudi after 7-8 hours of driving. We will stay overnight in this amazing place.
We will climb for about 4 hrs to the ridge top village of Ghalegaun. Ghalegaun is a typical Gurung village situated in the foothills of the Annapurna range. This is less visited unlike popular trekking route. One can get a true insight of Gurung culture with home stays and cultural programs. There are Gurung pilgrimage sites in and around this region, including the Samba Chhyoling Gompa at Nassar Danda. The peaks such as Annapurna range, Lamjung, Ganesh Himal, Manaslu and several other unnamed can be seen from these villages. The area is abundant with green pastures of grasslands.
Trek from Ghalegaun to Ghanpokhara (2,157m.) which takes about half hour. You hike from Ghalegaun to Ghanpokhara. You can enjoy the view of sunrise and surrounding mountains as Mt. Annapurna and Manaslu ranges. You can experience the village tour. Ghanpokhara is about 100m above Ghalegaun.
Trek from Ghanpokhara to Khudi and it takes about five hours. This day you can see waterfall and cave. You can also visit construction site of Khudi Hydro Electricity Project.
