Travelling through India for three months ॐ

[Bazooka Jesus]

Alrighty, time for another entry in my little online travel diary (sorry that I have been so lazy with my updates... I guess I've been so busy having wild experiences that I haven't really found the time to write about them).

Anyway, I will grace this new chapter of my travel blog with the poetic title

Getting Stoned With A Bunch Of Crazy Honey Hunters - My Adventure In The Green Mountains Of Nepal

So a couple of days ago, I hopped on a jeep that took me to a remote village close to the Himalaya mountains; it was a two hour ride across super rough dirt roads that was so incredibly bumpy that when I finally got out of the jeep, I was swaying to and fro as if stepping off a goddamn roller coaster. But what can I say... I couldn't believe my eyes when I entered the village. This place is so unbelievably quaint and picturesque that it is almost surreal. I swear, walking around here is like strolling through a movie set; it's like I've traveled back in time and ended up in a medieval Himalayan mountain village out of a freaking picture book. WOW. (For anyone interested, the name of the place is Bhujung.)

Now, one of the reasons why I chose to come to this specific place is because a little birdy told me that there might be a chance to join the local honey hunters for a trip into the hills and watch them pick off big honeycombs from the steep mountain cliffs (I've seen a documentary about this a couple of years back on Youtube and had it on my bucket list ever since); however, I could find no information about when this would be happening, so I decided to just try my luck, come here and see for myself what's up. And what do you know... the very next day after my arrival, there was a hunting party scheduled. They told me later on that they only do this type of activity twice a year... and I just happened to show up at exactly the right date. What are the odds, huh?

So the next day I got up at 7am, did my morning Qi Gong and waited patiently for departure time; but since communicating with the locals can at times be a bit of a challenge (to put it very mildly), they eventually left the village without me. So I hired a neighbour's kid to lead me to the honey cliff, and after a two hour hike through the forest we reached the place where they had set up camp; there were around fifty of them sitting in a circle together praying for good success, with a small fire in the middle on which water was boiling. (We had to walk the last hundred meters barefoot over the rocky forest ground - out of respect for the Gods, as they put it.) After an hour or so, two of them put on bee-proof overalls with head protection and got ready to climb on top of the cliff under which our little "hunting" party was gathered; the rest of them wore regular coats and make-shift nets in order to keep the bees at bay. All I had was a thin poncho and a shawl wrapped around my arms... but I figured that a few bee stings would be a small price to pay for witnessing this grand spectacle, so I said to hell with it, made myself comfortable near the fire and enjoyed the show.

And what a show it was! The fellows who were designated to collect the honey went up the cliff, and after a while they threw down a thick rope on which a huge rope ladder was being attached and pulled up. One of the guys in the white overalls climbed down the ladder, pulled up a basket which he placed on a long stick and with another stick began cutting off the honey combs while swarms of bees jolted off the rock like angry black clouds; he filled the basket with the big yellow slabs and let it down towards the ground where the others grabbed it and collected the delicious booty.

(Side note: The honey in this neck of the woods is commonly called "mad" honey since it is (in)famous for producing hallucinogenic effects; but the hunters told me that at this time of the year the effects are not quite as pronounced as when you collect the honey around the month of May. Be that as it may (get it?), I still felt pretty stoned when me and the boys finally went back to the village, for reasons that I shall lay out in the following paragraph.)

After the honey combs were collected and cut up into sizeable chunks, they handed us some of the pieces so that each of us could get a taste... and it sure was super yummy stuff. Then they prepared rice and curry (with a dash of fresh honey, of course) and we all had a big celebratory banquet around the fire, including some very special local concoctions of moonshine alcohol. I ate the food with my bare (dirty) hands and slurped the booze out of a rugged metal dinner plate, all the while upset bees were buzzing around us; needless to say, half of the food and drink ended up as decoration on my already dirty trousers. Some of the guys were smoking homegrown weed from chillums and passed them around... suffice to say that it was a very convivial feast, lol.

What an experience. To me, the whole thing felt like being part of a tribe that embarks into the woods and goes hunting together; even though technically I was just there as an onlooking tourist, I really felt like "one of them" and was treated as such by the rest of the gang. It certainly gave me an appreciation for the intense bonding effect that these types of activities must have had among human tribes since time immemorial... not to mention that it offered a fascinating insight into a foreign culture that is vastly different from anything that you are accustomed to as a European city slicker. It might sound like an overly romantic & naive cliché, but one can only admire the (more or less) healthy and robust simplicity with which these people live their lives; they certainly seem much less neurotic and screwed-up than your average Western joe, and much more in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. And they sure know how to have a good time out there in the wilderness, muahahaha.

And before you ask... yes, I got stung by a bee, right under my left eye. But as I said earlier: It's a very small price to pay for such an amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventure, up here in the wild and beautiful mountains of Nepal.

Namaskar!

 

Edited March 15 by Bazooka Jesus

[Bazooka Jesus]

PS: Here is the documentary that inspired me to go hunting for the honey hunters, for anyone that's interested:

 

[Arthogaan]

42 minutes ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

Alrighty, time for another entry in my little online travel diary (sorry that I have been so lazy with my updates... I guess I've been so busy having wild experiences that I haven't really found the time to write about them).

Anyway, I will grace this new chapter of my travel blog with the poetic title

Getting Stoned With A Bunch Of Crazy Honey Hunters - My Adventure In The Green Mountains Of Nepal

So a couple of days ago, I hopped on a jeep that took me to a remote village close to the Himalaya mountains; it was a two hour ride across super rough dirt roads that was so incredibly bumpy that when I finally got out of the jeep, I was swaying to and fro as if stepping off a goddamn roller coaster. But what can I say... I couldn't believe my eyes when I entered the village. This place is so unbelievably quaint and picturesque that it is almost surreal. I swear, walking around here is like strolling through a movie set; it's like I've traveled back in time and ended up in a medieval Himalayan mountain village out of a freaking picture book. WOW.

Now, one of the reasons why I chose to come to this specific place is because a little birdy told me that there might be a chance to join the local honey hunters for a trip into the hills and watch them pick off big honeycombs from the steep mountain cliffs (I've seen a documentary about this a couple of years back on Youtube and had it on my bucket list ever since); however, I could find no information about when this would be happening, so I decided to just try my luck, come here and see for myself what's up. And what do you know... the very next day after my arrival, there was a hunting party scheduled. They told me later on that they only do this type of activity twice a year... and I just happened to show up at exactly the right date. What are the odds, huh?

So the next day I got up at 7am, did my morning Qi Gong and waited patiently for departure time; but since communicating with the locals can sometimes be a bit of a challenge (to put it very mildly), they left the village without me. So I hired a neighbour's kid to lead me to the honey cliff, and after a two hour hike through the forest we reached the place where they had set up camp; there were around fifty of them sitting in a circle together praying for good success, with a small fire in the middle on which water was boiling. (We had to walk the last hundred meters barefoot over the rocky forest ground - out of respect for the Gods, as they put it.) After an hour or so, two of them put on bee-proof overalls with head protection and got ready to climb on top of the cliff under which our little "hunting" party was gathered; the rest of them wore regular coats and make-shift nets in order to keep the bees at bay. All I had was a thin poncho and a shawl wrapped around my arms... but I figured that a few bee stings would be a small price to pay for witnessing this grand spectacle, so I said to hell with it, made myself comfortable near the fire and enjoyed the show.

And what a show it was! The fellows who were designated to collect the honey went up the cliff, and after a while they threw down a thick rope on which a huge rope ladder was being attached and pulled up. One of the guys in the white overalls climbed down the ladder, pulled up a basket which he placed on a long stick and with another stick began cutting off the honey combs while swarms of bees jolted off the rock like angry black clouds; he filled the basket with the big yellow slabs and let it down towards the ground where the others grabbed it and collected the delicious booty.

(Side note: The honey in this neck of the woods is commonly called "mad" honey since it is (in)famous for producing hallucinogenic effects; but the hunters told me that at this time of the year the effects are not quite as pronounced as when you collect the honey around the month of May. Be that as it may (get it?), I still felt pretty stoned when me and the boys finally went back to the village, for reasons that I shall lay out in the following paragraph.)

After the honey combs were collected and cut up into sizeable chunks, they handed us some of the pieces so that each of us could get a taste... and it sure was super yummy stuff. Then they prepared rice and curry (with a dash of fresh honey, of course) and we all had a big celebratory banquet around the fire, including some very special local concoctions of moonshine alcohol. I ate the food with my bare (dirty) hands and slurped the booze out of a rugged metal dinner plate, all the while upset bees were buzzing around us; needless to say, half of the food and drink ended up as decoration on my already dirty trousers. Some of the guys were smoking homegrown weed from chillums and passed them around... suffice to say that it was a very convivial feast, lol.

What an experience. To me, the whole thing felt like being part of a tribe that embarks into the woods and goes hunting together; even though technically I was just there as an onlooking tourist, I really felt like "one of them" and was treated as such by the rest of the gang. It certainly gave me an appreciation for the intense bonding effect that these types of activities must have had among human tribes since time immemorial... not to mention that it offered a fascinating insight into a foreign culture that is vastly different from anything that you are accustomed to as a European city slicker. It might sound like an overly romantic & naive cliché, but one can only admire the (more or less) healthy and robust simplicity with which these people live their lives; they certainly seem much less neurotic and screwed-up than your average Western joe, and much more in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. And they sure know how to have a good time out there in the wilderness, muahahaha.

And before you ask... yes, I got stung by a bee, right under my left eye. But as I said earlier: It's a very small price to pay for such an amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventure, up here in the wild and beautiful mountains of Nepal.

Namaskar!

 

Holy shit dude. That's awesome. Reading this makes me really want just throw everything away and go for adventure.

Please keep on updating us. 

[Bazooka Jesus]

3 hours ago, Arthogaan said:

Holy shit dude. That's awesome. Reading this makes me really want just throw everything away and go for adventure.

Like I said in the PM... don't throw all caution (and life planning) completely to the wind, but also don't let yourself be imprisoned by others' rules and expectations. Do what your heart tells you to do, but be smart about it. As long as you feel a genuine calling to do something, there will be a more or less reasonable way to make it happen. And sometimes being (seemingly) unreasonable is the most reasonable thing you can do.

[Salvijus]

Hm

 

[Bazooka Jesus]

1 hour ago, Salvijus said:

Hm

That's what I always say!

[Bazooka Jesus]

Btw, here are some impressions of the honey hunt... just to let you know that I am not making this sh** up, lol:

 

Edited March 16 by Bazooka Jesus

[Bazooka Jesus]

And here some pics of the burning ghats in Varanasi (the holy city in Northern India where they cremate the bodies of the dead at the Ganges river):

 

Edited March 16 by Bazooka Jesus

[Salvijus]

very nice 

15 hours ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

They told me later on that they only do this type of activity twice a year... and I just happened to show up at exactly the right date. What are the odds, huh?

Dope. "Footprints of god's care"

Edited March 16 by Salvijus

[Javfly33]

@Bazooka Jesus dope photos you are our new vice reporter for the forum 😃

[Bazooka Jesus]

7 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

@Bazooka Jesus dope photos you are our new vice reporter for the forum 😃

Tehehe, thanks... we aim to please.

[Arthogaan]

2 hours ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

Tehehe, thanks... we aim to please.

What about the girl that you were supposed to meet with? Give us report from that 

[Bazooka Jesus]

1 hour ago, Arthogaan said:

What about the girl that you were supposed to meet with?

Mmmmm, I bet you'd like to know, don't you?

Well, the long and short of it is that she was in a rush to go trekking in the Himalaya mountains - which I wasn't. (It's minus ten degrees up there right now, ugh!) Also she just had two weeks left before going back to Italy... so after one week of us traveling together, she went ahead without me in order to roam the snowy desert while I opted for hanging out in the green hills, visit idyllic Nepali villages and admire the mountain peeks from a respectful distance. (We've had a very emotional and tear-filled goodbye moment when she left... it was like a sappy movie scene, heh.)

We're still in touch though, and I've invited her to visit me in Berlin; we might even go to a big psytrance festival in Hungary together at some point in the future. - But even if I'll never see her again, I will certainly cherish the short time we've spent together. It was a very memorable encounter for sure.

 

Edited March 16 by Bazooka Jesus

[Arthogaan]

1 hour ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

We're still in touch though, and I've invited her to visit me in Berlin; we might even go to a big psytrance festival in Hungary together at some point in the future.

That's sweet!

Do you mean Ozora Festival by chance?

Always wanted to go there, maybe I will be third-wheeling with you guys 

 

[Bazooka Jesus]

41 minutes ago, Arthogaan said:

That's sweet!

Do you mean Ozora Festival by chance?

Always wanted to go there, maybe I will be third-wheeling with you guys 

Yup, that's the one!

Sure man, I'll let you know if/when we go there... but don't get your hopes up too high just yet; chances are that I am going to be pretty broke after my return from India, so maybe it won't happen this summer. Anyway, I will keep you in the loop!

[Juan]

Thanks for share, inspiring to see your story and I also been curious about trying the Nepalese Honey. I would like to figure out a way to make money but also being able to travel. 

[TheAlchemist]

@Bazooka Jesus amazing pictures and what a joy to read that story about the mad honey hunters.. This is what travel is all about, inspiring to see you immersing yourself so courageously and openmindedly in these situations 👊

Edited March 20 by TheAlchemist

[Bazooka Jesus]

Jammin' with the boys at the local temple in Bhaktapur...

Too bad I can't upload the video I recorded... bummer.

 

Edited March 25 by Bazooka Jesus