Hunting Nepal’s Mad Honey That Makes You Hallucinate - HONEY HUNTERS

[Music] there are few stories that keep me up at night and this story is one of them [Music] years ago i heard of these so-called honey hunters tucked away in the eastern mountains of nepal this is the main road to get to where we're going but it's amazing when am i ever gonna see this again there is an indigenous group that for 250 years have risked their lives scaling cliffs of hundreds of meters on nothing but a bamboo ladder hunting for a honey that makes people hallucinate however beyond being extremely dangerous once they walk this path a hunter's life is rumored to become cursed by the spirit of the mountain forever although initially only used as a local form of medicine as whispers of the honey's unique healing capabilities spread across asia demand for the rare and precious commodities skyrocketed in korea china and japan but consumed in higher doses it can cause vomiting for an entire day loss of consciousness and in rare cases death as climate change has caused the world's bee population to greatly diminish however and the younger generations are reluctant to expose themselves to the same extreme risks as their ancestors this tradition is dying there are not groups taking tourists on sometimes staged hunts for them to witness however as i think you know by now we are always on the hunt to find the realest most authentic story to experience and bring forth to the world so after months of logistics we were able to get a hold of a small village who still takes this tradition very seriously at 58 years old however there is only one hunter left in the village and no one set to replace him were he to retire making him potentially the last of his lineage with so many questions about this tradition and a 10-day trip to go camping deep in the jungle of nepal i decided to bring tommy my least experienced friend camping who's only camped for one night in california before this on what will turn out to be one of the most brutal trips i'd ever been on ideally you've already broken into the shoe before you get there thank you for telling that like the day before we go tommy has never been on a rugged kind of travel adventure trip like this in his life before i've actually never seen him this nervous i've only kept once in my life you can't once i'm scared man i'm really nervous actually i mean it'll be hard it's gonna be really difficult but you're just gonna have to like be brave basically oh with all of our equipment packed we began the three-day journey to this remote nepali village thanks to nepal little nervous a little jittery it'll be fun i keep telling myself that [Music] oh yes it's my first sign yeah hey man how are you nice to meet you look at that do we have any idea what we're getting ourselves into no so i i know nothing about this trip i was trying to calm you down by telling you i know what's going on but honestly i don't i just want to make sure you came with me they worked what's your name again tommy he's never done this he's never done his trick did you know that no our first stop as soon as we landed was to meet our safety guide will be taking us through the rock climbing we would need to witness the honey harvest up close we haven't slept much yeah i'm also very tired since i came yesterday like yesterday yeah you from back yesterday from everest we can't really complain i had an overnight flight we're really going to be putting this new athletic gear to the test huh breathable activewear this clothing is like specifically designed for this kind of adventure environment working out whatever adventure you decide to go on a part of the purpose of our trip is to test and showcase to you our brand new activewear product collection as many of our clothes in the past were made to be worn in everyday environments this clothing is designed for exercise and adventuring this isn't just another drop but a whole new product category we hope to expand into on this trip to nepal we are here to trial it on the roughest of terrains and release it to the world once this short documentary is over as literally no sponsor wanted to be a part of this trip we invite you to scroll down and find that beautiful link in the description and get your very own seek gear to be worn for when you're out seeking that discomfort [Music] yeah you got it now just picture tens of thousands of bees leeches a suit and a camera in your hand that's our one and only lesson you said some of the walls not all of them but some will be 80 meters so multiply what you just did by eight that's pretty high before we could even begin understanding the bee hunting culture we had to get through days of intense travel just to get to the village or just maybe just chaos after flying to the capital of nepal kathmandu we now had to prepare for two full days of driving before beginning a four-hour hike through a rainforest just to get to the village this is our off-roading vehicle [Music] is this our spare tire you ready for like 15 hours in the car it's a little tight for three grown men yeah yeah it's going to be definitely cozy in here cozy's a good choice of words another option would be uh crammed only 15 more hours we got space for another in case i want to bring an extra friend we're friends with the world's strongest men who are about the size of this truck can they come and we were off [Music] [Music] we've been on this road for at least six hours it's starting to get a little challenging [Music] great visibility yeah we've been climbing up we're gonna climb up 2000 meters up in the air and right now we're fully in the clouds and it's raining as we climbed further into the mountains the rainy monsoon season was really starting to creep up on us but as we still had a great distance to go our driver couldn't afford to slow down too much despite the bad visibility which after driving around a few accidents was making us extremely worried at the back of the car the entire road is full of construction it started pouring on this road what was the way we could make it sketchier i know after a full day of driving with dangerous conditions and landslides reported ahead we had to stop two hours away from where we'd originally hoped to get to at a small guest house so this is our destination for tonight this is where today and then tomorrow we're gonna start and then hopefully these guys clear we'll get the view of everest from you yeah it was a long day are we going to be able to charge things at some point later oh there's going to be electricity coming back yeah yeah oh just for now yeah okay was this a good idea when i signed us up with this i didn't think it was going to be this crazy like this trek i feel like i've seen my life flash in front of my eyes four times these trucks almost crash into us on the side of this course 5 30 a.m wake up tomorrow for eight more hours in the car and then a two-hour hike which i feel like will turn into a four-hour hike have you been uh [Laughter] i'm so happy you're here it's making me laugh hello future me man and michael had to be you watching this footage you're probably taking a shower by now you lucky bastard i feel like a condom yeah you recording yeah i feel like a condom goodnight kid goodnight man [Music] good morning it's 5 30 in the morning another full day of driving today what do you think of that that's not everest uh i don't know wow himalayas holy [ __ ] everything here is perfectly under control really because it feels like the road is clumpy and dirt and there's a cliff side [Music] and this region is prone to mudslides what's that [Music] it's hard to capture but we are permanently on the edge of like a thousand meter drop and he goes about this close to the edge just mud we made it wow 15 hours later i can't believe we're hiking right now we got help to carry our bags but there's just a lot to carry she's a beast thanks for the ride okay okay three hour hike commence we're talking about how remote we are for two days now this is the main road to get to where we're going [Music] [Applause] [Music] so almost there [Music] yeah all right got my first leech just rip it off oh he's deep damn we got blood yeah oh god oh no oh god on this yes are there tigers around here i don't think so i don't think you don't think so yeah and so here we can find like leopards we can find leopards occasionally we're actually walking up into the village right now the youth have set up a volleyball net here in the middle of the past it's pretty awesome namaste namaste it's so peaceful here we're so far away from any drivable roads really this is it right [Music] it literally looks like a like a set from the movie that's such an american thing to say but it does i know it is an american thing to say there's only one guy that's doing the harvest and he lives in this house right now and we're about to meet him oh wow namaste namaste you know espalier [Music] you're the hunter he's the hunter i wonder how many times this guy's been stung thank you for letting us stay here too yes what's up moving in yeah moving in this is our freaking guy i love him already thank you so cool what a view all right we're in it boys they're speaking like a whole different language nepal has 128 languages i believe spread out all over the country and this language is native to this region so he's nepalese but he has no idea what they're talking about [Music] on our first day we were woken up at 7am startled two hours before we originally agreed to start the day to find the whole village ready to begin the sacrifice ceremony although our first day was supposed to be a rest day in the village after three days of travel they felt that today was an auspicious day to receive the blessing of the spirit of the mountain and ensure the group's safety for their upcoming honey hunt in the right community they follow the rule in the mundum so which is the guideline the way to begin to harvest and bless both the harvester and kind of like just the whole process for the whole village so i'm about to head out to a little bit further into the jungle and begin the ceremony the right people we are currently with are one of the indigenous groups from nepal who have unwritten rules beliefs and traditions passed down from the elders generation to generation we really had no idea what this ceremony entailed and what we'd gone ourselves into we are hiking deep to witness our first ever indigenous ceremony this feels very special to be so far tucked away and be a part of such a meaningful experience for this village is unlike anything i've done before oh my god look at my shoes there are leeches attacking us multiple of them right there how many do you have so many even flicking them off my shoe gnarly not a whole lot of room somehow this is the trail this is supposed to be an easy one-hour hike i can't imagine what the four-hour whack is going to be does somebody carry chickens up here [Music] i feel like yep gonna faint these people just went straight to work [Music] [Music] um [Applause] [Music] it's like one unit and they're all just moving and it's like a dance like everyone knows what their job is and they're just it's just a flow steady flow it's beautiful to watch this is the lead well those are the chickens but we're not gonna be able to show sacrificing chickens on youtube [Music] this is amazing [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh never felt so far away from home in my entire life in the best way possible [Applause] they just decapitated three chickens the chickens have been sacrificed and they are now blessing the different members who are going to go out to do the honey hunting this is a very serious process and ritual the shaman almost looks like he's in a trance this is the most out of your comfort zone probably but it's amazing when am i ever gonna see this again there are not a whole lot of indigenous rituals that are still preserved to this extent which makes being here feel particularly special so it's a sacrifice but they eat it afterwards so it's not like it's just being killed for nothing [Music] this is ours that's his are you serious what i literally can't how on earth do you swallow this lump [Music] how long has the honey hunter culture been a part of their village if a random person goes you know it's gonna get pretty harsh hard for them yeah this harvest will turn out good but then he has already predicted that within eight months somebody in the village is gonna die someone in the village in the next eight months is going to die how does he feel that he just felt it right now today yeah yeah yeah yeah the harvest is going to be here actually feel so good about it now we spent the entire morning packing it's time to go be hunting time to do it this is our man ready this is a good group of boys we're gonna freaking die out here probably not yeah that's a spirit the journey finally begins this is the longest it's ever taken us to get to the beginning of the actual adventure that we came for it's taken us four days to get here we have another day of just hiking tomorrow is the day of the actual harvest we have really been putting our seek discomfort activewear to the test on this trip and we're just super excited to be able to release clothing that i feel like is what sick discomfort was built for in the first place is to be a catalyst for action from our card game spark to this new clothing that's designed to be used adventuring hiking whatever it is that you're doing and exercising so we are pumped to be launching it and utilizing it on the roughest conditions that we truly have ever had wow he was just climbing these rocks looking at it up close it is a lot bigger than i thought huge somewhere to do it make this look so easy one slip with even just a sprained ankle or worse a broken bone here could be highly unforgiving as we are in the rainy monsoon season no rescue helicopter could possibly come and lift us out or something to happen which means that we have to fully rely on ourselves and on each other to make it through these hikes carefully and unharmed [Music] gotta get all the way down there oh my god people die from cows and sharks per year i'm not trying to mess with these guys oh great [Music] so tomorrow there's you seen that there cliff holy [ __ ] all the way up there that's the one tomorrow how is it even possible to get to hiking through leeches and jungle how do you even find that that's way worse than i thought yeah honestly dangling with your vc your camera yeah you don't have to remind me up there it's got a lot more intense very fast it's our camp for the next two nights right underneath the beehives without any bugs and there's like huge spiders and leeches around yeah for you guys first leech my first leash jesus it's one way three welcome to the campsite yeah right it was finally time after carrying all their equipment down the mountain for hours the hunters were immediately ready to start their first climb for honey in the middle of the monsoon there's a hike to get to the base of this and they're climbing a cliff they're climbing to the top of the cliff letting down the ladder and then the guy's going to climb down and cut the honey we can't even hike past this point it's so treacherous this was only going to be a small harvest for them and the main harvest was planned to be much higher the next day which is the climb we would be joining them for we were now seeing for the first time just what we'd sign ourselves up for we are about to witness a man do the most dangerous thing we've ever seen anyone do and i'm comfortable saying that it's not all an exaggeration if he falls that's death yeah it's not even a question and he's not doing this with professional rappelling gear he's doing this with a bamboo ladder that's attached from the very top [Music] the craziest thing i've ever seen dumping rain dangling on a gigantic cliff right now with the biggest piece in the world trying to freaking eat him alive wow this is [ __ ] good [Music] [Music] [Music] that's amazing [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] we're going up on that ladder tomorrow like he did look at this that's insane this honey makes people hallucinate crazy to see them all come back and like be happy you guys eyes completely swollen he's like ah totally fine you're strong [Music] according to the locals what makes this honey unique is that these bees fly all over the himalayas collecting nectar from over 34 different plants and flowers creating this special honey with healing capabilities they believe it helps with intestinal problems as well as for wounded animals some of them even take a small spoon mixed into their tea in the mornings believed to bring them strength and courage the hallucinogenic part actually comes from a neurotoxin inside a flower called the rhododendron which only grows in high altitudes leading this honey to become known as mad the most intense and the most dangerous is yet to come we've been preparing for this making our way all the way here for the past five days so that tomorrow we can be a part of the most difficult and the most dangerous harvest that they have planned for the year how are you guys doing we're talking about what's happened yeah you ready he read it out loud and i was like that's exactly what we're doing right now [Music] eating uh rice made right here right in the fields potato grown right here in the fields cabbage growing right here in the field [Music] right now we're drinking some nepali room with our uh with our honey hunter it's good right yes they've called it they've called it rum beer and wine strong huh yeah yeah i keep finding leeches i found one on my wrist here oh my god we found one on t buggy's lower back oh my t-shirt i was wearing today just i didn't even notice this had one in the tent it's also worth noting that this is tommy's second time ever camping not like second total time like second night ever camping is this what camping is like because i am not having a good time are you kidding me this is so much blood [Music] today's the day as i woke up barely slept for a week the dangers of our day and my anxiety near heights slapped me in the face what part scares you the most uh the part that scares me the most is cory and potentially me getting on on the line yeah i feel like very anxious right now i want to get on the line but i'm also worried about if i'm feeling like this here when we're on the ground i don't know how i'm going to feel once i'm ready to rappel down that cliff like what would you say is the main risk you know like a bee is coming around to you somewhere you know this is very slippery slip where like on the hike up yeah what do you mean the the the cliff you keep doing this what does that mean like are we going to be walking on like the side of the cliff some of the very clever you know there we don't have any safety when you hike right yeah there's a bushes and you know jungle and cliff and everything [Music] ready all right all right it's time it's time [Music] [Music] [Music] the base of this one no one is forced to do anything yeah just do whatever you feel comfortable with and that you feel is within your safety good luck thanks guys [Music] holy actual [ __ ] [Music] [Music] you leaving now up the start of the fire the hives are about to go nuts the bees are coming these are the biggest honeybees in the world their sting is not around it's crazier than i imagined just gonna climb that with no protection i'm trying to stay in here so this is the least zen environment i could possibly imagine there's tens of thousands of bees leeches on the ground smoke in our faces what are we doing here you brought me here dude he's barefoot [Music] all he's got is a bamboo rope tied around his waist that's it holy sh look at that right now he's only hanging with his bare hands he took off his harness he's just holding on his arms and legs that's it cory's on the rope he's coming down good luck thank you [Music] that must be the scariest thing he's ever done foreign oh my god they are attacking him everywhere all over the camera all over us i'm trying to stay calm but i'll be honest kind of hard i'm pretty afraid of these and these are huge honeybees these guys are doing it without gloves what is that there's snakes here too yeah poisonous moisture from here hey guys what are we doing here what dangerous thing isn't here [Music] you need to [Music] oh [Music] with the most dangerous cliff of the year accomplished in a six-hour strenuous and non-stop climb the jungle suddenly became quiet an ambiguous silence mixed with relief exhaustion and a moment where everyone checks in on each other and on what the damage is how are you are you alive i'm alive man and i'm kicking boys he's crazy he has so many bees on him before he's down safe oh [ __ ] as cory came down they decided to stop their harvest early as they weren't finding as much honey as they hoped for leading me to not have the time to get up on the cliff like we'd train for [Music] together congratulations boys we survived it's the most important part yeah the sweatiest you're drenched in sweat bye-bye i want to be clear that an adrenaline rush is not what we are seeking but to explore how deeply we can immerse ourselves in this world to celebrate how wonderfully rich complex and diverse our planet truly is to meet people who have lived lives so radically different from our own yet still finding common ground together i believe is one of the most profound human experiences one can have you're crazy and i hope that by showing you this that i'm able to expand your perspective about how beautifully diverse our planet truly is when it comes to this tradition it is unclear for how long it will persist with no one currently training to take over from ashton we may well have witnessed and captured one of the last honey hunts from this village does he ever get afraid [Music] as the youth all over the world move into cities and climate change is causing problems even this far out into nature these traditions are becoming more and more rare and i guess only time will tell if we may just have witnessed the last honey hunter [Music] we made a separate video on our seek discover channel trying the honey in the meantime although i do not want to encourage you to do what we just did i do want to plant a seed in your mind and leave you with this where is your next adventure going to be

Channel: Yes Theory

Views: 5,281,223

Keywords: yestheory, seek discomfort, yes theory strangers, yes theory travel, yes theory subscribers, getting out of your comfort zone, Amazon FBA, honey hunters, hallucinogenic honey, nepalese honey that makes people hallucinate, rare honey, travel adventure, adventure documentary, yes theory documentary, yes theory wim hof, nepal adventure, himalayas trip, adventure to the himalayas, mad honey, mad honey hunters

Id: bSs0o7DrHeg

Length: 39min 13sec (2353 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 03 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/superistic511]

Astinai yini haru Bhutan jada Nepal kaile aaucha jasto vathyo, balla aaechan.

[u/duck4you]

They started overemphasizing their narration, so I stopped watching their videos. Good that they visited Nepal though.

[u/No_Current2834]

m recently watching alot of mad honey contents on YouTube and tiktoks. Hope this raises Nepal's tourism and all

[u/Manish9434]

The video that I didn't know need to watch. ❤️❤️

[u/NayStarfall]

They look like they are going start rapping their ass off any second

[u/dalmoth_chura]

good watch

[u/OkDifference9652]

sheeeeee, the video got me thrilled. could beat my attention span

[u/RedHeadEye]

Which village was this?