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

There are few stories that keep me up at night. And this story is one of them. 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. That's amazing. When am I ever going to 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 now 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. Is this a good shoe? I don't know Ideally, you've already broken into the shoe before you get there.

Thank you for telling that 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 camped once in my life. You've camped once? I'm scared, man.

I'm really nervous, actually. I mean, it'll be hard. It's going to be really difficult.

Really? You're just going to have to be brave, basically. Oh.

With all of our equipment packed, we began the three-day journey to this remote Nepali village. Made it to Nepal! We made it.

A little nervous, a little jittery, but it'll be fine. I keep telling myself that. Yes!

That's my first sign. Yeah! -How are you?

-Good to meet you. -Nice to meet you. -Look at that!

Do we have any idea what we're getting ourselves into? No. Because 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 wanted to make sure you came with me. It worked.

What was your name again? Andej, Andej. Andej, my name is Tommy.

He's never done this, he's never done this trek. -Did you know that? -No.

Our first stop as soon as we landed was to meet our safety guide, who would be taking us through the rock climbing we would need to witness the honey harvest up close. I'm Tommy, nice to meet you. How are you feeling?

Feeling great. A little tired, we haven't slept much. Yeah, I'm also very tired since I came back yesterday.

You came back yesterday? Yeah from Everest. You came 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 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.

And we have to pull down and jump off. -Yes. -Oh, there it is.

Yep, 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. What the hell is this? Organized chaos 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. Is this our spare tire? You ready for like 15 hours in the car?

It's a little tight for three grown men. Yeah, it's going to get real cozy. It's definitely going to be.

. . Cozy is a good choice of words.

Another option would be crammed Only 15 more hours. Have you got space for another? incase 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 are off. We've been on this road for at least six hours. It's starting to get a little challenging.

Great visibility. Yeah, we've been climbing up. We're gonna climb up 2,000 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 vehicles. It started pouring on this road. What was the way we could make it sketchier?

I know, pouring rain. 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 (we stay) And then tomorrow we're going to start early And then hopefully these skies clear we'll get the view of Everest from here yeah That was a long day Off for the night.

This is the no electricity. Are we going to be able to charge things at some point? Later There is going to be electricity coming back?

Yeah. *The electricity never came back -Oh, just for now. -Yeah Was this a good idea?

When I signed us up for this, I didn't think it was going to be this crazy. This trek, I feel like I've seen my life flash in front of my eyes four times as trucks almost crash into us on the side of this cliff. We have a 5.

30 a. m. wake-up tomorrow for eight more hours in the car.

And then it's a two-hour hike, which I feel like will turn into a four-hour hike. *He was right -This is your bed? -That's my Bed.

Ah, I didn't realize they have the Ritz Carlton in Nepal. I'm so happy you're here. It's making me laugh.

Hello, future me. Michael, had to be you watching this footage. You're probably taking a shower by now, you lucky bastard.

I feel like a condom. Are you recording? Yeah.

I feel like a condom. Good night, kid. Good night, man.

Good morning It's 5. 30 in the morning. We have a full day of driving today What do you think of that?

Wow! That's Mount Everest? I don't know!

*Yes it is It's the Himalayas. Holy s***! Everything here is perfectly under control.

Really? Because it feels like the road is bumpy and dirt, and there's a cliffside. And this region is prone to mudslides.

What's that? 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.

This is our stop yeah This is our stop? 8 HOURS LATER We made it. 15 hours later.

I can't believe we're hiking right now. We got help to carry our bags, but there's a lot to carry. She's a beast.

See you guys Bye bye Thanks for the ride. Ok Okay. The 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. Namaste.

All right, got my first leech. Just rip it off. Oh, he's deep.

Damn, you got blood. Oh God, oh no, oh God. -Andej?

-Yes? Are there tigers around here? I don't think so You don't think so?

So here we can find leopards -We can find leopards? -Yeah. Occasionally 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 path. It's pretty awesome! -Namaste.

-Namaste. Namaste. It's so peaceful here.

We're so far away from any drivable roads, really. -This is it, right? -This is it.

This is it. It literally looks like a set from a movie. It'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.

Namaste. Namaste. He's the guy You're the hunter.

He's the hunter. I wonder how many times this guy's been stung. Tell him Thank you for letting us stay here too.

-Moving in. -Yeah, moving in. This is our freaking guy.

I love him already. You're the man. Thank you.

So cool. What a view. All right.

We're in it, boys. We're in it, we are doing it. They're speaking a whole different language than Nepalese.

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. Down with it.

On our first day, we were woken up at 7 a. m. , startled.

Two hours before we'd 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 Rai community, they follow the rule in the Mundum.

So which is the guideline. This is a way to begin the harvest and bless both the harvester and kind of like just the whole process for the whole village. So we're about to head out to a little bit further into the jungle and begin the ceremony.

-Namaste. -Namaste. Namaste The Rai 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 had gotten ourselves into. We are hiking deep to witness our first ever indigenous ceremony. So it's very special to be so far tucked away and be a part of such a meaningful experience for these villages, 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, I've been flicking them off my shoe. This is snugly, 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 hike's gonna be.

So somebody carried chickens up here? Yep. I feel like I'm gonna faint.

These people just went straight to work. It's like one unit, and they're all just moving, and it's like a dance. Everyone knows what their job is, and they're just, it's just a flow, steady flow.

It's beautiful to watch. And this is the lead Shaman. Well, those are the chickens.

But we're not gonna be able to show sacrificing chickens on YouTube. What is it? This is amazing.

This is one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of I've never felt so far away from home in my entire life, in the best way possible. What's happening? 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.

Is this the most out of your comfort zone you've ever been? Probably, but it's amazing. When am I ever going to 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. This is ours, that's his.

- Are you serious? - What? I like it How did you get a leech here?

F***! How did it end up there? I don't know, I didn't feel anything.

- Nepali. - Nepali? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They just swallow it. -I can't. -I literally can't.

How on earth do you swallow this? -Swallow, swallow. -I can't swallow it.

How long has the honey hunter culture been a part of their village? It's something we've done for generations Almost like 260 years 260 year? Yeah almost yeah.

How does a honey hunter get chosen? The shaman who does the prayers Evaluates the criteria of the person And then chooses the right one for the job He was the right choice after analyzing Whether he'd go mad, fall sick or die soon when climbing. If a random person goes you know it's gonna get pretty hard 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 gonna die?

So the recently chosen honey hunter is good, right? Of course How does he feel that? He just felt it right now, today?

The harvest is gonna be good. We'll meet again Thank you so much You'll show us on Youtube We'll be good friends We really care for you Friends I'm glad that we have the shaman's blessing, I actually feel good about it now. We spent the entire morning packing.

It's time to go bee hunting. It's time to do it. This is our man.

Ready? Ready? This is a good group of boys.

We're gonna freaking die out here. Hopefully 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 Seek Discomfort was built for in the first place. It's to be a catalyst for action. From our card game Spark, to this new clothing that's designed to be used while adventuring, hiking, whatever it is that you're doing and exercising.

So we are I'm 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. I don't know how they do it! They 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. We gotta go all the way down there. Oh my god!

More people die from cows and sharks per year I'm not trying to mess with these guys. Oh great So tomorrow harvest is in that cliff! Holy f***!

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, honestly.

Dangling with the V-suit and 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. This is not going to keep out any bugs No.

And there's like huge spiders and leeches around. Cory got his first leech. My first leech.

Jesus. He's been right there. 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 a 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 gonna 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. And we were now seeing for the first time just what we'd signed 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 at all an exaggeration.

If he falls that's death, 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.

This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Dumping rain, dangling on a gigantic cliff right now, with the biggest beast in the world trying to frickin' eat him alive. Wow!

Oh, wow. This is f***ing nuts, this is f***ing nuts. That was amazing.

This is a friggin champion right here Holy s**t Look at his face Oh s**t That's probably from a bee, no? He can't open his eye. A leech bit him in the eye It bit him right there It's not a bee sting.

No, it's not, it's a leech sting. That's ten times. .

. . 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. The guy's eyes are completely swollen and he's like, ah! It's totally fine.

You're strong. 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. . .

Yeah He read it out loud and I was like, it's exactly what we're doing right now. Eating rice made right here, right in the fields. Potato grown right here in the fields.

Cabbage grown right here in the fields. Right now we're drinking some Nepali rum with our honey hunter. -It's good, right?

-Yeah! They've called it rum, beer, and wine. Strong, huh?

Yeah. Yeah, I keep finding leeches. -Found one on my wrist here.

-Oh my god. We found one on T-Buggy's lower back. On my Seek t-shirt I was wearing today, I didn't even notice this.

I just 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. Today's the day. 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? The part that scares me the most is Corey and potentially me getting 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 gonna feel once I'm ready to rappel down that cliff. Like, what would you say is the main risk?

You know like the bee is coming around you This is summer you know? So it's very slippery Slippery where? Like on the hike up?

Yeah. What do you mean, the cliff? You keep doing this.

What does that mean? Like, are we gonna be walking on like the side of a cliff or something? Yes.

Some of the very cliff, you know? we don't have any safety when you hike right? There's bushes in the jungle and cliff and everything.

Yeah. All right. - It's time.

- It's time. That's it The base is this way. And I go up this way This is the time we leave you.

Be safe, man. No one is forced to do anything. Yeah.

Just do whatever you feel comfortable with and that you feel is within your safety. Ciao, ciao. -Ciao, good luck.

-Thanks, guys. Holy actual f***. These incense are for the deities who reside in these cliffs Getting ready?

You leaving now? Up? At 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 does not f*** around.

It's crazier than I imagined He's gonna climb that with no protection? Trying to stay zen here. This is the least zen environment I could possibly imagine.

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. Are you kidding me? All he's got is a bamboo rope tied around his waist, that's it.

Holy s***, look at that. Right now, he's only hanging with his bare hands. He took off his harness, and 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.

It's 80 meters. Yeah very slow, very slow Yes, yes. Thomas : Are you okay?

Yeah, dude, this is insane. That must be the scariest thing he's ever done. The most difficult cliff to climb for honey hunting is the one right here My father, my grandfather and my maternal uncle used to tell about this Mahabir calling it 'Hurwam' Hurwan means located very deep The tip of the cliff is here but the bees are very deep inside It's dangerous Oh my God, they are attacking him.

Here come the bees Oh f*** The hive is coming down There are bees everywhere All over the camera All over us Trying to stay calm, but I'll be honest, it's kind of hard. I'm pretty afraid of bees, and these are huge honey bees. These guys are doing it without gloves.

What is that? Snake skin Yeah It's poisonous Most poisonous from here Hey guys, what are we doing here? What dangerous thing isn't here?

*Taking out bee stingers* 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. Cory!

How are you? Are you alive? I'm alive man and I'm kicking boy This is crazy!

He has so many bees on him. Cory's down safe. Holy s***!

You're f***ing back. As Cory came down, they decided to stop their harvest early, as they weren't finding as much honey as they'd hoped for, leading me to not have the time to get up on the cliff like we'd trained for. In how many places did you get bitten today?

A lot Is it more than before? Yes, a lot Risky This is the most uncomfortable and risky cliff Congratulations boys. -We survived.

-We survived. That's the most important part. The sweatiest big hug.

You're drenched in sweat. 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 Ashdan, we may well have witnessed and captured one of the last honey hunts from this village. Does he ever get afraid?

I don't get afraid anymore Because I know I can do it And I trust myself 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. 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?