the Yarchagumba herb can be sold for a large sum of money

Every year without fail thousands of men and women in north western Nepal take to the mountains to participate in a treacherous climb to find a herb which is thought to cure men from erectile dysfunction as well as other illnesses.

This year it is estimated that around 50,000 people will trek up the Saipal and Api peaks to try and find some Yarchagumba which has been recently nicknamed Nepal’s Viagra. The incentive for the climbers is that the Yarchagumba herb can be sold for a large sum of money in the markets of Kathmandu and thus it has now become a considerable source of cash for the region in the Himalayas where it comes from.

It is not only poor farmers who are making the trek up the mountain but even comparatively better off school teachers who are trying their luck.  However finding this herb is no walk in the park as the altitude causes many people to get altitude sickness and there is even a danger of avalanches. Last year there were eighteen casualties, two from altitude sickness and sixteen died in an avalanche which swept away their tents when they were asleep.

The mass exodus of schoolteachers from the region to try and find the Yarchagumba herb has meant that as many as 40 schools have had to close over the last two weeks. The teachers say that they will use some of their income from the selling of the “Nepalese Viagra” to fund of the development of more schools in the region.

The sad thing is that this Yarchagumba herb has no proven clinical effect on erectile dysfunction whatsoever. It appears to be the same as hundreds of other remedies which come out from the Far East which purely rely on the placebo effect that is experienced.