TOUR ITINERARIES
Two Tours in August 2026
Following the success of our previous journeys and growing interest from mushroom enthusiasts around the world, we’re thrilled to announce two separate Bhutan Kingdom of Fungi tours in August 2026. Both itineraries offer an immersive experience into Bhutan’s rich fungal biodiversity, pristine forests, and deep cultural connection to nature. Each tour features foraging excursions with local experts, breathtaking hikes, and visits to traditional festivals celebrating the prized Matsutake mushroom. The Genekha Festival Tour (7–17th August) with Emily Smith aka @down2forage explores western Bhutan’s valleys and oak forests near the capital, while the Ura Festival Tour (21st August – 1st September) with Gabrielle Cerberville aka @chaoticforager travels further east into the remote Bumthang region for a more rural, highland adventure. Both promise unforgettable encounters with Bhutan’s landscapes, cuisine, and people—just seen through slightly different lenses.
Group One
GENEKHA FESTIVAL TOUR
With guest guide Emily Smith aka @down2forage
7th – 17th August 2026
The Genekha Matsutake Festival Tour (7–17 August 2026) explores western Bhutan’s lush valleys and forests, including Thimphu, Punakha, and Phobjikha, culminating in the lively Genekha Mushroom Festival near the capital.
We are incredibly lucky that Emily Smith aka @down2forage will be guest guide for our Genekha Matsutake Festival tour.
Based in rural Japan, Emily is known for her thoughtful, story led approach to foraging that blends ecology, culture, and quiet observation. Her deep connection to seasonal foodways, community knowledge, and slow exploration will add a rare depth to the experience, offering guests a gentle, immersive way to understand mushrooms beyond identification and into lived cultural landscapes.
Group Two
URA FESTIVAL TOUR
With guest guide Gabrielle Cerberville aka @chaoticforager
21st August – 1st September 2026
The Ura Matsutake Festival Tour (21st August – 1st September 2026) ventures deeper into central Bhutan, flying to Bumthang to forage in Ura’s highland forests and experience the rural charm and celebrations of the Ura Mushroom Festival.
This year we are joined by none other than mushroom auntie Gabrielle Cerberville aka @chaoticforager, for our Ura Matsutake Festival tour. Gabrielle brings infectious energy, extensive wild food knowledge, and a talent for making foraging accessible, exciting, and deeply educational. Learning alongside her in one of Bhutan’s most remote mushroom regions is a truly special opportunity, combining expert insight with hands on discovery in landscapes few ever get to explore.
Emily Smith aka @down2forage
Join Emily Smith as she guest guides our Genekha Festival Tour.
Gabrielle Cerberville aka @chaoticforager
Join Gabrielle Cerberville as she guest guides our Ura Festival Tour.
Hike to the Tigers Nest
Embark on the famous and beautiful hike up to Bhutan's national landmark.
Experience Real Bhutanese Culture
Take in real Bhutanese culture and experience masked dances, Buddhist rituals and more.
Matsutake Mushroom Festival
Celebrate Bhutan’s prized Matsutake mushrooms at this vibrant cultural festival in Genekha.
Macro Photography Workshops
Learn the art of macro fungi photography, covering framing, lighting, editing, and identification.
Bhutanese Photography Workshops
Capture Bhutan’s unique culture, stunning landscapes and monasteries with renowned Bhutanese photographer Punap Ugyen Wangchuk.
Guided Nighttime UV Walks
Experience Bhutan’s bioluminescent fungi under UV light with expert-led night walks.
Foraging & Cooking Wild Mushrooms
Hunt for Matsutake, boletes, and chanterelles, then cook and eat them in the outdoors.
Mushroom Momo Cooking Lesson
Learn to make traditional mushroom-filled momo dumplings with a local Bhutanese chef.
Explore the wilderness
Be on the frontline of nature conservation and discover the importance of bison to the ecosystem, guided by the local bison rewilding team and experienced nature guides.
Indentify & Conserve
Collaborating with the National Mushroom Centre in Thimphu, Bhutan as well as the iNaturalist mobile app. We will be recording data of our finds to aid fungal conservation research projects.
Emily Smith
Based in rural Japan, Emily Smith, known as @down2forage, is a forager, filmmaker, and storyteller whose work explores the deep connections between ecology, culture, and seasonal living. With a background in documentary filmmaking, Emily approaches foraging through observation and narrative, drawing on local knowledge and close relationships with elders and rural communities. She is also the creator of a microseasons project that explores subtle seasonal shifts through food, fungi, and landscape, encouraging a slower, more attentive way of engaging with nature. Through her work, Emily invites people to look closely, move gently, and understand foraging as a cultural and ecological practice shaped by time, place, and community.
Emily will be guest guide during the Genekha Tour: 7th – 17th August 2026.
Gabrielle Cerberville
Gabrielle Cerberville, known to many as @chaoticforager and affectionately as the internet’s “Mushroom Auntie”, is a forager, mycologist, outdoor educator, composer, and author of Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life. She is widely recognised for her warm, accessible approach to wild food education, blending deep scientific knowledge with joy, curiosity, and hands on experience. Through her writing, teaching, and widely viewed educational videos, Gabrielle has inspired millions around the world to connect more closely with plants, fungi, and seasonal living.
Gabrielle will be guest guide during the Ura Tour: 21st August – 1st September 2026.
Ugyen Wangchuck
Tour guide, photographer and founder of tour operator Gomo Adventures. Ugyen has decades of experience photographing the most important people in Bhutan from the royal family, Buddhist spiritual leaders and remote nomadic peoples.
Ru & Peter
Partnering with Ugyen to run this trip, mushroom enthusiasts Ru and Peter lead community workshops and promote fungi education in London. They aim to showcase the diverse world of fungi in Bhutan and encourage a deeper connection with nature. Committed to responsible foraging, they highlight Bhutan’s pristine ecosystems—one of the few places left untouched by commercial overharvesting. Through this carefully curated tour, they hope to inspire guests by exploring Bhutan’s rich fungal diversity, untouched wilderness, and deep-rooted traditions.
Sabitra Pradhan
Sabitra is an Independent Fungi Researcher as well as a Mushroom Supervisor at the National Mushroom Centre in Thimphu, Bhutan. Her local knowledge and expert guidance on Bhutanese mushroom species will be invaluable as we forage for both edible and scientifically interesting species.
Our 'Bhutan Kingdom of Fungi' was created in partnership with Ugyen Wangchuk and his Bhutanese tour company Gomo Adventures. We're excited to share with you this beautiful profile of him and his passion for guiding.
We're so happy to be working and collaborating with Ugyen, the best guide in Bhutan!
In partnership with Bhutanese Tour Operator
TOUR ITINERARIES
Emily Smith aka @down2forage
Join Emily Smith as she guest guides our Genekha Festival Tour.
Gabrielle Cerberville aka @chaoticforager
Join Gabrielle Cerberville as she guest guides our Ura Festival Tour.
Matsutake Mushroom Festival
Celebrate Bhutan’s prized Matsutake mushrooms at this vibrant cultural festival in Genekha.
Macro Photography Workshops
Learn the art of macro fungi photography, covering framing, lighting, editing, and identification.
Bhutanese Photography Workshops
Capture Bhutan’s unique culture, stunning landscapes and monasteries with renowned Bhutanese photographer Punap Ugyen Wangchuk.
Guided Nighttime UV Walks
Experience Bhutan’s bioluminescent fungi under UV light with expert-led night walks.
Foraging & Cooking Wild Mushrooms
Hunt for Matsutake, boletes, and chanterelles, then cook and eat them in the outdoors.
Mushroom Momo Cooking Lesson
Learn to make traditional mushroom-filled momo dumplings with a local Bhutanese chef.
Explore the wilderness
Be on the frontline of nature conservation and discover the importance of bison to the ecosystem, guided by the local bison rewilding team and experienced nature guides.
Indentify & Conserve
Collaborating with the National Mushroom Centre in Thimphu, Bhutan as well as the iNaturalist mobile app. We will be recording data of our finds to aid fungal conservation research projects.
Emily Smith
Based in rural Japan, Emily Smith, known as @down2forage, is a forager, filmmaker, and storyteller whose work explores the deep connections between ecology, culture, and seasonal living. With a background in documentary filmmaking, Emily approaches foraging through observation and narrative, drawing on local knowledge and close relationships with elders and rural communities. She is also the creator of a microseasons project that explores subtle seasonal shifts through food, fungi, and landscape, encouraging a slower, more attentive way of engaging with nature. Through her work, Emily invites people to look closely, move gently, and understand foraging as a cultural and ecological practice shaped by time, place, and community.
Emily will be guest guide during the Genekha Tour: 7th – 17th August 2026.
Gabrielle Cerberville
Gabrielle Cerberville, known to many as @chaoticforager and affectionately as the internet’s “Mushroom Auntie”, is a forager, mycologist, outdoor educator, composer, and author of Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life. She is widely recognised for her warm, accessible approach to wild food education, blending deep scientific knowledge with joy, curiosity, and hands on experience. Through her writing, teaching, and widely viewed educational videos, Gabrielle has inspired millions around the world to connect more closely with plants, fungi, and seasonal living.
Gabrielle will be guest guide during the Ura Tour: 21st August – 1st September 2026.
Ugyen Wangchuck
Tour guide, photographer and founder of tour operator Gomo Adventures. Ugyen has decades of experience photographing the most important people in Bhutan from the royal family, Buddhist spiritual leaders and remote nomadic peoples.
Ru & Peter
Partnering with Ugyen to run this trip, mushroom enthusiasts Ru and Peter lead community workshops and promote fungi education in London. They aim to showcase the diverse world of fungi in Bhutan and encourage a deeper connection with nature. Committed to responsible foraging, they highlight Bhutan’s pristine ecosystems—one of the few places left untouched by commercial overharvesting. Through this carefully curated tour, they hope to inspire guests by exploring Bhutan’s rich fungal diversity, untouched wilderness, and deep-rooted traditions.
Sabitra Pradhan
Sabitra is an Independent Fungi Researcher as well as a Mushroom Supervisor at the National Mushroom Centre in Thimphu, Bhutan. Her local knowledge and expert guidance on Bhutanese mushroom species will be invaluable as we forage for both edible and scientifically interesting species.
Our 'Bhutan Kingdom of Fungi' was created in partnership with Ugyen Wangchuk and his Bhutanese tour company Gomo Adventures. We're excited to share with you this beautiful profile of him and his passion for guiding.
We're so happy to be working and collaborating with Ugyen, the best guide in Bhutan!