Kathmandu, Sept. 19 -- Rukshana Thapa has been travelling for five years, not for leisure, but for mushrooms.

Her Instagram feed may look like that of an avid traveller, but she insists otherwise. "I travel only for mushrooms," she says. For her, every journey, whether to Khaptad, Chitwan, Nagarkot, Shivapuri, Ilam, Rukum, or the remote Ruby Valley, has been a search for fungi. While others may see Nepal's forests as trekking routes or holiday getaways, Rukshana's eyes constantly scan the ground, searching for what most people overlook.

Thapa grew up in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur, near the Doleshwar temple. Her home was surrounded by greenery, and she spent much of her childhood outdoors. "I loved being around trees," she says.

She studie...