The blue poppy is one of the most fabled of all Himalayan flowers. It is also one of the most elusive.

In 2012, while originally researching and designing a new trekking route around the three sacred peaks of Yading, in eastern Tibet, I spotted flashes of unambiguous blue on a rocky outcrop near where we had stopped to rest. Already at 4300m, I scambled breathlessly up the hillside and there, looking far too delicate to survive in such a rugged environment, were several Himalayan blue poppies - meconopsis horridula (excuse the Latin) to be exact.

Little did I know that the pictures I later posted caused a bit of a stir in far off Germany, which eventually snowballed into plans for a private group of very hardy enthusiasts to head back to the region and hunt for more flowers. So in June 2014, we lead an expedition into the wilds of Yading and eventually discovered four separate clusters of blue poppies, all in different locations and all at altitudes of between 4000 and 4500m.

It is worth noting, that the region to the south of Mt Jempalyang and Mt Chanadorjee in particular, above the Nyakshi Valley, is also a treasure trove of other beautiful 'Alpine' flowers and rhododendrons.