Altitude Sickness and emergency:

Altitude sickness?
Altitude Sickness is the effect of altitude on those who ascent too rapidly to elevations above 3,000 meters. The basic early symptoms of altitude sickness are headache, loss of appetite and sleeplessness. One shouldn't ignore these early symptoms as these symptoms may lead to more serious warnings and cause death sometimes within few hours. Medicine is no substitute for descent. If a doctor is available, he may give medicine and oxygen. However, the patient must go down to lower altitude even if treatment is given.

How will the altitude affect me?
Altitude sickness can be a worry for many people coming from sea level. Which is why our itinerary specially designed to suit our customers extra days to acclimate to the higher altitudes. Our guides are trained to spot any signs of altitude sickness and attentive to react.

How difficult is it to adjust to the high altitude of Nepal?
Unless you are actually climbing a Himalayan peak, the majority of your time in Nepal is likely to be below elevations where altitude sickness is a concern. On treks to the Annapurna and Everest areas your guide will help you pace your hiking to minimize symptoms and help you address them if they occur. Most people do not have any problems below 9,000’ elevation, but will feel shortness of breath and mild headache somewhere between 10-12,000’ elevations. Usually the symptoms diminish or disappear if you ascend gradually and take rest days as you go up. Some trekkers elect not to complete their trek if symptoms persist or worsen. We are always prepared to assign a guide to accompany clients who may have altitude problems down to lower altitudes where these problems always disappear. Some trekkers take diamox, or other drugs, which increase blood flow or eliminate water, build up. You may wish to ask you doctor for recommendations. Some medical professionals say that Ginko biloba started 5 days before the trek may help prevent these symptoms. If you don’t plan on taking a high altitude trek, you won’t have to be concerned about altitude sickness.

What happens if there is an emergency?
Our guides are trained to face in most of the basic problems that occur during a trek, but if they’re serious emergency occur, and then outside help is needed, in that case we initially provide the rescue services in favor of you. Regarding to avoid losing payment of this regard first you should have your own insurance before coming to Nepal and second you should have to clear your entire rescue bill before departing from Nepal. After returning from Nepal you can claim and get back your money from your insurance company.

What do I do in case of emergency?
Though in general, you are not likely to face any emergency, you can never tell. Once again, a good trekking company and the guide on trekking will give you details on what to do in case of emergency. In cases of non-urgent situation, you may have to be carried to the nearest health-post or airfield by trekking guide. If the situation is more serious, your trekking guide will send message to his trekking company in Kathmandu by telephone or by radio service for a helicopter evacuation. It costs of $1200 - $2000 for an hour for a helicopter evacuation, and generally a guarantee for payment is required before the helicopter actually takes off. Registering with your embassy can greatly speed the process.