All our shots are up to date as per our last trip: http://kilemabound.blogspot.com/2010/08/vaccinations-you-knew-there-would-be.html The only considerations for this trip will be:
Maleria:
The trek to base camp will be at elevations that are too high for mosquitoes but since we will be spending about 6 days in and around the Chitwan jungle region, a prescription for Malrone is in order. We start the drug one day prior to entering the maleria zone and continue it until 7 days after we leave it.
We will be visiting a couple of temples where monkeys run freely and the dogs around Kathmandu are known to carry rabies. We will need to make a decision about whether or not to get vaccinated.
High Altitude Sickness
HAS is a real possibility and hard to predict. We are being prescribed Diamox to use as either a preventive or in the event that we start noticing symptoms. One of the main side effects of the drug is drowsiness so I don't think we will be taking these as a preventative measure. Since the drugs main effect on the body is to force CO2 out through urine, the pills act as a diuretic. A more interesting side effect of this is that any carbonated drinks will taste flat to the person taking the drug.
Japanese Encephalitis
This was briefly passed over as not being needed.
Anti-parasitic Medication
This was something that we didn't have for our trip to Africa, however the CACHA pharmacist sent everyone home with one Mebendazade (de-worming) tablet to take as a precaution. Since this was still large in our minds we made a request for single tablet each, but were told that this really wasn't necessary for this trip.
Anti-diarreah/ Anti-nausea
We have prescriptions for both Cipro and Zithromax to be used as needed. Apparently Cipro doesn't always work on the types of bacteria found in Nepal so we are instructed to try the Cipro first, then after a day or two, if its not working, we need to switch to Zithromax. Hopefully we don't need either!!
Hey carterjojo32,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found the information useful. Unfortunately I can't comment on any of the trekking services offered as I have never been to Nepal (yet).
My best advise to you is to send emails to the various companies that you have found on-line. Ask a lot of questions and see what kind or responses you get. Sometimes just the answers to your emails will tell you a lot about the level of customer service you can expect from each company (keep in mind that some of the trekking companies in Nepal may not have easy/reliable access to the Internet. Google will also help you to find other trekkers reviews of the companies. Although it is always nice to use a company that is local to Nepal, you really need to make sure that they will be knowledgeable about altitude sickness and that they are experiences enough to handle any emergency situations.
I chose PeakFreaks because they have been in business for quite a few years and have an excellent reputation. Although they are not local to Nepal (they are a Canadian based company) they hire a lot of Nepalese sherpas and staff so they do help the local economy. Also, they know a heck of a lot about altitude sickness because they organize and train climbers to summit Mount Everest
As for the most scenic route, that I'm not sure of. I have heard that actually the Annapurna trail is supposed to be much more scenic that the Everest Base Camp trek so go figure.
If you are determined to do the Everest trek I think that you have too many choices. They all seem to go through the same villages. This would be a good question to ask one of the trekking services.
Good luck with your adventure. It will be an experience that you won't forget