Health ensurance

Getting air lifted in a helicopter ($6,000) is pretty expensive, but unless you get a major injury trekking the medical is very cheap in Nepal. I went to the emergency a few years ago and with the lung x-ray, ekg, pulmonary specialist and even a follow-up phone call and mold test for my lungs. It was well under $100 and I felt like I got better care than if I was back home.

You do have to know what hospitals to avoid. Never go to a local hospital, Bir, Monmohan, etc. Instead, go to a hospital that has an international presence like the Kathmandu Teaching Hospital in Dhulikel-brand new and all the bells and whistles. They do eye exams, birth control stuff and everything else-and it's quite clean. One exception to my rule is the SKM Skin Hospital in Saku. I was eating in the commissary and saw 100 roaches crawl out from behind a calendar. I was talking with a doctor a few years ago from there and he mentioned infections. Yes, I'd guess it would be a good place for an infection.