Nepal: So You’re Telling Me It Was Covid and Not Altitude

For April 16-21, 2022

On the morning of our last day of our trek, we were in the tea house waiting to head over to the airport to head back to Kathmandu.  When we asked what time our flight left and when we needed to head over, Anil just said we were on the second Tara flight out of the day and we’d head over when we heard the first flights coming in.  Amy and I were a bit antsy with this plan.  When we heard the first plane coming in, we grabbed our stuff and were told to wait.  But we just said we wanted to go watch the planes, so we went and sat above the runway and watched as planes came in and left.  Eventually the others joined us and we headed to the airport.  Pemba said goodbye to us at the airport and then he started his 2 day walk home. 

I could watch planes takeoff and land here all day.

Meanwhile we waited and waited and waited.  Flights were coming in and going, but not ours.  We watched as the other planes came in and dropped off bags and passengers, loaded up new ones, and headed out.  We noticed they were very quick about it and started timing them.  Three of the airlines flying into Lukla were using Twin Otters, while the other one ran on Dornier 228s.  The unloading and loading of the Otters were quick.  They could turn that plane around in less than 3 minutes.  That included getting 18 people off the plane and all their bags, plus getting as many back on…in 3 minutes!  The Dornier 228 took about twice as long.  It sat a little higher off the ground so I think that’s what slowed it down a bit.

Finally our number was called.  We were first in line which meant we got first dibs at seats on the plane, which this time we were wanting the righthand side seats.  We got our last views of Everest and Ama Dablam and the others as we flew back to Kathmandu. All of us were still wearing masks while in the airport and on the plane.

When we got back to the hotel (the same one we stayed in before our trek), we got our Covid tests done and then showered.  A nice, not rushed, full hair and body washing shower was amazing.  We met back up downstairs a bit later, and Dipak, our trip planner, was waiting down there in the hotel’s courtyard area for us.  Our covid results were back…and mine was positive.  Amy and Renee were still negative though.  That changed everything.

The first thing that happened was Amy moved in to room with Renee, instead of with me.  We secluded ourselves at a table in the far corner of the courtyard while we worked things out.  We were supposed to be heading to Doha to spend a couple of days in Qatar.  Instead, Amy and Renee changed their tickets so they could head immediately home because they didn’t want to risk getting stuck in quarantine there for 10 days (as it is a much more expensive country than Nepal, or being back home).

My space for 3 days.

Meanwhile, I started trying to figure out how and when I could head back home.  I looked back at the journal I kept and pinpointed that my symptoms had started on April 8th.  US re-entry rules post-Covid infection said you couldn’t travel until 10 days after the start of symptoms.  That meant that the earliest I could head home would be April 18.  This theoretically meant I could keep my original Doha to Dallas flight, but I had to get from Kathmandu to Dallas. Unfortunately there were no open seats on a Qatar Airways flight heading out of Kathmandu that day, though.  Instead they were able to get me on a flight the following day and they switched the rest of my flights as well.  I ended up booked on a flight leaving on April 19th, that would get me home on April 20th, just a day later than originally planned. Overall Qatar Airways was really good about the whole thing and making sure I was able to get back.

The funny thing is that upon learning I was Covid-positive, it was like all the energy I had was sucked away from me.  Suddenly everything was exhausting.  The three flights of stairs up to my room was more than I could handle, despite the fact that I had trekked up to Everest Base Camp with Covid.  Based off when symptoms started, I hiked for 8 days with Covid. We were at EBC on day 5 of Covid.  So it turns out that the diarrhea, fatigue, cough, and loss of appetite were not altitude related, though each one of those is something you could fully expect while traveling at high altitude or in a developing country.  Or maybe they were partially altitude related.  It really is hard to say.  Since I’ve gotten back people have asked me how I kept going, and I said I thought I was dealing with altitude issues, not Covid…that’s how.  I kept going because I wasn’t experiencing any of the major signs of altitude sickness.  No vomiting, no headaches, no insomnia, just loss of appetite and fatigue.  I have no clue if I ever had a fever.  I was taking ibuprofen every day because my knees get achy while hiking, but it also happens to be a fever reducer, so maybe that helped keep a fever from ever forming.  I seriously have no idea.

My dinner view for 3 nights.

After supper that night, Renee went out to get me some things to last me for the next few days.  Some juice, fruit, and pastries.  The next day, she and Amy said goodbye and they headed home.  I spent the next three days in my room at the hotel.  Dipak had worked out everything with the hotel so I didn’t have to worry.  I ordered room service every night.  My appetite was back I was ready for food, for the most part...though I was still only really eating breakfast and supper. I would just eat some fruit and juice for lunch.  They had a couple of more European/American style pastas on their menu and I ate the same Pasta Carbonara every night and I loved it!  My mind was still associating Asian cuisine with not feeling great. I would eat supper sitting out in the open balcony area across the hall.  It was the perfect place to eat.  The city was cooling down for the day, the sun was setting, and the lights were on down in the courtyard below me.

I heard from Amy and Renee as they made their way home.  By the time Amy got home, she was sick too.  Renee never got Covid.  All three of us were fully vaccinated and boosted.  I guess for Amy and I, it had just been long enough since we had gotten our boosters.  Or maybe it was the fact we shared a room more often than I share with Renee.  Who knows.  Louie never got sick either.

Kathmandu from atop the Moonlight Hotel.

Finally the day I could leave arrived!  I arrived at the airport and stood in line for over an hour to get checked in and check my bag.  It was hot and steamy and my recovering self really just wanted to sit down.  After I got checked in, it was onto Border Control and then security and then the gate.  While I was in line for Border Control, I turned and happened to see that Ian from the trail and UNO nights was just a few people behind me.  He had left his friend Kai, who was spending an extra few weeks traveling, and was heading back home to Germany.

The flights home were long.  I did not really sleep much at all so by the time I was back in Wichita, I was exhausted. I was about to fall over.  And there it is…my adventure to Nepal.