April 20 – 23 : Kathmandu / Nepal Heli Scam

Did I become a victim of this scam? Read what happened and judge for yourself:

During the 5th day of the trek, I started developing issues with my digestion. I remember having Dhal Bat for lunch – a typical Nepali dish with a lot of rice, beans, and curry. At first, I was not very concerned about it and thought it might just be my body slightly reacting to eating too many beans.

It did not improve during the following days. Luckily, I did not suffer from any cramps; the ongoing diarrhea was just becoming a very annoying feature, especially while on a track. But since there was no pain involved, I could handle it. I quickly started adapting my diet towards lighter food, lots of rice, and yogurt, but sadly to no avail. My guide told me that this was probably a consequence of me eating chicken-based meals during the first days of the trek, something that he indeed advised against.

As we started ascending to higher altitudes, the trek naturally became harder, and I started to feel weaker. At this point, my guide started talking to me about helicopters and tried to sell me the idea that I could feign symptoms (which, at that point, I didn’t have) in order to return more quickly. Essentially, he was suggesting that I could commit insurance fraud, without saying so explicitly. I told him clearly that I did not like this idea at all and that I wanted to finish the trek properly.

During the 10th day – the day after EBC actually – I started developing a terrible cold all over my body. I went to bed very early that day, wearing two pairs of socks inside my sleeping bag, hoping the cold would be gone the next morning. Alas, it didn’t. That night was rather restless. I woke up with a slight headache which, in combination with the persisting cold and diarrhea, left me no other choice than to give in and tell my guide that I was not physically able to continue with the trek.

My guide then started by making calls to the agency in Kathmandu in order to quickly organize a helicopter to evacuate me. This was before 7 am. Many helicopters came and left again, until finally after 12 pm a helicopter arrived to bring me from Periche to Lukla. Luckily, I was not in a life-threatening situation…

During this waiting time in Periche, I also started noticing the advertisements for flying out by helicopter. Essentially, the lodges in Periche offered such flights in the range of $500 – $700 per person.

After the short (<10 min) flight, we arrived in Lukla where we had to wait another hour for the helicopter that would eventually fly me from Lukla to Kathmandu.

The helicopter flying me back to Kathmandu had 5 passenger seats. I learned that the 4 other passengers were not on a rescue mission like me but they simply had chosen to pay $600 for the service. The flight lasted about 45 minutes (and though this whole story has barely a good thing to it, the first helicopter flight in my life was at least an exciting experience).

After landing in Kathmandu, there was already an ambulance waiting for me to bring me to a hospital to check my health status.

It was all handled very professionally from then on and without further delays. At the hospital, they quickly took my vital signs, and a doctor showed up and told me that the headache (which had gone by now), the diarrhea, and the cold were all symptoms of AMS (acute mountain sickness). I was rather surprised by this, especially since we had already descended back to 4200m altitude. I understood that the headache could be a sign, but I was convinced that they were merely due to the sleepless night. But who am I to question a doctor? They then told me that I should stay one day at the hospital in order to recover.

The next day, however, I developed a weird red rash on my skin. The hospital’s dermatologist determined it was an allergic reaction (weird again as I have never been prone to allergies in my life), but could not tell me to what exactly this allergy was related. They decided then that I should stay another day at the hospital, so two days in total.

Still with me? Good. Now comes the interesting part. I am insured with the Luxembourgish CMCM, which covers these kinds of expenses all over the world. Just what I needed. At the hospital, I was contacted by a Belgian insurance company, Imabenelux, explaining that they were charged by CMCM to handle any cases like this one, happening outside of the insured person’s home country. They further told me that I wouldn’t have to worry; everything was covered. For my information, the helicopter invoice was about $5,800 (later raised to $6,200), and the two days at the hospital were invoiced at $1,800.

These amounts are, of course, ridiculous. Knowing that the helicopter should have cost about $600, I started getting suspicious of a scam. I told my insurance about this, but they did (and still do not) really care about this. I could, of course, just have let it go, knowing that everything was covered, but people who know me know that I am not the type to easily let such things go. 😉

So I asked for copies of these invoices. I first asked the insurance company, which (surprisingly) denied it. Then I asked the helicopter company, which simply said they had provided it to the insurance company and then didn’t reply anymore. Two days after my hospital discharge, I had to return there for a checkup. I took that occasion to ask for a copy of their invoice, which was also denied despite my insisting. Their response was that it wasn’t part of the Nepalese protocol to provide a copy of an invoice to the insured person if it is the insurance company who pays for it. Total bullshit in my opinion. The hospital then somehow got my insurance company on the phone, who also insisted quite aggressively that this was not possible. I told the insurance person that it was within my rights as an insured person to see the documents comprising my file, but the guy just said that I was in Nepal now and there were no such rights here.

I do, of course, understand why the hospital and the helicopter company don’t want to show me these invoices. They know perfectly well that they overcharged and don’t want proof of that to be out in the open. But why the insurance company handles this in such a restrictive way is beyond my comprehension.

This story went on for a few more days of sending emails between Imabenelux, where I told them that I mainly insisted on this for two reasons: first, it was clearly a scam, and I didn’t like that my name was involved in such a story. Second, I was also worried that they might decide not to cover me if something else happens in the future. They dismissed all my arguments, even saying that there was no overcharge (Yes, there is! The facts are clear).

I also contacted CMCM, as in the end I am affiliated with them and not with Imabenelux, to ask if I could have insight into my files and to know why this case was handled in such a secretive way. I never got any reaction, information, or reply from CMCM.

The travel agency which organized the trip kept saying the whole time that they have nothing to do with it, a little too many times. They were always very helpful (even visited me at the hospital), but when I asked them to investigate with the helicopter company (which they contacted in the first place in order to call the helicopter) why the invoice was so high, their communication skills somehow vanished…

The story (hopefully) ends there. In the end, after being a bit aggressive during the phone call at the hospital, Imabenelux’s emails became quite friendly and actually caring for my health.

At the time of writing this (May 2nd), I still suffer from the diarrhea which started during the trek, more than 2 weeks later. Imabenelux told me to not hesitate and see a doctor; I would further be covered. I guess that is what I will do, and hopefully, the only memory that will remain of the whole story will be this post.

Thanks to everyone for reading through this long post (but I know you all like drama, dontcha?) and I am happy to hear your thougts about this.

No picture gallery this time, but here is a pic of me while hospitalized, still rocking it: