New audio update from TA on Everest.

This is the text of TA’s audio message:

Hi this is TA and Marian calling in from the village of Phakding, which is just so darn fun to say, at about 2600m above sea level.  We did decide to split the trip from Namche to Lukla into two parts, which is helpful for sore bodies and sore minds.  We spent the morning in Namche looking around at all the pirated outdoor gear, trying on a few things, doing a little email, and then had one last yummy feed at the Jamling Tea House and then headed downhill for 800m.  We got in here around mid afternoon rehydrated and then had a yummy feed of dhal bhat, some of the best dhal bhat I think I have had on the trip so far, one of my favorite meals to have while trekking is dhal bhat.  My monthly visitor showed up today, 12 or 13 days late.  I had had a question about whether or not I would intentionally stop my period on a trip like this.  I have checked with my physicians about such things, but one of the side effects of doing that is a much increased risk of blood clots and when you are going to super high elevations, like you would on Everest, you are already at increased risks for blood clots because of the extra hemoglobin your body is making.  So you will already have pretty thick blood and if you add birth control on top of that, you are at double risk.  None of the women on my expedition decided to go that path, they just decided to deal with the inconvenience that comes along with it.  But that is something that women explorers have done on polar expeditions and probably some choose to do so on the mountain too.  So that’s the scoop from here, heading to Lukla in the morning and get in line for a flight out.  Hope you are having a great day, talk to you soon, bye.

TA