I wonder where they are now....?

STATS: Day count=160; theft count=0; rip-off count=1; tourist screw-up count=4; Chris’ photo count=1488; Emma’s photo count=56; touch-typing char/min=234; Poi skills mastered since last post: None “Voluntourism” – good or bad. Discuss. It’s the (new-ish) phrase coined to cover the sort of thing we did at the gibbon sanctuary – helping out in a non-professional way on a particular project, usually paying for the privilege. The debate is whether you are actually benefitting the project in a greater way than if you had just donated the money. We’ve talked about it a lot both during and after our work at the sanctuary, and I think both our views have changed a little from the experience. We’d be interested in your views (or just to provoke a discussion when you’re next in the pub!) With a level of plagiarism from a magazine article I read recently, here is a typical exchange that we have on a regular basis… Mr Tuk-tuk: “Tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, tuk-tu...

STATS: Day count=152; theft count=0; rip-off count=1; tourist screw-up count=4; Chris’ photo count=1453; Emma’s photo count=55; touch-typing char/min=234; Poi skills mastered since last post: shoulder reels (well, not ‘mastered’ exactly!)   Our final days at the gibbon sanctuary were much the same as other days. We ran out of mosquito repellent which was a bit of a pain as there were a *lot* of mosquitoes and they seemed to like us, which is flattering, but not pleasant. We took a trip into Myanmar (Burma), but saw only the inside of the immigration office as our aim was just to get an extension to our Thai visas, which was achieved by leaving Thailand, walking across the ‘Friendship Bridge’ into Burma and getting an entry and exit stamp from Burma (and paying $13 each for the privilege) before walking back into Thailand to get another 15 days visa. Shame we couldn’t see more of Burma but you are only allowed a single day visa at this crossing anyway, and it’s difficult to avoid...

STATS: Day count=141; theft count=0; rip-off count=1; tourist screw-up count=3; Chris’ photo count=1402; Emma’s photo count=51; touch-typing char/min=233; Poi skills mastered since last post: none (well, I have been ill!) Phase 3 of my ‘India diet’ is complete. It seems that as suspected, I hadn’t really thrown the previous illness in India and it came back with a vengeance last week. This time it was bad enough for me to go to a doctor (eventually) and it turned out I (probably) had an infection in my intestine and a bronchial infection. Lovely. One injection and 7 types of brightly coloured pills later and it seems to  have gone now. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile I was initially not able, and latterly not allowed, to help out with the gibbons so Emma soldiered on while I either “lazed in bed” or “suffered in my pain”, depending on whose account you believe. Back helping out now for our last week or so (as I write this on the 3rd) here at the sanctuary. The gibbons are as...