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Hello all!
I realise that it has been a while since our last official update on the blog. We are sorry but we are lazy. We are now in Bangkok, our favourite place so far on the trip. Before you get the update on Thailand I will give a brief outline of our Sri Lanka trip:
We arrived in Sri Lanka following several unfortunate events of the morning:
I woke up the morning of the flight to find a half dead James suffering from severe food poisoning - I suspect that he had drunk unclean water. Our taxi arrived to take us to the airport and it was a long and unpleasant journey for James. to make matters worse about 10minutes before we arrived at the airport James exclaimed 'My passport is back at the house, we have to go back'. By the time we had gone to Shirley's and back to the airport it was only 1 hour before our flight. I had a massive argument with the taxi driver over the agreed payment. And by the time we got through security we were on the final boarding call.
So when we arrived in Sri Lanka James was still in a bad way and our first meeting with our 'host family' didn't go so well, there was something about Ajantha that was untrustworthy to say the least.
We did enjoy volunteering at the orphanage the elephants were great and the mahouts were really funny and we had a good laugh. Unfortunately the orphanage didn't really put us to the best use, in India we felt that we were needed but at the elephant orphanage they didn't really need us they just wanted the money. This was a real shame because I felt that they could have done a lot more with us. Our morning task was clearing out the elephant sheds which was hard work, you would not believe how much mess elephants make. The funny thing is the dung was the easiest part to clear it was the palm leaves and logs that took the longest. Often the JCB would show up halfway through the morning and the mahouts would cry 'JCB NO WORK!' which had its benefits (smelling less like elephant dung) but generally left us with nothing to do. In the afternoons we helped the mahouts by the river and bathed the elephants, chatted to tourists and generally lazed about.
During our trip we met several other volunteers from other companies - I certainly would not recommend 'Global Crossroads' to anyone, the organization was very poor and our host family were given very little money towards our food which meant that it was terrible. The other company working at the orphanage was 'Travellers world' and although the organisation seemed much better they paid at least twice as much as we did to do the same work. Also they had a minder everywhere they went and were not allowed to use any transport other than the company's driver. Me and James went to Mirrisa and Unawatuna on the train - a very easy journey of just 5 hours, the total cost each was around 1000rs including rickshaws between the 2 resorts. The other volunteers had to use the driver and only went to Unawatuna it took them much longer to get there and cost them 5000rs each excluding any rickshaws. One of our favourite parts of the trip was using the trains they are very safe reliable and have fantastic views. We did meet other volunteers with i-to-i who worked with a smaller number of elephants who had been badly treated or were ill. These volunteers were responsible for 1 elephant each and the cost was much lower than 'Travellers world'. Hhaving used i-to-i in India I know that they are a much better organized company. Anyway I would recommend to anyone interested in working with elephants in Sri Lanka to skip the orphanage and go with i-to-i.
Ok rant over.
Sri Lanka is very beautiful, the views on the train to Kandy were stunning and the beaches were fabulous. Nearly all of the people that we met were very friendly and very open and we did enjoy some of our time in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately because James had been so ill, our host family fed us such dreadful food and there really was nothing to do in the evenings we didn't really enjoy Sri Lanka in the same way that we enjoyed India. Being in Pinnawala was very difficult as it was difficult for us to go north without being stuck on a train for days or taking a driver which would have cost a fortune. Also due to the war there are vast areas that are unsafe to travel to. I am not sure if I would return to Sri Lanka but if I do it will be once the war is over and the north and east are finally opened to the Sinhalese.
Coming up next week: The best and worst moments of Sri Lanka
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