Marie’s parents arrive tomorrow, so today is cleaning day. We haven’t given the place a thorough clean since we arrived and it really needs it. Bhutan is a very dusty country before the rainy season.
While on a trip to the supermarket to buy some cleaning products, I bumped into Marianne and her monkey. Marianne is a French woman who, along with her Dutch man Heinrick donates her time and money to looking after the stray animals in Thimphu. She brings biscuits to town every day to feed the dogs and looks like the Pied Piper with the dogs trailing her everywhere she goes. Many of the dogs have been at her place for surgery and recovery and at last count she had 125 dogs living with her.
There are also numerous cats and recently about 15 monkeys. The one she had tucked into her jumper today was recently collected by the Crown Prince and brought to be looked after, but was being picked on by the other monkeys and couldn’t be left alone.
I’ve agreed to put together a web site to help advertise her work. Heinrick’s taken a new assignment that doesn’t pay well enough to keep the shelter running and they now rely on the donations of tourists. The site, when it’s up, should make that process easier.