The journey was long and took us 24 hours in total which includes the 7.75 hours wait in Abu Dhabi. The first flight was really smooth but the second flight was rather 'bouncy'! We were so tired and got to the hotel at about 23:00.

The hotel where we are staying is interesting! The bathroom is half indoors and half outdoors. Last night there was a small toad sitting on the toilet seat and today there was something else (like a chipmunk) that ran up the palm tree. Yes, the palm tree!

Today we spent a lazy day just sitting by the pool. The weather is very hot and humid although there has been a strong breeze all day which has helped keep us cool. Steph has caught the sun already. We've been 'charging our batteries' and getting ready for tomorrows train journey. Only second and third class on our train and no way of booking it in advance. If it's one of those high up ones I can see that it will be fun trying to get Steph's case on there - all 30kgs of it!

We're leaving the hotel at 11:00 and have a train journey of nearly 5 hours. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the countryside and eventually arriving at the House of Joy. I'm not sure what access to the internet I will have but I will do my best to update the blog as often as I can.

Setting the scene........

I'm now in 'Year 2' of my 3-year training for ordained ministry. As part of the 'Church and World' module I have to complete a 'Social Context' placement. So, in other words, I need to spend time participating in the life and work of an institution of some sort. We are also encouraged to go somewhere overseas if possible.

I'm particularly interested in inter-faith relations and wanted to spend some time in a place where Christianity is a minority faith. As the 'West Yorkshire and the Dales' diocese links with the Church in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist, it seemed the ideal location. Our diocese have two wonderful link partners in Paul and Pat and they have made the organisation of the trip so easy for me. They even arranged for my friend Stephanie to join me on the trip. We will be staying in a girl's orphanage which has the delightful name of 'The House of Joy'. Its in a small town called Talawa and is a several hour train journey from the capital city of Colombo.

So, today is the day when our adventure begins. I'll do my best to update the blog as often as I can so that you can share a bit of our journey too.