Monday 26th October 2026

I left my home in Bath just after 14:00 yesterday afternoon, and took a Flexibus coach to Heathrow Airport, with my direct flight to Colombo taking off shortly before 21:00. It was a 10-hour flight and landed just before 12:30 Sri Lankan time. It was okay as long-haul flights go, but after the evening meal, when everyone tried to go to sleep, it was weird being woken up at 04:30 UK time to have a breakfast that I really felt unable to eat so early in the morning.

Arriving at 12:30 Sri Lankan time was only 07:00 UK time, so I had been on the go so-to-speak for 17 hours by then, with just short bursts of sleep on the plane. I was met by Gayashan, my driver for the trip to Norwood, and we left Colombo Airport just before 14:00, with a 5-hour journey (that included a short stop for food) ahead of us. The weather got steadily worse, so tough driving conditions for  Gayashan, but we arrived at Daya's home in Norwood shortly before 19:00.

19:00 Sri Lankan time was only 14:30 in the UK, so the whole journey took just under 24 hours, which was exhausting, but that's the nature of the beast, so I have no complaints, and the welcome that I received when I got to Daya's home more than made up for the very long journey. I was met by Akka, Daya's aunt, her daughter, Sangeetha, and granddaughter, Dhanukshi. Bara, a Tea Leaf volunteer from The Czech Republic, was also there, and it was lovely to meet her.

I had left a suitcase full of clothes here, but struggled to open it, so I was extremely grateful when Arjun, a family friend I know well, came round and helped me. I think I tried to do too much unpacking and sorting out, so it was late by the time I came to write today's blog, at which point I found that there was no internet access! I muddled through with support from Bara, but adding photos was simply beyond me, so you'll get them tomorrow when I have had a good night's sleep!

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