OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WHILE ON YOUR PROGRAMME

MEDITATION AND RELAXATION AT A BUDDHIST RETREAT:
Price: £245 for 1 week
£345 for 2 weeks
includes food and accommodation, plus transfer to and from the Retreat.

After experiencing the meditation centre ourselves first-hand, we recommend this 1-week or 2-week course the Centre while on your placement .. you'll have a truly remarkable experience enjoying or discovering meditation.

The meditation centre is situated in a town called Gampaha. This is about 1.5 hours north of Colombo and 50 minutes from the main volunteer house in Ja-Ela. The centre is separated into different areas, with lots of small cabana’s splayed out in extremely peaceful surroundings which will assist you in setting your mind free.

The centre is in a beautiful setting in a small and secluded area. It is very peaceful and relaxed, with sunny and shady parts and areas to sit and relax in. The retreat is split into two sections for males and females and the centre does not allow any interaction between the sexes. The retreat is a silent retreat, allowing you to focus on your own thoughts.

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE:

• 4.00am Wake up
• 4.15 Pay homage
• 5.00 Porridge/ gruel called Conglee
• 5.15-6.00 Meditation
• 6.15 Breakfast
• 7.15-8.15 Meditation
• 8.15 Drink of King Coconut
• 8.30-9.30 Cleaning rooms and centre e.g. sweeping
• 9.30-11.00 Bathing and washing of clothes
• 11.15 Lunch
• 12.30-1.30pm Meditation
• 1.30 Drink of tea
• 2.00 Mediation advice usually by head monk
• 5.00-6.00 Cleaning outside areas
• 6.00 Pay homage
• 6.30 Evening drink
• 7.00-8.00 Meditation
• 10.00 Lights out

LUNCH: Your lunch is the main meal of the day, and this is provided by local people. Most Sri Lankan’s choose a day to take food to a Buddhist monastery and take one dish on that day every year. It is often a meaningful day to the person who prepares and brings the food – such as the anniversary of the death of a loved one. It means that you will be treated to a wide range of wonderful, tasty dishes each lunch time. It is always rice and curry with lots of variety and endless portions. The food is mostly vegetarian, with some fish. Usually there is also pudding of fruit, yogurt and something very sweet. Some people save their pudding snacks. This is wise as you do not get to eat again for the remainder of the day (unless you have taken some snacks)!

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1-WEEK EXEPHANT EXPERIENCE AT PINNAWALA ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE:
Price: £595 for 1 week
includes food and accommodation, plus transfer to and from the Elephant Orphanage.

The Elephant Orphanage is a sanctuary for over 80 retired, abused or orphaned elephants. Visitors from all over the world come to see these magnificent animals. At times, there are also some small babies who have been born into the herd. The daily highlight is the walk from the Orphanage to take the herd down to the river to bathe the elephants. It's amazing to watch an entire herd splashing around and rolling in the river, just a few feet in front of you!

This project is an elephant experience, rather than elephant conservation ... and it is an awesome experience! You'll have about 3 to 4 hours manual work each day and you'll also get to wash and hose down several Elephants. In the late morning or afternoon, you'll usually go down to the river and spend about 3 hours amongst the Elephants. You can watch them relaxing, play with them and sometimes help to bathe them. Your main duties will include:

• Mucking out the elephant enclosures in the morning (this is hard, muddy work!)
• Participating in bathing some of the smaller elephants.
• While the mahouts are bathing the larger elephants, you will be able to relax by the river, chat to the mahouts and watch the elephants play and interact with humans and each other. This is an absolutely beautiful sight and being around these serene animals in such a beautiful setting can have a very calming effect!
• You'll also have up to two opportunities per week to feed the beautiful baby elephants.
• There may also be the opportunity to do other things around the orphanage, however this is subject the amount of work available at the orphanage at the time of your project.

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