Ukraine, Monday, January 14, 2008:

Arrival in Kyiv:

We survived the train journey and I even managed to get a little sleep.

The train rumbled and swayed on through the night and I wake to see thick woodland, with houses dotted here and there, rolling past the windows.

We arrive in Kyiv in a suitably tired and grumpy mood because of a lack of sleep on the so-called “journey from hell”.

We checked into the hotel – which is not as bad as some online reviews had us believe. There is an episode of the X Files, which is dubbed into Ukrainian, on the TV.

We visited a couple of orphanages in the afternoon and the shoeboxes are once again well received by the kids.

At the second place the kids put on a show for us complete with traditional songs, gangsta rap and breakdancing.

Considering we are all so tired it was a very early night before we have to head to the Chernobyl area tomorrow.