Rachel and Frankie

Hi! We have arrived in Vietnam now after a THIRTY hour bus journey haha!! We drove for seven hours and then so typical of Asian people they just stopped the bus at this random bus stop/hotel thing from 2am - 5am to wait for the border to open. Nobody told us what we were waiting for though and nobody told us this was going to happen when we bought the bus ticket haha! Anyway at 5 we sat off again but only for about 20 mins, then we had to go on foot to get our passports stamped, which was such a walk away! Then when we did all of that we had to all unload out bags and carry them literally 20 metres over the actual border from Laos to Vietnam and then we had ... read more

Hi!! Sorry haven't blogged in so long I've just been on the move and not feeling very well :( but getting better now finally!! They think it was good poisoning or something? Anyway after a week partying in koh phangan an island off Thailand which was so much fun we are now in Chang Mai. On koh phangan I saw all my school friends and then some friends from primary school-there was 5 of us at one party together on the island at one point. How weird is that? I hadn't seen 3 of them for almost seven years and then we all ended up at exactly the same place at the same time! Just, crazy. Was so so much fun.I stayed with my secondary school friends though in a hostel called the dancing elephant. It ... read more

Hi everyone It's a sad day for us. Ali has left for England today. So the 'rio gals' are minus one member. Something I have learnt from my gap year, is that I don't naturally embrace change well, and that's no bad thing as now I can recognise and deal with it. BUT it doesn't stop me being sad that our trip here is coming to an end and that our amazing gal has left. Rach and I are feeling sad, really sad today, but also reflective. Rio has been amazing. We've learnt so much about ourselves and we've also learnt what a good heart Ali has and how wonderful and laid back 'Carlos lago!!!' Is (that's Cadu...) Ill never ever in my life forget how kind and warm and welcoming they were and are to ... read more

Hey!!!! We went to a wedding last night :) it was beautiful. Although someone fainted during the ceremony. Ouch. But the bride didnt notice so that was good. The after party was gorgeous and the food was delicious!!! They had so many chocolate tables, which were just full of all these different types of white, dark and milk small decorated choccysss!! Yummy!! I wore one of alis dresses which was so kind of her :) Ali also played the trumpet at the wedding and was fabo. Go Ali J!! Also!!! Cadu came FIRST in his competition! CHAMPION! Gooooooo cadoodle! We have still been teaching at the school as well and it has been going much better without the awful woman who does NOT stop speaking in charge. I think they are actually learning a fair amount ... read more

Sorry it's been so long since we last blogged!!! Il start from when we went to Alison's house in the hills. It is gorgeous!!! It is almost like two houses in one. It can be a very summery, bright, almost villa like house and it can also be cosy and warm-especially with the log fire going! Cadu and Alison were kind enough to let us both ride one of their horses. It was soooo much fun, oh how we lurvedddd it! We both got on horses after so long and both got back into the swing of it quite quickly :) cadu is a brilliant teacher though so that helped!!!I also sunbathed at the pool, and was really scared of a snake coming out of th bushes and killing me (thanks dad) so that wasn't too ... read more