Rachelh235

An hour ferry from Koh Samui and we were at our final destination of the holiday... Koh Pha Ngan. We got a taxi to our resort - Chantaramas, a luxury resort right next to the beach. It is perfect! Gorgeous rooms with HUGE bed, indoor and outdoor shower, a bath fit for a king, room service, big tv, bar, restaurant, infinity pool, amazing views of the beach and sea...and the best bit... there were about 12 people in the whole resort, us being 4 of them! Checked in, showered then hit the pool. Sampled a few cocktails from the huge cocktail menu in the sun. Went to Mona Lisa for tea - in the town. The town was dead! We saw about 3 people. I think this time of year people stay on Koh Samui and ... read more

Arrived in Patong, Phuket around 11am after a 15 hour journey from Bangkok by overnight coach. We had some brunch at the hostel (Bodega) and waited to check in. Got sorted in our rooms then headed straight to the beach for tanning session no.1! Patong beach is gorgeous, waves crashing up, white sand, guys bringing drinks to your beach lounger. Only downside was all the rubbish (plastic bags, nets etc) in the sea. Richard was lucky enough to find 500 baht though! Had a great time on the beach, chilling, pratting around in the sea etc. and left around 5:30, got showered and went over to the Mall for tea. We had 'the best steak in town' and it was yummy! Wandred through the mall on our way out only to find a shooting range, just ... read more

Had a nice final week in the sunshine on the beach in Varna. Stayed at the Flag Hostel once again with the gang and spent pretty much every day on the beach making the most of the time in the sun. We played endless games of Volleyball, met some more amazing people, including 4 US Navy guys who were a great laugh. It was a lovely final week to spend with the amazing people I have met the last few months and couldn't think of a better way for this whole chapter to end. Had a great night out up in Golden Sands, enjoying some cheap drinks and dancing :) Returned to UK on Saturday night, after getting a 7 hour train from Varna to Sofia, then the flight at 8:45pm. Had a lovely welcome back ... read more

Here is an update on my final week in Ruse... I had a lovely final day at Church last Sunday, saying our goodbye's to the congregarion and thanking them for being so welcoming to us. We stood up in the service, did a short speech nd gave gifts, thanking especially Elijah, Emilia, Daniel and Daniella for their hospitality and the amazing memories they have shared with them. It all got very emotional, which we were not expecting, but it was so hard to think we will be leaving soon. We went into town afterwards to meet Petar, one of our other Bulgarian friends and got a taxi to St. Basarbovsky Monastry, just of the outskirts of Ruse, in the counrty side. This quaint little town was lovely, with a monestary which was build in a rock ... read more

The sun has finally found it's way from the UK to Bulgaria! Weather has been fantastic this week, starting in Varna last Sunday when we visited the Karin Dom Children's Centre. I was so impressed with the service they provide at the centre. It is very UK based with a formal structure and qualified professionals working almost 1:1 to support the children (teachers, physiotherapists, speach and language therapists). There were no Occupational Therapists emplyed by Karin Dom centre however their approach is very Occupatioanl Therapy based, allowing the children to learn through play and to then transfer those skills to functional tasks. It appeared that the other professionals took on the Occupational Therapy role and their roles in the centre merged. There was a lot of potential for an occupational therapy role to be established there. ... read more