I have no witty title for bali

The scuba diving went well. Passed the exam and the field sessions with semi flying colors. The exam was hard cause we all studied a little intoxicated but it worked out well anyway. Left Nha trang which was by far my favorite city in vietnam. Met all kinds of cool people and had a lot of fun. Off to saigon....this time it was a sleeper bus and it had decent aircon and we were all the happiest people on earth. We also had a last run in with our booking agent for the bus after we got on it. He was a peculiar man with a stubb for one hand and the other went up to the first knuckles and that was it...he was always yelling and telling us not to jerk off....its a long story but he was a funny dude. Went to a market in saigon and stayed with a chance aquaintance from Hue who was headed in the same direction. Her name was Red, was from south England...Leeds I think...real cool girl. Hopped a plane to Bali....not knowing what to expect except beaches in many more forms than one...did ya get it...anyway flew into denpasar on bali island and immediately went to kuta which is like party central. We arrive late and are bewildered by the activity. Kuta is to australians what mexico is to americans. Great lookin populace but we had to get out pronto. The next morning we packed up and headed to Amed. We stayed two nights there and managed to scuba dive at an old WWII shipwreck for cheap and then two nights in a row cook seafood on our bungalo beachfront with some local boys that we met through chris's tactful networking skills. The locals are pretty easy to warm up to...especially if you have a pack of cigarettes and arent afraid to share. Got a little taste of the town but didnt stay long. We decided to get transport to a little village right by a volcano...batur was the name. I have never been hawcked harder in my life. We arrived late and tried to take in the cenic lake side view for a few but we surrounded by at least 7 older women who were trying to sell us everything - trinkets to thier daughters...not kidding....we litteraly ran away from them. Bali as a whole has tried to sell us just about everything. Woke up the next morning and climbed the volcano...early enough to see the sunrise from the top...our guide cooked breakfast with the thermal heat exuding from parts of the crater. Everyone in that town was named either wyanne or kotut...it became a running joke. That day we left for kuta...best and cheapest taksi (they spell most english words phoenetically) we got...a grandad with kids in kuta...he laughed all time reguardless of intelligible dialogue or humor...we were stopped for no reason cause we had to pay off cops. Two nights in Kuta on the tail end of the bali whorlwind. We did however get to surf two days in a row and I'll be the first to say it was worth the devistating sunburn and nipple chaffage...easily. Its like snowboarding except more waiting and the girls that do it are in way better attire...way better. Bali is quite touristy but still remains pretty hindu. We were lucky enough to get to a temple that was right by a bat cave where they were having a cerimony...all architecture was unreal. They do the typical insense thing but also put out little offerings of bits of food and flowers in a little banana leaf tray...women doing this real early everyday...dont really understand the significance. On the streets of Kuta I have been offered every popular drug I can think of...another trip...another time...another crew...either way Bali has been an eye opener and we pretty much kicked its ass. We're in malaysia now traveling up the peninsula to thailand...planning on getting to suratthani...our staging point to get to the three islands off thailands southeast coast....beach bummin and hopefully one more scuba adventure left in the cards....might even be there for the half moon party on kho phangnag....this computer has crashed on me four times already (annoying) so thats it and thats all for now...pics to come...I swear. Thanks for listenin.Peace.

hue cool

been too long...this time I wont write too much though. Hitting the vietnam coast hard..and I mean what I say...Ha Long bay was kickin...only crappy part was we had to go back to hanoi, which is dirty and way too crowded. Next stop...Hue a medium sized town in the middle of vietnam. stayed for four days to the best of my recollection. The first day we rented motorbikes and tooled around in shite weather. It was literally monsooning and we had no ponchos...very popular here...traveled to the beach where the weather was even worse. 4 to 5 foot breakers at times but we were just psyched to be somewhere so we rocked that beach scene alone. John, chris and I made it to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) for a little history lesson, communist style. A very sereal experience. Most of it was on a bus...our tour guide liked to repeat everything he said like two to three times as he spouted random facts of the country side and local crops...quirky dude. When he did let us of the bus we finally got to see some war relics and museum type exhibits. While at a "museum" type place, we were offered dog tags and viet cong medals that the locals had "dug up". We new that because despite there little and very poor english skills, they did make a convincing shovel motion. I didnt feel so good after that. The DMZ was a section of vietnam that was basically the line between the north and south fighting...also a place the US carpet bombed and agent oranged the piss out of. We were taken through some tunnels in a little village, ka shan...we were guided by our tour guide and a local that was obviously mentally disabled...a product of the war and apparently lived in the tunnels that we saw ever since he was six. The intel from our guide was that the locals had to live in the tunnel section permanently for about 6 years to avoid immanent death...there used to be a hospital inside where 17 people were born...at that point I really started to hate myself, my government and war in general...I was also starting to feel physically ill. A well spent $11 and a big eye opener. The last day we ran into a very plesant english girl and all five of us biked to a buddhist pagoda in time for their daily sermon or whatever and also saw a tomb/burial area of some king from the 1800's. both very cool. Said our goodbyes to the town and headed for Nha trang on a bus for 16 hours...about 3.5 of those spent in anything but peaceful slumber. We were suppose to get a sleeper bus but got dicked and had to take a sitting bus with no bathroom...when we arrived in the beach town we, with good reason started drinking and playing cricket on the beach in the rain with some new buds from santa barbra. I say cricket but i mean the drinking game version which isnt like cricket at all...which is one of its best attributes. Spent my birthday night alone cause everyone else was wiped from the previous drinking...I rallied and met some swedes and other europeans to keep me company. Closed some bars down and really just got drunk cause the drug situation here is sketch. Good night none the less...lost my way back to the hostel and was again assaulted by prostitutes...one grabbed my crotch. I thanked her for the enthusiasm but sent her away. Just completed the first day of ssi scuba lessons in a pool...all the procedural/technique stuff out of the way first. Aside from the massive sunburn aquired in the 20-25 minutes shirtless to pass the aquatic fitness test, we all had a ball. My mother advised me to tan prior to travel so I wouldnt burn as bad as I am notorious for. I should have spent the money given on beer and liquor because that is a much more fun way to waste my time. Open water tomorrow...get to see some real stuff...something like 20+ meters! Nervous and excited. One more day of the same after that. purchasing bali tickets tomorrow. Hope to spend a week there. The hostel manager is kicking me out. Pics to follow at a later date. thanks for listening. peace.