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.