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.