10. 17-25th August. Who's that diving??........Oh....that would be me!!ha

---

17/08/07
After the heavy night I managed to drag myself to the beach by 11am where Matt and Amy were sunbathing on the sunlounges. I had to settle for the sand since I arrived so late but hay.....whats sunbathing on the beach without having sand all over you anyway?? I cant remember if I have said this already but them travel towels are great but the only problem being is that they are just slighty larger than a handkerchief which makes them anything but a beach towel!! You do get a few funny stairs though as you try and place your upper part of your body on it without touching the sand!! We lazed about all day in the sun eating away at bananas and swimming in the sea. I must say though that this sea is not the cleanest in the world and with plastic bags floating past you keep thinking your getting attacked by an army of jellyfish! We found ourselves in a pub again come night time playing cards where Andy (Australian) and Valerie (French) asked if they could join in. We said no and told them to go away........not really!! We played cards until Matt and Amy went back to theirs but I decided to stay on for 15mins or so. About 4 hours (yes, I haver a breaking strain of a kit-kat!!ha)later in a different pub Andy had vanished into the toilets. I went to check on him and their he was, in the toilet being sick!! We have all been there so its hard to judge the poor fellow but boy was it funny for Valerie and I!! Andy eventually stumbled back to the table where he was greeted by our huge laughes at his expense. There was no avoiding the rain as Andy needed to get back to his. We left and I decided to run back with the idea of maybe not being drenched by the time I got back but as I knocked on the guest house door the young lad opened it, looked at me and well......lets just say he was highly amused by me looking like a drowned rat!!

18/09/07
We were up by 8am since we had a sailing trip to attend to. It was areally good day providing the first opportunity for me to do some decent snorkling since we stopped off at a National Park. We also got to jump off the top of the boat and swim upto a floating bar where there was free wine waiting for us. You jumped in and they through a life ring in for you to sit on as you sip on your wine. Not bad yeah?? Matt got a bit os a shock though since some bloke launched one of these rings into the water and it actually landed over Matt!! A couple of inches either way and Matt would of had a nice headache to remember the moment by!! Floating in the sea we got talking to Matt (OZ) and his girlfriend Manwella (Brazil) who were a very nice couple and arranged to meet them that night in the Sail Club. We had a feast on the boat with everyone just sitting on the floor getting stuck in. We were in the Red Sun bar around 8pm playing pool where we also met Livian (France) and his local girlfriend who he met through work. They followed the five of us to the Sail Club but were not allowed in due to what Livians girlfriend was wearing. As you can imagine it got a bit heated for a while before the two of them had to except that they were not getting in. We did however meet uo with Matt and Manwella so the seven of us resorted to drinking games and had a wicked night. It was a really fun night and as we stood up to go to the dance floor the music stopped and the place was closing!! There is no saying more true than time does fly when your having fun!! Matt from OZ gave us his details for when we are in his home country of barbies we can give him a shout and maybe meet up again which would be good.

19/08/07
Didn't get to the beach till 2pm after eating with Andy and Valerie in a local restaurant where you pick what you want from ther already cooked food. I felt like a bit of an expert knowing what all the dishes were since I had spent three days eating with the Easyriders. I think the other two were fairly impressed!! The three of us stayed at the beach till the sun went down and headed back to our hostels. I had to shower in the dorm room since we had already checked out of our room where I met two girls called Lorna (English) and Sarah (Canadian). They even let me shower before them bless them!! I think I convinced Sarah to take the Easyrider tour as she was thinking about it anyway. They both thought I was on commision since I couldn't shut up about it!! I got their details for good old facebook and I will find out if my blabbering convinced Sarah to do it or not. Had dinner with Andy and Valerie. Matt and Amy joined us later on but after dinner we had tosay goodbye to Valerie who was heading to Hanoi on a 24hr train journey!! Andy joined the three of us and we got the sleeper bus to Hoi An. This bus was suppose to leave at 10pm but we waited around till 1am!! Since we were the last pick up we got top bunk. I think Matt got the shortest bed on the bus which was highly amusing!!

20/08/07
We were all sleeping like babies till 5.30am when the driver decided that it was time for him to start smacking the horn every 30 seconds!! Thank god for i pods!! We got dropped off at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere!! The bus driver pointed down some road and just nodded! So we picked up our backpacks and started walking feeling slightly confused!! The taxi mopeds tried to overprice us but we were having none of it and told them we were going to walk instead. Thankfully they followed us for a bit and put down their price which we accepted since it took 20mins on mopeds!! It would of taken hours to walk!! They should of really called our bluff since we would of been stuffed! Took ages to organise a guest house but it ended up with Andy And I getting an awesome room for $10 between us. We had to stay in a different place to Matt and Amy though. We walked around the old town which is quite something with shops and restaurants everywhere. Ended up in a bar called Tam Tams where we spent the night playing cards but everywhere here shuts about 12pm since its so chilled out here!! A good relaxed feeling about the place though.

21/08/07
Andy and I headed out to the old town where i got measured up for two casual shirts. Got a bit worried though when they asked if we were single and then when taking down some info they asked for our hotel and even the room number??!! It was a roasting day so we thought we would rent a bike each and visit the beach. So glad we did since the beach here is like paradise!! There is plenty of ladies patroling the beach selling food and one of them got our names wrong and called us Parry and Candy all day long which we found hilarious!! We couldnt leave the beach till 6pm as it was so good and then met up with Matt and Amy for dinner. It was after dinner when we stumbled onto the doorstep of Rainbow Divers. Andy and I had been talking about diving during our busy day on the beach and we both agreed that we wouldnt mind staying on and doing it here since the place had such a good atmosphere. The price was a bit more expensive than Thailand but we decided to go for it anyway, especially as it would save me time when we get back to Thailand. We booked up for the 4 day open water diving course which cost $331. Needless to say we were well excited!! We had to be at the "classroom" at 8am so we played cards in the Tam Tam bar till 11pm and called it a night. On the way home though I did manage to smash my head on a metal pole that was hanging over the pavement due to the reason that everyone here is 5ft nothing and i'm......well not!! I think I was day dreaming of swimming with fish and hopefully the chance of meeting lovely mermaids!!ha

22/08/07
We jumped on our rented bikes with baskets on the front and headed to the dive centre which was about a 20min bike ride through some amazing scenery. We arrived at the classroom on time and giggling like five year olds!! Sarah our instructor was there to great us and our classroom work began......watching a dvd!! We had to answer questions as we went and we done so till it was time to jump in the pool. We had to swim 200m and then tred water for 10mins which we both passed with ease. Stopped for lunch and then fun time began with diving in the pool which was great!! Not going to explain what we done because that would probably bore the hell out of you but it was awesome. We finished early and since we were right next to the beach it would of been rude not to pay it a visit so we done just that. After all, we deserved it after a hard day in the classroom!! We were given homework to do for the next day but buy the time we got back we had to rush out and meet Matt and Amy in Tam Tams for a drink. What can I say..........I was born to be bad!!!ha I think we managed to bore Matt and Amy though with our continuous talking of what we done in the pool during the day!! Matt and Amy had decided to move on to Hue in the morning leaving Andy and I to play divers for the next few days!! I cant blame them really and I am sure we will be re-united again soon!!

23/08/07
Being rebels we set our alarm an hour early so we could do our homework in the morning which we done(I couldn't be a bad arse if i tried!!). We were in the classroom from 8am and managed to squeeze in our exam before lunch which both of us passed. I think Andy could of done it blindfolded being a Law student. My brain not being so active over the past few years, I took a bit longer than he did doing it. This has just encouraged me more to keep my brain more active on my travels which i was thinking about doing anyway. I am now going to see if I can get someone to put Spanish lessons on my i pod as you find yourself with plenty of time on your hands on trains etc. If i do end up in South America in the new year then Spanish would obviously come in handy as well. After lunch we had more diving in the pool and finished extra early at 3pm. So we went to the.....mmm...beach for a change!! Got back to our room and passed out on the bed and from there I didn't really move to the next morning!! I didn't even make it out for dinner so Andy had to go out solo as I was so tired!! To be fair though i wasn"t feeling great either and as we were doing our first proper dive in the morning i thought the more sleep the better!!

24/08/07
Woke up at 6.30am after a not so great sleep and got to the dive centre for 7.30am not really looking forward to the boat trip out to the islands!! There was nine of us diving and Andy and I were the only virgin divers there. The boat trip took 30mins to the first reef and i wasn't sick so I was well pleased and excited!! Before our dive Sarah, our instructor, told us to look out for trigger fish as one of the divers had a chunk out of his neck bitten off by one them the previous week!! As you cam imagine Andy and I wre a bit like.......mmmm.......ok!!!! Our first dive was at Ribbon Reef where we dived 11m for 36mins. They say you will never forget your first dive and I see why now. Its not until you go descend for the first time and straight away your mesmorised by the new world unfolding in front of your eyes. Some of my first thoughts were that this is going to be an exspensive hobbie and that something else is going to have to be pushed aside to make time for this in my daily normal life!! It must almost be impossible for this not to become addictive!! We came accross a huge jellyfish on the surface returning to the boat which was awesome but so many things were!! Our second dive was at Signal Point at 10m and for 41mins. We returned and was sleeping under the palm trees on the beach by 2pm dreaming about the day we just had!!(yes......i would recomend travelling to anyone if they are thinking about it!!ha). Being young(ish) lads we were in bed by 10pm after having one beer!!

25/08/07
Once again we cycled to the diving centre after almost stopping in the middle of the road and wrapping a chain round some blokes neck and dangling him of the floor by it as that was what he was doing to this monkey he had chained up. We managed to ignore it and as we were late anyway after the bike lady turned up late with the bikes we had no time to stop. There were 11 people diving and we went to the same two reefs as before. The wet suit i had yesterday was slightly to small so i had a new one today.......it was huge which made just about everyone on the boat laugh including my diving partner Andy!! I got my turn of crying with laughter when I had the pleasure of watching Andy put on his. He got told he had been given the same size wet suit as yesterday as it fitted like a glove which meant that he was going to try and make it fit no matter what!! I can honestly say that it was like watching something out of a movie it was that funny!! It would not of been out of place in American Pie the movie it was that funny!! He had been given the wrong size wet suit and he only found that out after wrestling with it for 15mins. I was trying to give him a hand but most of the time i was trying not to be sick i was laughing that much!! He finally managed to get it just over his shoulders with the zip completely open revieling his back and asked me to try and zip it up!! I just continued to laugh and told him there was no chance in hell that it would zip up and to tell someone he had been given the wrong one!! He asked and obviously he had been given one a few sizes to small!! We finished doing all our different techniques under the water including emergency incline without oxygen, taking off and putting on equiptment under the water, compass navigation and so much more which was all amazing!! As we swam to the boat Sarah shook our hands and everyone greeted two new open divers to the world!! I can only compare the feeling to passing your driving test although to fair, its easier than that!! We got back for 1pm where we slept under the palm trees again on the beach and where we stayed till 5ish since we had to meet Sarah in the diving shop so we could get our tempory certificates. Our diving cards are being sent back home so thats more mail you have to open foe me mum thanks!!ha Sarah did say that we were naturals and made her job easy. We are trying to ignore the fact that she probably says that to quite a few people because it made us feel awesome!!ha We had a boys night out to celebrate and drank the night away till...........9.45pm!! We intended to stay out longer but we were both stupidly tired and we new we had to get the bus to Hue at 8am the following morning.
Before we arrived in Hanoi people told me that its an addictive place and you will find yourself staying there longer than intended.............we did and loved every second of it!!ha

---

Photos

Nha Trang
Snorkelling off one of the Islands

Nha Trang
Top up the tan

Nha Trang
Lets twist again

Nha Trang
Sail club for Drinks

Nha Trang to Hoi An
Night Bus

Hoi An
Cards in Tam tam Cafe

Hoi An
Beach at Hoi An