Well, we did it! We are officially Advanced Open Water Divers. The class was not super challenging but we got a lot of good information out of it and (of course) a chance to do some awesome diving. The fish life here is so diverse that we see new types of fish everytime we are in the water and the soft coral is just breathtaking.

Next we will start the more challenging, mental and physical, rescue diver course. I think this will help me a lot more than Scotty as it will extend my knowledge of what to do in emergencies, not really my forte, and hopefully make me feel better about being small and still able to help.

The town here is small but interesting, dirty but charming, and the bathroom situation is all a girl could hope for (hole in the ground anyone?). I am overcoming my paranoid feelings about the swarming termites that inhabit our bungalow (well, at least learning to cope with them a bit better), and find myself fascinated by the Tyrannasaurus Geckos that live in our room (their better than the giant spiders that live in the bathroom shack.

The food is simple but delicious. Rice with pretty much every meal and vegetable curry and vegetable soup being our main staples. The locals stare, could be the bald head I can’t seem to stop touching, or the ankles that are showing, I’m not sure which. But everyone has been really nice and the transplant workers and other travellers are a wealth of knowledge on different places to “not miss” here in SE Asia as many of them have been on holiday for months and some for years.

I am happy to be here and will be glad when classes are over so we can just relax and not have to study all the time. Who thought I would have homework again so soon.

Finally we made it to Pulau Weh…

It took a bit of work but we’ve been able to relax for the last four days.  We are in Pulau Weh, which is a small remote island off the Northwestern tip of Indonesia, just off Indonesia’s largest island of Sumatra.  To get here you must go through Banda Aceh, which took the brunt of the casualties from the 2004 Boxing Day Sunami – they lost over 70,000 people here.

Since it’s relatively difficult to get here, the diving is challenging, and there is little development – it keeps the hordes of people away and creates a sleepy diving paradise that leaves you feeling as if you have the place all to your own.  There are 5 restaraunts, 3 dive shops, and perhaps 10 “hotels”.  Accommodations are not for the faint of heart, but after some adjustment have an infectious charm that only Pulau Weh could provide.

We’ve done 5 dives so far, ranging from easy shore dives to exciting battles with the current.  Our instructor, Will, has brought us up to Advanced Open Water divers and shown us loads of morays, lionfish, turtles, nudibranch, rays, blue ribbon eels, and more tropical fish species than could possible be counted.  We are much better divers than when we started and look forward to our Rescue Diver course next week.

The people here are extremely friendly, but also shy and traditional.  They see no reason to make more money than they need to eat and provide shelter for their families, and work just a few hours each day – which couldn’t be more contrasting than the mentality in the United States, it’s very refreshing and forces a lot of introspection about what a person really needs to thrive and be happy.  It’s the week after the end of Ramadan, which means many Indonesians are here vacationing, far more than Westerners, and they motor bike in each day from nearby Sabang town.  They delight in taking pictures with Val and I and rarely fail to say “hello mister” with large and genuine smiles of excitement to see us.

I was under the weather for the first few days before trading places with Val who is just getting healthy now.  The food is delicious and is a mix of traditional Acehenese style and your regular island fair.  Last night we enjoyed an Acehenese feast with many of the instructors and other residents of the island – curries, greens, fish of all kinds, fried delights, soups, and more filled the table and we laughed ourselves into obesity with friends from Switzerland, Finland, Brittain, Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Germany, and of course Indonesia.  We’ll be here for a few more weeks, and honeslty aside from the odd scary spider encounter there’s nowhere we’d rather be.

-Scotty

We started our day today with lamb, chicken, and pork in a variety of delicious sauces at an Indian restaurant next door to our guesthouse.  We also had an orange soda (a symbol that we’re really on vacation), tea, and a bottle of water.  It cost us 15 ringgit – about 4 US dollars.

Full and happy we hopped a bus to check out some caves and Hindu temples near Kuala Lumpur called Batu Caves.  We were greeted by some well fed (darn tourists!) monkeys and almost 300 stairs – which is a little daunting when it’s 90 degrees and 90% humidity.  Alas we survived the climb enjoying views back to Kaula Lumpur and the behind of one of the tallest Hindu statues in the world (over 200′).

The inside of the caves were adorned with statues carved out of the natural limestone that once found it’s home under the sea.  Devout Hindu worshipers chanted while tourists fed the roosters and monkeys – a strange mix of sanctity and circus.  Luckily it wasn’t crowded and we were able to find our own space inside the awesome setting.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the day came when we descended the stairs.  We noticed a small female monkey enjoying a Pepsi (with very good technique) and didn’t think much of it. Then the monkey swatted an oblivious passerby holding a soda.  Val was carrying an orange soda (theme developing) and let out quite a shout as the monkey charged her to quench its soda addiction.  I quickly came to her rescue with Teva sandals flying and hands clapping and off went the monkey.  Feeling triumphant it was my turn to hold the soda and head further down the stairs.  Then came a larger male soda junkie who had an eye for my pop, and a need to defend his woman’s honor.  We squared off, ladies at a safe distance behind us, me with my Tevas and he with foul breath and large teeth.  He charged but I held my ground then charged in return, to which he held his ground.  Though I outweighed the monkey by some 150 lbs he showed no fear, bearing his teeth, hissing and lowering down to show he could spring at me at any moment.  Unphased I kept a foot between us and tried to look as menacing as possible.  You could have cut the tension with a knife, but eventually he took off with his pride… but not my soda, hah!

Waiting for the bus we took jumping photos (the first of many we’re sure) and consoled Chori-Zo, who enjoyed the caves but was a bit camera shy in the heat.