Basok - tomorrow's tomorrow

No apologies, I've just been playing too hard and haven't had time to blog. Not a thing to be sorry about. When last I wrote, I had fresh road rash and my condition now is more just annoying at moments when stuff gets bumped or touched - which is a surprising amount, so much so it seems statistically impossible to have bumped that left elbow as much as I have. Healing has commensed and I'm not really letting it slow me down.

The first morning after BKK Aaron's arrival, we jumped on the motorbikes and headed north west to Medowi and the surf breaks in a sleepy town with friendly locals and a low, long-gliding left. The surf wasn't up to snuff really anywhere, but Aaron paddled out on a long board and caught a few waves in the next two hours. I sat on the rocky shore and watched. I'm frankly amazed at how entertaining this is for me. I never once consulted my phone, reached for a book, took a walk, I was all too happy to watch surfers catch rides, jump off, fall off, jockey for position, and Aaron cruise like he'd been doing this for 24 years (which he has).

The day after we hit up Canggu (pronounced "Chang-gu"), a few kilometers from the hotel, and again I was highly entertained by the surfing, so much so I didn't notice I had ants on my body until I had close to 100 crawling on my ass as I'd leaned against a rock wall. Fun. I slapped them off, took pictures, and enjoyed relaxing until I had to wave Aaron in. His watch was still on Bangkok time, an hour earlier, and I had a meeting with Cashew Aaron in Sanur in one hour.

One fast motorbike ride later we rolled up 15 minutes late and I proposed a website update complete with a 10-page PDF document evaluating the current site and strategizing improvements in design and marketing direction. I got the job, a downpayment, and Aaron and I headed back through rush hour. Neither one of us has ever been in such thick traffic. Imagine a two lane road with sidewalks on both sides, trucks and cars bumper to bumper, and us jammed in there with a crowd of motorbikes 7 deep. Seriously 7 deep. The heat from the rumbling rice burners raised the temperatures to where we were both ditching our helmets and considering Lady Godiva driving it the rest of the way.

After that, we decided to cut our time in the Canggu/Seminyak area a day short and drove 3 hours across Bali to the North Eastern coast where we snagged a room for $10, booked some dives for the next day, and headed up to have a pizza party with Cashew Aaron and his wife Lindsey. The Aaron's tossed pizzas in the air, I chatted with the ladies, Dr. Dre and Red Hot Chili Peppers were played, beers were drank, and the whole lot of us was home in bed by 9pm.

Aaron and I woke to get in our first dive early, heading out to the USAT Liberty Wreck for an hour of awesome cruising around. My technique is getting better with every dive and we had a blast cruising around the ship, then doing a "muck" dive that afternoon after a nice nap. That evening, we went out for my first night dive, again at the wreck. I was pretty intimidated by the idea of being in complete darkness and although I bumped around the ship a couple of times (I try to never touch anything), it was a fun experience.

Today was another dive day, this time with me getting my deep diving certification and us heading out with two Dive Masters to a new wreck. This boat was great with two levels we swam through, a few fun photo ops, and a return through some amazing coral gardens. The last dive was more coral gardens and my first experience with intense currents. I staggered out elated and exhausted. Just in time to pack, eat, and hit the road again. We landed in Sanur in time for a stroll along the boardwalk at sunset, mingling with the locals and eating fresh grilled corn with melted butter and sweet hot pepper brushed on the sides.

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let them do the rest of the talking.

Aaron at the water palace