Yesterday Eric got to do some diving on the wreck and then we dressed up, or at least put on clean clothes that would not be offensive at a Hindu wedding and headed out for an adventure.

First the diving: I woke up just before 7 thinking I was scheduled to dive around 8. Turns out this was to be the first of many miscommunications. The 'helper' was there waiting at my door when we opened it and wondered if I was ready. I quickly threw my gear together and we walked up to the dive site. Me with my wetsuit halfway on carrying my fins, mask, camera and other accessories. Him with my BCD and tank an his shoulder. On the way I saw young boys carrying two tanks on one shoulder. I need to learn how to do this to impress my students when I get back home.

The dive was amazingly easy. There were only a few other divers there at this early time so it was very quiet and peaceful. I swam all of about 30 feet from shore and dropped down right on top of the wreck. It's HUGE and it has clearly been there for a very long time as their are layers upon layers of coral growth on it. The first thing I spotted were 4-5 Queensland Groupers. These are groupers that are the size of people! They have a huge lump on their front end as if they keep bumping into something and the swelling has become permanent:)

I dove for about an hour shooting photos the whole time until my camera housing fogged up. The humidity is so high here that it is hard to avoid having some moisture inside the housing and in the cooler (82 degrees) water, it tends to condensate in the housing. After the dive I walked back to our room and changed for breakfast while they filled my tank for the second dive. By then there was quite a crowd on the wreck and it was rather sad watching divers who had no business being there diving. Divers with gloves on touching everything, kicking coral because of poor buoyancy control, and divemasters touching things for the 'entertainment' of the guests. I have made up my mind that if I do any dives with a guide, I will make it clear that he/she is not to touch anything on my behalf.

After the diving we got ready for the wedding. I'll let Val take over and describe that part of our day. Tomorrow I've hired a boat to take me to a new dive site with Sea Horses and lots of macro photography opportunities. Can't wait!!

Part of the fun of the wedding was that we used the ‘public transport system' called bemos to get to the village about 20 minutes away. A bemo is a van that has for all intents and purposes finished its useful life as a real vehicle, but is nonetheless used to haul people and things along the route for a price. Oh sure you can call it a bus system, but it's like no bus system I've ever seen! There were 14 of us in this small van at one point, not counting the driver, and the money taker at the side door was literally hanging onto the roof out of the always open door on the side as we drove at high speeds along very narrow roads. Perhaps I forgot to mention the produce and terra cotta urns and baskets of what I did not care to know on top of us … very interesting. And, the guidebooks were right … the drivers are notorious for trying to rip off tourists by overcharging. We had been made wise to the practice and were not to be duped.

Once we arrived at the wedding, there were children in costumes dancing, food everywhere, and special western style food for the western guests … gifts and offerings everywhere, men sitting around on mats smoking cigarettes and drinking Arak (an incredibly strong fermented rice wine – of course, we tried it). A rock band made up of 5 boys between 10 and 12 years old singing Western and American songs phonetically. They did a version of ‘Knocking on Heaven's Door' that was actually a little clearer than it would have been had Dylan been crooning. It was really great! The priest or pendeta arrived late, but apparently no one was surprised. Then there was a lot of holy water and bell ringing and incense burning … sensory overload. We loved it, and check out the photos.

That's it for now. Thanks for checking in.

Val and Eric