Further Qualifications in Nha Trang

I caught the night bus to Nha Trang.. 12 hours, almost no sleep, loud Vietnamese domestic tourists - one of whom slung a hammock from the pole near the back door and a seat so he could get a decent night's sleep, the bus making a stop in Nha Trang at their "recommended hotel" where all the people get on and try and convince you to stay there.. it was pretty much as ghastly as I had thought.

At least I wasn't on my own. Tamsin and I managed to fight of the crowds (well.. 2) touts who accosted us as we left the bus at the actual final destination, and find the hotel another person had recommended along the way. Sharing a room keeps the costs down - will be paying around $5 a night here, whcih is excellent.

Nha Trang is renowned for scuba diving, so I decided to do a refresher course, which becme a refresher course and 3 dives to qualify as an "Adventure Diver" - next level up from what I currently have, which became 5 dives and I get my Advanced Certificate! Considering I hadn't dived in 10 years and it's been on my to do list for at least 5 - I'm very happy! Went out today and did my refresher course - just like riding a bike, once you're doing it again, it all comes back. And then I did the first part of my course requirement - a buoyancy dive, where you learn to control your bouyancy just by breathing, rather than by inflating your bcd. I'd forgotten how much I love diving!! Shelle, if you're reading this, see - managed to do a refresher course and a bit more... ;^)

The one thing I don't love though is the sea sickness.. yep happened again. I can't bear it - I love diving and snorkelling and so on, but when the boat stops and you have to deal with all the equipment and look down while the boat sits there and rocks.. well, that's when I get sea sick. Tomorrow I take a seasickness tablet before I get on the boat, and hopefully that'll do the trick.

We met an old uni friend of Tamsin's on the bus, and he and his girlfriend are doing the advanced course too. and today Tamsin decided to go for her open water certificate.. so it's all diving for 3 days for everyone!

Another early start tomorrow - 7:30 at the dive shop.. I'm doing underwater navigation and underwater photography!!!! Can't wait :^)