Indonesia at its best!

When I'm traveling , especially on those trips that I have been longing to do for a long time, I like to do some research: where am I going, what am I going to see, what to bring, what to expect, ect. But I missed all that in my last trip.

A few months ago, my friends Rafa and Mar told me that they were planning to join a diving live aboard in north of Indonesia. And, since I have been longing to do that for a long time, I said:"YES!, IM GOING WITH YOU!"

And so I did. But this time, I did not know exactly what to expect. I just joined knowing that I love diving and that I will have a great time.

We met with the rest of the group in a hotel in Manado: Wee Chee, Angeline and Peter (3 dive freaks with more than 2000 dives all together) , Hanna and Sandra (working in the best resort in Manado and us. A diverse group. But fun!

So we set to travel to the north. The destination: Sangige Island and the famous underwater volcano.

Or at least that is what we thought. We realized very soon that the lack of organization on the boat was extreme. Meals were given in different times. Food was not good. The water tanks were leaking (which forced us to change destination). We got into a storm with 5m waves that broke the boat. The steering wheel got broken and we were drifting for 2 hours. We got water into the boat and all my filming equipment got destroyed. And I could continue for hours...

We took the whole situation with a good sense of humor (killing the captain would have not solved anything, rite?). And after 2 days, we arrived to Siau Island and its smoky volcano.

We got very good diving there , apart from a scary experience of underwater currents that too some of us under 40 m. But the highlight of the diving was the underwater volcano in Sangihe. Gosh! Diving on top of a volcano with hot bubbles coming out of the rocks was a real thrill!!! And the fish seems to like it too,because we saw a lot of stuff.

And to finish a great adventure, that night, the volcano at Siau broke loose, letting go rivers of red lava and ashes and having us on the deck of the sea dancer contemplating mother nature taking to us. Amazing!

So this trip was a bit of an example of what you might find in Indonesia. A lot of improvisation, great people, great nature and a kick on your adrenaline levels to last for a few months!

Try it!

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Well....after months of delays and lazyness , I couldn't escape. Today I woke up in Vietnam. And, not like Robin Williams, I did not say: "Good Morning, Vietnam". More a kind of:"Let's see how this works...".

I have been many times in Saigon. I have met plenty of people living here and I have never met anyone that, after a few months, wouldn't be totally hooked with the city. But I know that this will not be as easy for me as for the others. And this has nothing to do with the city or it's people. But more with myself.

I have been living in a few countries and I have a relative experience in moving from one place to another , changing city, language, currency and so forth. But this is the first time that I move to a country when "I still don't want to leave the old one". And I know that leaving Indonesia will be harder than what I expected. Perhaps not. We will see.

But just in case, and to make the transition easier, next week I'm going back to Bali . YES!

:-)