first backpacking trip

stacey and i have been talking about renting a bike for a while but havent because one i cant drive worth a shit
and stacey would be stuck navigating and driving while i enjoy all the splendid views lol, and the other....cause
ppl drive like they dont care if they will run you right over.  cars weave in and out from eachother like your in
a race car game.  Well we finally decided we would say fuck it and rent the bike anyway. well before we even got on
the bike the workers were laughing at us. i guess it was pretty funny watching stacey try to balance the bike
with my fat ass behind her lol.  we were pretty wobbly at first and did the whole go stop go stop thing but
eventually we caught on or she did i should say.  when we were driving around kuta the foreigners and the locals
 were laughing at us.  we really must not have looked like we knew what we were doing.  it was nice to see
the villages around kuta and all the nice scenery which mostly consisted of rice fields.  the land here is so lush
and green.  after we cruzed around the day we went for another massage.  which would have been great but the guy
doing my massage had the roughest hands i've ever felt!  felt almost as rough as the stones literally. and the ac
shut off cause they had another power outage.  which sucked cause i was sweating and having oil rubbed into it but
i felt worse for the guy giving me the massage he literally had sweat beads running off his head and would have
to stop to wipe his head. gross. but atleast his sweat didnt drip on me which for a minute i thought might happen.
  After that we turned in for the night.  today we arranged a trip to Amed and Tuluban (sp?) cause
we heard they had the best snorkeling.  We went   with these young girls from
Denmark.  when we got to Amed the driver told us it was a waste to even go snorkeling in Amed.  Why he said that I
dont know but i'\m sure glad we didnt listen to him cause Amed turned out to be the best!  you know how sometimes
you have it in your head that something is going to be terrible and ppl tell you its going to be terrible so your
expections are as low as they can go but by some strange reason it turns out to be this amazing time or experience,
well thats what Amed was for us.  First off the Danish girls didnt want to snorkel there after the driver said
that but then I told them come on its only five bucks so they did.  Then when were walking up to this place its
not like its a beach you walk through this path that has annorexic cows on one side and roosters crowing on the
other.  Then before we even hit the black rock for sand beach we walk by a dead dog!  skeleton and all rotting in
the son.  It was very disturbing.  The poor dogs here have it so rough I feel horrible for them just dying in the
sun.  Thats what looked like happened here.  So after our little stroll to the water you can imagine what we were
thinking our snorkel would be like.  Well once we walked past the rocks that killed our feel and could actually
swim all around us was the most beautiful coral!  Finally I was having my awesome snorkel experience I've always
wanted.  But for me it wasnt just the fish it was the coral.  In shades of the brightest blues purples, pinks,
orange.  It looked like we were in a garden of flowers under the sea and all the fishes were like beas going from
flower to flower eating their lunch and hiding in the little crevaces trying to escape us then once we would pass
you would see their little faces peeking out.  It reminded me of the little mermaid (i've seen it recently cause my
neice likes it as much as me and my sister did) where in the opening scene all the fish and mermaids are coming
out of that big coral under the sea.  it was like were in another world.  and we were the only ones there so all
the fish were out and not scared away.  its sad to think that one day the coral will be gone from us.  we seem
to destroy all of gods beautiful things.  just thinking of it now im still in a state of aw.  i've never seen
something so peaceful and beautiful.  i was in a bad mood that day but after that i felt like a million bucks.  i
can honestly say it was one of the highlights of my life.  to think we might not have done it cause no one goes to
that place.  what a sin that would have been.  So after that we went to Tulumban.  After Amed we had pretty high
expectations since our driver said Tulumban was way better.  We now realized he said that so his friends would
make money cause Amed costed nothing except what it was to rent the snorkel gear.  Stacey and I bought our own
cause I wasnt down with using someone else\s used mouth piece yuck!  The only reason Tulumban was cool was cause
we went to this ship wreck which was from world war 2.  the u.s. liberty.  It was so big and so old that coral
started growing on it.  its like what you see in the movie titanic obviously titanic is bigger but it looks like
what they show in the movie.  when you approach the ship all you see are these huge black fish swimming in a big
school so close you can touch them.  there were all kinds of fish just floating around you so gracefully.  but as
far as beauty and something different each place you turned Amed kicked its ass.  The scenario I was talking about
earlier can go vise vera, sometimes when I think something is going to be great it just doesnt meet my expections
and this was a prime example.  Either way it was a great day and the Danish girls were happy we talked them into
coming with us.  And for a day of snorkeling since they came with us we paid about 20 bucks and the site was two
hours away.  So I think we got our moneys worth.