Dispatch #18: The Coteau, again

Well, I'm back, back in the land of real Diet Coke, trustworthy tap water, predictable public restrooms, and English as the most common first language, and it's good to be home.

My final flight left Tokyo around sunset yesterday evening and our plane proceeded to chase the sun across the Pacific and North America. We caught up with the sunshine (and returned to afternoon/early evening), somewhere over the Rockies. About 9 or 10 hours into the flight, I opened my window and confronted what looked like a familiar sight and, upon checking my flight tracker, I confirmed that it was, indeed, the Dakotas. The sky was perfectly clear and after a few minutes of watching the prairie glide by, I identified Aberdeen in the distance (with a little help from the flight tracker).

Almost immediately, I noticed the speckled effect that is created by the numerous lakes of the northeast part of the state. I don't think I've ever viewed the state from that high before and, as it turns out, the coteau is pretty easy to identify. I kept the window open long enough to spot, without help from the flight tracker, the place where Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse form the the divot in the border between South Dakota and Minnesota. At that point, I returned to my reading.

I took somewhere close to 2000 photos while I was in Asia and I've also offered to host my traveling companion's photos on my Flickr site. So, if you're interested in seeing what I've been up to, check in there over the next few days. My photos should all be up in the next few hours, and I'll work on organizing them and adding my friends' photos in the next few days. If you don't have the address of my Flickr homepage, email me and I'll send it to you.

Dispatch #17: It's Independence Day in Vietnam

And we're in Saigon. Not surprisingly, given the brief refresher-course in Vietnamese history that Nicole and I gave ourselves this afternoon, there's not a great deal of celebration happening here. In fact, other than the large number of flags and government-issued banners and posters on display, today seems to be a day like any other.

We spent the last few days in Hue, Danang and Hoi An, all of which are beautiful. Nicole and I both caught colds, so the last two days in Hoi An (possibly the hottest and most-humid place I've ever been) were something less than comfortable. We flew into Saigon last night and I spent much of today walking around the city, in the rain. Despite the rain and sickness and the endless entreaties from street vendors and cyclo drivers, I still love this country. It's hard not to respect a people who have endured as much as the Vietnamese and it really is a gorgeous place.

Tomorrow morning, we're taking a bus to the beach at Mui Ne and the next day another bus to the town of Dalat. We'll spend about 48 hours in Dalat before flying to Hanoi and then back to Bangkok. On Friday, we return to New York. This trip has been incredible, but I'll be ready to head back to the U.S.