I woke up at 6:30 a.m. The train to Da Nang from Hue departs at 7:05, so it was ridiculously early. It was one of those times when even I thought getting up was really tough. Still, there was no choice—I pushed myself, rushed into the shower, packed, and said goodbye to the hostel. Luckily, even though it was a six-bed room, nobody else was there, so I could use everything as I pleased. I could play music, use the shower freely. It was the best morning.
From Hue to Da Nang — a train journey
Anyway, I left the hostel and arrived at Hue station. A friend I made in Hue had said, "I'll make you a matcha latte to take," but there was no reply. They're probably still asleep, I guess.
I got on the train right away. Fortunately no one was sitting next to me, so it was comfortable. On the train I booked a hostel in Thailand, bought a ticket from Thailand to Malaysia, and submitted the Thailand arrival form while checking visa-exemption periods. I got a lot of trip prep done at once.
It felt like we arrived much earlier than on the way there. In another car there were Hue specialties available, so I ordered and ate them. They were truly delicious.
A 90-minute spa for 1,500 yen — I can't go back to Japan
After arriving at Da Nang station, I first went to drop off my luggage at the hotel. Check-in wasn't until 2:00, so I decided to get a massage. The first massage I ever had was also in Da Nang two years ago. I've had massages in many places, but I remember Da Nang's being the most pleasant, so I was looking forward to it this time too.
This time I booked a hair wash and skincare spa. It was a 90-minute course focused on hair treatment and facial skincare. I bought it on Klook and headed there right away. Maybe because it was noon, there were no other customers. The front-desk lady seemed a bit flustered, but she called the massage therapist right away and they could start in 15 minutes. I was really grateful. And it was only 1,500 yen for 90 minutes—so cheap it was shocking.
There were about six beds in the treatment room, but since I was the only one there, I was treated on the bed in the middle. At one point I almost blacked out and actually dozed off for a while. They applied and rinsed off more than five different serums and creams on my face, repeating the process—my skincare was done properly. My hair was washed with several kinds of rinses and shampoos and it felt amazing.
Doing the same thing at a Japanese salon would cost around 4,000 yen for 15–30 minutes, so I figured I could never do this in Japan again. I gave the post-treatment survey a perfect score, of course. They even gave me coconut sweets as a souvenir. They were so attentive right until the end—it was really great.
The incident at a Pho shop in Da Nang
After the massage, I went to a nearby pho restaurant. When I went in, it seemed to be run by a Korean family. I ordered bánh xèo, and what came out was a huge plate. When I tried to roll it up in the rice sheet and eat it, it had mold on it.
They brought a new one, but I still couldn't bring myself to eat it, so I ended up not having it. With a 4.6 rating, serving rice sheets like that made me think maybe they haven't had many customers recently. A shame.
After that I worked at a nearby cafe. I had a meeting and it was exhausting. Before I knew it, it was time to check in, so I headed to the hotel. After checking in I ended up sleeping for four hours in bed. I woke up at 8 p.m., worked again, and it was around 11. For dinner I ordered pho delivery.
Midnight — my first bar experience
Tonight I was planning to go to a bar where a girl I met on Tinder works. She said she works at the bar and "wants someone to talk to," so taking the chance—and since I'd never gone to a bar alone before—I was really excited.
I finished writing in my journal and it was almost midnight. I put in my earphones and left the hotel listening to Art Tatum's jazz. The bar wasn't far, so I decided to walk. Leaving the hotel near midnight was something I'd never done before, so I was a little scared. But there was no sense of danger at all. The VIP clubs and massage shops' lights stood out.
There were clubs and lounges nearby. I ran past them and headed to the bar. I got more and more nervous along the way. At first I worried about getting ripped off, but while chatting with her there was no sign of that, so I decided to go.
Going to a bar alone was a first for me, so I was really nervous. At the same time, knowing I could have this first-time experience thanks to her made me feel grateful and excited. When I messaged that I had arrived, she came outside the bar and said "Hi!" The girl who greeted me seemed shy.
An unexpected night at a hidden bar
Inside, the bar was very much a hideaway and fairly small. There really was only a counter and the music was blaring. It wasn't a place just to drink, but more like a bar where you talk with the staff at the counter. I had no idea, so at first I was surprised. But at the same time I was excited to put myself in a new environment and try it out. The excitement outweighed the nervousness.
The girl at the counter was a university student working at the bar for summer break; she'd only been there two weeks and didn't even know how to make cocktails. The menu was very limited—only five kinds. I had been hoping for a Moscow Mule or a mojito, but they weren't available.
I ordered a tequila sunrise-type cocktail but it was out of stock. When I ordered another sweet-looking cocktail, I was told via translation that the boss was asleep at home and didn't know how to make it—lol. Even the other cocktails couldn't be made. In the end, they could only make one of the five: a salty tequila-based cocktail, so I went with that.
It's so typically Vietnam—this freedom is really interesting. In Japan, if you ordered a cocktail and were told 'we can't make that' your review would definitely drop. But I think this human touch in Vietnam is wonderful. Honestly, most people come to bars for the atmosphere more than the taste of the cocktails, so it's fine if cocktails aren't the main thing.
People I met at the bar
When I drank it, it was strong on alcohol and the liqueur flavor was intense. Well, that's also very Vietnamese and fine. While I was filming with the Osmo Pocket 3 I brought, people said things like 'I know that!' and 'Are you a YouTuber?'
A Korean customer sitting nearby struck up a conversation. He was traveling alone in Da Nang for five days and normally works as a cameraman and in film production in Korea. I thought that was impressive. He knew some Japanese, had been to Osaka, and was going to Fukuoka next month—we hit it off talking about that. I was a bit drunk too, so the conversation flowed. We took photos together and exchanged Instagram handles.
I communicated with the girl at the counter using Google Translate. We talked about places she'd traveled in Vietnam, what university life was like, and so on. She was apparently a second-year student, so I told her she was in the best time of her life. When I said I was traveling around the world for a year, she was really surprised. Traveling alone seemed unbelievable to her.
Boss appears — a woman fluent in Japanese
Just as I was about to order a second drink, the boss showed up. To my surprise the boss was a woman who spoke Japanese fluently and suddenly spoke to me in fluent Japanese. She'd been in Japan for five years and studied Japanese for two. Her Japanese was really beautiful, almost native.
Thanks to the boss arriving, I could have different cocktails and she made me a sweet cocktail. She also brought coconut gummies and a green Vietnamese snack wrapped around pork. I took photos with the girl at the counter and we toasted together in Vietnamese.
The boss said bye and left earlier. She said she was going to Japan next month and would open a bar in Shinjuku. We exchanged LINE and parted with a 'I'll visit when I'm in Tokyo again' vibe.
The bar's atmosphere and human conversations
The bar's atmosphere was truly the best. Everyone was joining the conversation and there was a very fun vibe. The Korean guy had a flight tomorrow and left around 2:30 a.m. I couldn't help thinking that I had a flight tomorrow too.
She also showed me photos of her parents' home. It was a small house in a rural village in Hue. The way she talked conveyed that simplicity, and I thought it was very human and nice. Apparently she normally works at a noodle restaurant too, and working both jobs adds up to 11–12 hours a day. Hearing that one cocktail is worth half a day's pay made me feel the harshness of her life.
At the end she wrote a message in the adventure notebook and I wrote a message in Japanese on a card and gave it to her. The bill was 770,000 dong, about 4,000 yen. But considering how much fun it was, how it was a first-time experience, and such a good encounter, it was truly a great time.
She said via Google Translate, 'I want to buy you coffee tomorrow.' But I told her it would be difficult because I had a flight and that I was just happy for the sentiment. That one line felt like proof that she treated me not just as a traveler but as a friend, and I was really happy.
Thoughts on the last night in Vietnam
After saying goodbye, I got back to the hotel at almost 3 a.m. I think it's probably the first time in my life I've returned that late. So I really had a great experience, and I truly felt glad that my last day in Vietnam turned into such a fun night.
Tinder is really popular and everyone uses it in Vietnam; many encounters are one-night stands or FWB, but I just want to make friends. In the long run that makes life more fulfilling, doesn't it? Of course I'm not denying the former either.
Because it's the best—youthful and fun, right? Come to think of it, it's funny that on a last day like this you match with lots of cute girls and if you say 'let's walk the beach with a beer in hand,' they'll say 'sure!' around 1 a.m.
But now it's 3 a.m., so when you say 'shall we go now?' they reply 'I'm sleepy, let's do it tomorrow'—God plays such tricks on me.
And so, I packed for tomorrow's flight, and the last night in Vietnam quietly came to an end.
