A man shouting at the mountain peak, and practicing video calls.
Recovery from a hangover, starting at 1 PM
Because I drank beer at night I felt really unwell; I was dizzy at the hotel and kept throwing up. My recovery was really slow, and before I knew it it was 1 PM. I had promised Toan that we'd have lots of adventures on the second day. But my condition had recovered enough, so we decided to resume our adventure.
Toan came to pick me up at the hotel and we headed out on his motorbike. Today we were going to the mountains! Apparently Lạng Sơn used to be a fortress, and they used the mountains to build castles.
Still on the motorbike: "Are you open?"
Lunch before going to the mountain. We decided to eat Bun Cha. In Lạng Sơn, around 1 PM everyone seems to close their shops for a nap. Many stores were closed, and in the end the only place left open was the Bun Cha shop.
Toan, still on the motorbike, loudly asked, "Are you open right now?" I thought that was kind of great. I want to casually talk to locals like that too. Some people hesitate to speak up because they're worried about being ignored, but Toan is so wild in that way.
The beef used in this Bun Cha was irresistibly delicious. You dip the beef in the broth and eat it. The exquisite balance made me think it's even tastier than Japanese yakiniku. Maybe it's because it's charcoal-grilled. We also ordered fried spring rolls.
I was so hungry that I ate the white shirataki noodles (konnyaku threads) right away. Toan said he was full, so I ended up taking them.
A roar at the mountaintop
We bought Pocari Sweat and Vietnamese yogurt at a small nearby shop and headed up the mountain.
Many local people were climbing the mountain and everyone looked happy. Toan is always cheerful and incredibly empathetic; it was really fun to adventure and hike with him. We couldn't stop talking.
We reached the summit and took a breather. From there we could see the whole of Lạng Sơn city. It was really beautiful. It had been very hot today, but the mountaintop was even a bit chilly.
Then, suddenly, a man loudly shouted, "Fuuuuuu~." Like a wolf letting out a roar. It was ridiculous and funny. I wanted to try it too, so I shouted at the top of my lungs. From what I've heard, some Vietnamese people release stress like this.
I thought it's something universal. But if you did this in Japan, some people would think you're strange. I think that's because a biased common sense has taken hold, making people interpret actions that follow natural human emotion as "weird." I think it's fine to just shout if you want to. Vietnam still has many people who feel very human and it's comfortable to be around them.
At the summit we ate the yogurt we had bought earlier. It apparently had azuki beans and rice in it and was incredibly delicious. It probably became one of my favorite yogurts. It was that good. The name is Sua Chua Nep Cam.
The sunset and the badminton boys
We descended one mountain and climbed another. It was quite steep but surprisingly we reached the top quickly. There we watched the sunset together and talked about life and various things.
I met her in 2023, when I was about to go on my first trip to Southeast Asia. The first country was Vietnam and the first city was Hanoi. A few days earlier I had randomly messaged Vietnamese people on an app called HelloTalk, and one of them was her. Since it was a good opportunity we decided to meet in Hanoi in 2023 and we spent three days adventuring together — she's a friend.
While we were there, three boys carrying badminton rackets were trying to take a selfie, so I asked, "Shall I take it for you?" They were very happy, and I took the photo like a pro. I'm not a professional photographer, but I'm pretty good with composition (laughs).
They asked in broken English, "Where are you from?" and said they respect Japanese badminton players and asked if I knew that person. I answered I didn't know. In the end we took a photo together (laughs).
We took a lot of photos, and as it got dark we descended.
A wild duck, and video call practice
For dinner we went to eat Lạng Sơn's famous duck. It was really wild, and if you ask whether it was tasty, I wouldn't say it was particularly delicious.
But it became a good memory. In Vietnam there's no culture of eating alone, so tables are always large. For two people it felt almost like being aristocrats — the table was that spacious.
Apparently it's normal to make video calls in Vietnam, and when I said I'm not used to it and too shy to do it, we decided, "Then let's practice."
Even though we were sitting right next to each other, we made the call and they humored me for practice (laughs).
The customary dessert and coconut
After that, dessert. In 2023 they always took me for dessert after meals — a customary ritual. Today we had desserts from Hue and from Lạng Sơn.
It had ice, fruit, and something chewy and it was very sweet. Toan gave the shop a pretty harsh rating: 6 out of 10.
I don't know the standard, but I didn't feel like eating it again. Still, I think it was pretty decent.
We went to a shopping mall and looked at various goods. I know I shouldn't call it trivial, but I thought these small, carefree moments are nice. Toan said, "Buy something," so I decided to buy some muscat grapes. (Actually, after we returned to the hotel I ended up not eating them and throwing them away (cry)).
On the way back there was a coconut stall so we decided to buy one and drink it. It reminded me nostalgically of 2023 when, on the way to Bat Trang village from the highway in Hanoi, there was a coconut stand and I bought one then.
It was a roadside coconut seller with no one around, but after we waited an old man came and cut the coconut for us. He was very cheerful and talked about how his daughter was studying abroad in Australia. I thought interactions like that with locals are really nice. Toan's social skills were just too good — I had a lot to learn from him.
It's not that I have poor social skills, but I feel like I wasn't showing my true ability — that's how it felt.
We returned to the hotel, said "see you tomorrow" and goodbye. Today was really fun too.
