Morning in Tam Dao
I woke up at 8 a.m. We were in Tam Dao. The morning sun was so strong it made it hot and woke me up. We switched from the heater to the air conditioner and opened the door to let the breeze in. My friend was still sleeping and it seemed I was the only one who woke up because of the heat. Then I went back to sleep.
When I woke up it was 11:45. Check-out was in 15 minutes. We hurriedly packed and tidied our bags. We decided to go out for lunch.
Therexists a chain called Cam Tho that makes a kind of fried rice cooked inside a hot pot, and I knew there was one in Tam Dao that was really delicious, so we headed there.
We ate the hot-pot rice. One portion wasn e enough for me.
A theme park on the mountain
We decided to go to a cafe in Tam Dao. It had a panoramic view and was really beautiful. We paid an entrance fee of 120,000 dong, and inside there was a flying trapeze and a small sheep farm; it felt like a little theme park.
Having such a small theme park at the top of a mountain made me think paying 120,000 dong was totally worth it!
Sheep and the New Zealand dream
We went down the stairs together to interact with the sheep. From small lambs to big sheep, they lived peacefully. They ate grass, moved around, and slept. Because that's all they did, I thought life must be pretty peaceful.
The sheep kept bleating "mei mei" and I thought they were so cute. It made my dream of becoming a shepherd in New Zealand grow even bigger. I imagined it would surely be very peaceful.
Flying trapeze
We tried the flying trapeze together too. It's the kind where the swing is hung and when the attendant pulls the bar it suddenly launches you. That attendant was even wearing a Vietnam War-era hat, which made me feel that North Vietnam is interesting.
We sat on the seat together and raced through the sky on the swing. It felt great, but I also got motion sickness.
After that we each took a break and enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery. I'm someone who can be a completely different person inside and outside, but when we're together those sides of us naturally come out, and I thought that was interesting.
Leaving Tam Dao
We figured it was about time to go, so we bought water and Aquarius and then left Tam Dao. We filmed with a DJI as we went down the mountain. It was very cool at first but gradually got hot, and I thought again how nice high-altitude places are.
We decided to go to the nearby Tam Dao National Park and actually went in, but there was nobody there and it felt like there was nothing to see. It seemed rundown, so we left quickly.
A mysterious Buddhist temple
We headed to a nearby Buddhist temple. It was about 10 km away so we arrived quickly. There was a big gate, but it was more of a landmark without much that looked like a temple. Since there was a temple nearby we decided to walk to it.
When we arrived, the place felt different from a typical temple and very mysterious. The central building was encircled as if covered by a ring, and we walked around it. There were many statues of Buddha and the interior was heavily decorated and painted.
There were lots of desks with what looked like sutras or scriptures written on them, so I thought this was a proper Buddhist temple. My friend quietly bowed and prayed while walking around. I watched silently.
There were monks too, which I thought was amazing. I felt that there are people training like that even in such a rural town. It made me realize how big the world is. My friend, perhaps because it had been a while since he'd been to a temple, kept taking lots of photos and seemed to be enjoying it. That made me happy.
Masks turned completely black
We went back, got on our motorbikes, and headed to Hanoi. The air pollution was terrible today because people were burning things everywhere. Maybe it was slash-and-burn farming? Because it was happening in many places at once, the whole city was polluted. I thought, "Give me a break"—is this what Hanoi is like? We were wearing masks, but by the time we arrived they had turned completely black.
We arrived at a restaurant on West Lake. Two years ago I'd had shrimp fried in butter here and it was so good that I wanted to come back. So we had dinner here. We were both tired from driving and ate in silence for the time being.
After we were full, my friend dropped me off at my Airbnb. Hanoi on a Saturday evening is full of motorbikes. The roads barely moved, which was incredibly stressful and, above all, exhausting.
My room was directly opposite the Opera House, but apparently it had been closed because of a fire. In the end we said goodbye outside the barricade. "Thanks, sleep well," and that was that.
Then I rested in my room and also went to Circle K to buy water. The fatigue from the trip hit me all at once and I fell asleep.
