Today I had to go to the hospital to follow up on a post-surgery issue that had been bothering me for a while. Long story short, I could only fall asleep at 6 AM last night, and I woke up at 10:30 AM feeling uncomfortable and a bit dizzy. I drank my coffee and headed to the hospital.
Once I got there, it was almost 1 PM. They did the exams, and it seemed like everything was alright. I just needed to tolerate the discomfort until my body healed itself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After the examination was over, I came downstairs to take a taxi back to the hotel room. It was around 2 PM, and the heat was unbearable.
Usually when I order a taxi on Grab (the app used in Thailand and Vietnam for taxi services and food delivery), the prices are normal. Today I realized they were almost double the regular fare. I was surprised and not sure what was going on. It felt so hot outside that I started feeling uncomfortable just sitting there waiting, so I agreed to pay the extra fee.
The taxi came, and I got in.
Even though the taxi was air-conditioned, I could still feel the extreme heat outside. I quickly understood why prices went up at this time of the day. People are ready to pay whatever it takes to escape that impossible heat.
My phone said it was 39°C, but it felt like 47°C 🔥🔥 Good God!
I had an even harder time looking outside. The sun was so, so intense, and life outside the car seemed impossible to me. I tried to imagine walking under that insanely hot sun at that time of the day, like many locals were doing, and I started feeling dizzy just by the thought.
I closed my eyes and brought my thoughts back into the air-conditioned car. What a relief!
You really need to be born and raised in this kind of weather to feel comfortable walking around in temperatures like this.
I wonder what it would feel like to be here in mid-July!
May 26th, 2026
Hot Ha Noi, Vietnam