A dog winning a marathon by accident and a busted recycling condom facility are some of the strange but true tales to have unfolded this year. 

Dog versus humans in 42 km marathon

Organizers give Cam a medal for completing a 42 kilometer marathon.
Photo courtesy of Vietnam Trail Marathon.

A dog named Cam from northern highlands town Moc Chau in Son La Province ended up completing a full marathon by chance in January. The dog, living at a motel near the marathon starting point, decided to join the race after seeing a stream of people passing by. Organizers decided to award him a finisher medal for completing the 42 kilometer race in 11 hours 30 minutes.

Face mask violators attest to health with push-ups

Three drivers of three vehicles were taking South Korean experts to work in March. They said they stopped a bit far away from the industrial park to avoid a crowded street and let their passengers walk to work. But on top of violating traffic regulations, they were also caught not following the face mask mandate, a Covid-19 prevention measure. Since police refused a bribe, the drivers requested to do push-ups as a way to assert their health status. In a video shared widely online, two out of three rule breakers performed push-ups on the spot while a traffic officer stands counting nearby.

Bizarre Vietnamese homemade remedies to fight coronavirus

A man prepares a mixture of crushed garlic, lemon juice, saltwater,
and alcohol to fight Covid-19. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Tan.

When tensions rose after the novel coronavirus gripped the world, many Vietnamese came up with their own remedies to ward off the virus, including a "homemade" fumigation solution. For instance, a family in Hung Yen Province in northern Vietnam fumigated their house with a homemade concoction of boiling water and lebbeck fruit while some people in Hanoi fumigated theirs using crushed garlic, lemon juice, saltwater, and alcohol. Other unusual Vietnamese remedies included eating boiled eggs at night or rubbing medicated oil on the feet.

Terrifying surprise: king cobra slithers up man's arm

Nguyen Van Tam with the king cobra around his arm at Tay Ninh
General Hospital on August 19, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Vu.

A man was hospitalized and sent to the intensive care unit after a three-meter king cobra bit him and coiled itself around his arm. The victim shared he was trying to catch snakes to support his family after sustaining an injury during a traffic accident and could not take normal jobs. The snake was later killed in order to be removed from the victim's arm, while the patient had to spend weeks in hospital since the venom had damaged his kidneys. Fully recovered, the Tay Ninh Province native said: "I'm never catching snakes again."

Pre-wedding photo shoot gone viral for the wrong reason

A couple pose for their wedding photos on Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi
during rush hour on September 16, 2020. Photo courtesy of Le Cao Hai.

A couple was spotted on Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi lying on a blanket complete with sheets and pillows for a pre-wedding photo shoot. The photographer, who came up with the idea, said he wanted to show "a young couple who had fallen in love and ignored others going about their daily business." He denied rumors they had been summoned by local authorities for blocking traffic flow. The incident drew mixed public reviews, with one netizen commenting: "Strange, unique but crazy."

Furry stowaway bandit

A raccoon found inside a frozen food container from the U.S. in late September
at Saigon Zoo. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van.

A raccoon scurried into a food container departing the U.S. for HCMC in late September, surviving 35 days in temperatures close to minus 18 degrees Celsius. How the raccoon sneaked onto the flight is still a mystery. It was later rescued by animal control experts from Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Recycling done wrong

Used condoms are processed for resale at a facility in Tan Uyen Town
of Binh Duong Province, September 19, 2020. Photo by
Binh Duong's market management department.

Authorities in the southern Binh Duong Province raided a facility selling recycled condoms in September. At the crime scene, police found over 320,000 washed and dried used condoms, weighing 360 kilos in total, along with thousands of knock-offs packed and readied for resale. The local market management department subsequently confiscated all products from the premises.

Vietnamese cat reaches global fame

A cat named Lac Lac in Hanoi became an internet sensation after a video of it acting like a human while its Vietnamese owner teaches his son how to bathe a baby garnered millions of views on social media platforms like TikTok, Reddit, Instagram and Weibo, China’s biggest social network. Netizens were impressed with how cooperative and obedient the "model" kitten was.

One Instagram account commented: "I have never seen such a good 'stuntman'. He is so professional. It seems he had done this many times before, he should go to Hollywood."

Unusual building blocks

A house in the southern Vinh Long Province turned heads and left many amazed for its unique fence and walls made of more than 2,000 iPhone shells. Owner Nguyen Minh Hien, a tech fanatic with 15 years of experience fixing iPhones, said the VND250 million ($10,718) fence was built using old iPhone 6, 7 and 7 Plus casings.