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00:00I'm on the urge to cull a few of these tiny stools that bedevil this great nation.
00:05I really want to kick one of those stools into the water.
00:11Everywhere I turn is one of these spinal tormentors, but I'm on my best behavior.
00:17This stool will live to bend the knees of another hapless giant. Not today, Beatty.
00:22Vietnam. Of course, it's a place of tea plantations, traffic, temples, but then it's something else entirely.
00:40Come with me on an unusual, unfiltered, unforgettable adventure.
00:49Give me five.
00:52My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
00:56I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
00:59As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war.
01:02So it's safe, right?
01:04I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions.
01:07Am I in the right place?
01:09Embrace new experiences, even my own future.
01:13Problem, you are smart and tested.
01:16Is there any, you know, good news?
01:18Navigate tight spaces.
01:21I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
01:23Make some new friends.
01:26Separated at birth.
01:27This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters.
01:30This is your whole life in a plant.
01:32And kindred spirits.
01:34An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on Earth.
01:39Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam Adventure.
01:42Well, it's six o'clock in the morning here in Hanoi.
02:02And the city's waking up.
02:06Lots of people taking part in these sort of morning activities.
02:12There's joggers are out.
02:13The Tai Chi and the yoga practitioners are all out.
02:19There's a lot of activity going on.
02:20And I'm just about to take part in a bit of laughing yoga.
02:24Before I giggle my way to enlightenment or perhaps a public humiliation,
02:33I want to show you where I am.
02:36The name Hanoi means the city inside the river,
02:39and it's a nod to its location,
02:41nestled between riverbends in the northern part of the country.
02:45This is a chance for me to explore Vietnam's spiritual side,
02:49from life to death and all the curious rituals in between.
02:52I'm told that laughter is the best medicine.
02:56Well, not if you're an asthmatic like me.
02:58But I'm open to persuasion.
03:00Oh!
03:01Ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:02Hey!
03:03Ah!
03:04Ha-ha!
03:05Oh!
03:06Ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:08As a comedian, it seems a little odd
03:10to start with the laughing and work backwards.
03:12But hey, when in Hanoi...
03:14Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:17Ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:18Vin, our instructor, has some tricks up his sleeve to keep it light.
03:23Ooh!
03:24Ooh!
03:27What, this?
03:28Yes.
03:28Talk, talk, talk.
03:29Like this?
03:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:30Or like that?
03:32No, no.
03:32Turn it out.
03:33Oh, yeah.
03:33OK.
03:33Oh, my God.
03:35Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:36I feel this could be the point of no return.
03:39Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:41I'm in danger of losing my mind.
03:44Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:46Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:55Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:57Oh, no!
03:59I don't know!
04:00I don't know!
04:01I don't know!
04:02Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
04:05Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
04:09Oh, I don't know!
04:10I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
04:17Watch out me! Yay!
04:21Now, for the silent treatment.
04:25How long can you go without laughing? I like this game.
04:28One, two, three!
04:30I'm just warming up now.
04:42Letting go is so liberating. What an absolute joy to be lost in the moment. Completely.
04:54As someone for whom laughter is my business, I'm interested to know what they get out of it.
05:00In my job in London, I'm a comedian.
05:04I tell jokes.
05:06Get laughs.
05:08So, perhaps we could do that.
05:10I'll tell a joke.
05:12No, no, no, no.
05:13Don't need anything.
05:14Humor.
05:15No.
05:16We laugh for no reason.
05:18For no reason?
05:19Well, that's literally the whole point of my life.
05:22Well, that's me out of a job.
05:23Normally, my body don't know exercise.
05:26Weight is real.
05:28Your body reacts.
05:30Yes.
05:31Like it's a genuine laugh.
05:34With or without a comedic set-up, your body is getting the benefits.
05:38Vin and the women who do this between 5 and 6 a.m. every day tell me they do it for the endorphins and the positive energy.
05:46Vietnamese people talk together.
05:48Yeah.
05:49If we don't save the time to do the morning exercise.
05:52Hospital.
05:53Yeah.
05:54It becomes a patient.
05:55You'll get ill.
05:56Keeping positive in here as well.
06:01You've been doing this, what, 14 years now?
06:03Laughing every day.
06:07Every day.
06:08Every day.
06:09Yeah.
06:10These lovely ladies remind me of my mum, who I lost in 2005.
06:15Like them, she loved to laugh, to nurture and look after everyone.
06:20Aw.
06:21One.
06:22Two.
06:23Three.
06:24Yay!
06:25Ha, ha, ha!
06:28That was great fun.
06:33I actually feel quite energised by that.
06:36Laughing's hard.
06:38You know, really gets the blood pumping, gets the air going through the lungs.
06:43It's a workout in itself.
06:45Better than jogging, anyway.
06:48The Red River brings a vitality, a life force to the city.
06:53It symbolises fertility, a deep-rooted connection between nature and people.
06:59Along with the river, there's another man-made thoroughfare that powers straight through the centre of Hanoi.
07:06It's almost unbelievable and defies logic.
07:09I need to see it to believe it.
07:12So, behind me is the famous train street here in Hanoi.
07:18And this was built by the French in 1902 and was used as a regular train line.
07:27But, in recent times, it's become a hugely popular tourist attraction,
07:31because the train line runs through buildings and houses and cafes which are built right up to the tracks.
07:38Incredibly, a large, unyielding train passes through this press of humanity several times a day, often not even on time.
07:46Well, apparently, one of the things to do here, you get a bottle top off a beer bottle and you put it on the rail,
07:52and the train goes past and flatten it.
07:56So, when in Rome...
07:58What?
08:04Any minute now, the 11.23 service to Ha Long City will be barrelling through here, blowing the froth off these cappuccinos.
08:11What?
08:12What?
08:13The train is about to come through here, and there's people ordering things from the cafe across the other side of the track.
08:19People shouting, it's mental.
08:24It's mental.
08:25What?
08:26Here it comes.
08:27Oh my Lord.
08:28Oh, it's idiot.
08:32What the ****?
08:37Oh my ****!
08:42Oh my ****!
08:44Oh my ****!
08:45Oh my ****!
08:49Honestly, this is like a health and safety nightmare.
09:00Still going.
09:01This is the last carriage.
09:04Woo!
09:05Whee!
09:07Woo-hoo!
09:10Absolute madness.
09:14And here,
09:16here's my bottle top.
09:20Well, I think I've got myself a new plectrum.
09:25That was, yeah, quite an experience.
09:28I mean, it's a big train.
09:30It's not just a little, like a tube train.
09:32It's a big, proper, inter-Sydney train.
09:36Huge rolling stock.
09:37Enormous great thing.
09:39A foot from your nose.
09:44After any near-death experience, I always feel peckish.
09:48Perhaps it's a renewed appetite for life.
09:52So I'm heading to the old town, away from the touristy bars,
09:56seeking sustenance for the mind and for the body.
10:00It seems like a lovely spot to just hang out and have a plate of noodles.
10:08It's quite different from other cities in Vietnam, in as much as a lot of people still live in the city.
10:17It feels more like village life.
10:22People are still living in these areas.
10:27It feels a little more lively.
10:30I love it.
10:32It kind of reminds me of home.
10:36And this is delicious.
10:37Oh, my word.
10:40But just when you think all your needs are catered for,
10:43a street vendor walks past selling everything at the kitchen sink.
10:47In fact, she's probably got that as well.
10:50Oh.
10:52Oh.
10:52How much for one?
10:5620?
10:57OK.
10:58I'll give you that one.
11:02It's OK.
11:04But it doesn't go all the way down.
11:06You drive a hard bargain.
11:08So the initial price was 100, and I said,
11:14no, I'm not paying that.
11:17Because it's, you know, it's only a backscratcher.
11:19So I went in low at 20.
11:24But she sort of haggled me up to 30.
11:27So I don't know.
11:28I think I've got...
11:29I think we've both got a good deal.
11:3230,000 dongs, not even a quid.
11:34Oh.
11:35But its scratchability is worth 10 times that.
11:38That is hitting the spot.
11:44What?
11:46What are you saying?
11:49What?
11:50Oh, down the shirt.
11:51Oh, I didn't think that.
11:54I'm trying to put it down the back of my shirt.
11:57I don't need that.
11:58I'm scratching it through my shirt, thank you.
11:59Oh.
12:08Despite having no official religion,
12:10Vietnam is nonetheless a deeply spiritual place.
12:14Family shrines adorn the households throughout the nation.
12:18I've never been one for the spirit world.
12:22But I'm here to meet someone who apparently has a great affinity with these matters.
12:28So bearing gifts, I come to find out what the universe has in store for me.
12:32Hello.
12:32Hello.
12:33Lam.
12:34Yes.
12:35Hello.
12:35Bill.
12:35Nice to meet you.
12:36Lovely to meet you.
12:36Nice to meet you too.
12:37I brought some offerings.
12:39Yes.
12:40For the temple.
12:41So what shall I do?
12:42Mr. Lam practices Tao Tan Mo, the worship of mother goddesses, which was established in Vietnam in the 16th century.
12:50It's a branch of Vietnamese folk religion, which is more shamanic in nature.
12:57In our culture, the mother is the biggest.
13:03Everything big is a female.
13:06For example, the great rival, it means the female rival.
13:13Oh, I see.
13:14So greatness is associated with femininity.
13:17We believe in the great of the mother.
13:21Right.
13:22His path to this role wasn't straightforward.
13:25He studied medicine abroad before finding his home as a spiritual practitioner.
13:30What do people believe in this religion, Vietnamese religion?
13:33What happens when you die?
13:35We have the mother goddess of the earth.
13:39Like you come home, just relax.
13:43I'm looking forward to that.
13:45Relaxing.
13:46Yeah, just relaxing.
13:47Just relaxing.
13:48Even though fortune telling is seen by the government as superstitious, it's still a widely used custom.
13:54Lam, now the reason I'm here partly is to make some offerings to meet you.
13:59And also, I believe, to find out a little bit about my own future.
14:06And maybe any advice you have for me.
14:09So, the first, you must tell me your full name.
14:13Okay, Bill Bailey.
14:15Bill Bailey.
14:16Years of birth.
14:171965.
14:19And your place?
14:21The place where I live?
14:23Yes.
14:23Is in London.
14:25Is in London.
14:25Can you give me the full address?
14:29Well, if I give the full address, people come around my house.
14:32Yes.
14:33I can't give you that.
14:37How my address matters is beyond me, but it's clearly part of the process.
14:44This year's is not a good year of you.
14:47Oh.
14:50Get a little problem with your small intestine.
14:57It can be worse.
15:00Good.
15:00It can be worse.
15:01And it becomes a disease around October.
15:06Okay.
15:06Because of the job or because of something like that, you have too much problem to take care in your life.
15:18And you don't focus to yourself.
15:22Yeah.
15:23That's true.
15:24So you must focus to yourself.
15:27Because your health, your health is not good.
15:32Because your head...
15:33He continued in this downbeat vein for a while.
15:35Honestly, it wasn't that great.
15:37Sounds pretty bleak.
15:39Is there any, you know, good news?
15:43Good news?
15:44Anything positive I can think about?
15:49Nope.
15:50Well, I better get praying for my small intestine.
15:58When I first went in there, I was a little skeptical.
16:01I have to say, quite a few of the things that Lam said were right on the money.
16:09And really quite good advice.
16:15So, I guess that's what I'll take from it.
16:21Look after yourself.
16:28Don't work too hard.
16:31Look out for others.
16:33Let them be who they want to be.
16:34I mean, all of that is good advice.
16:43As I reluctantly process my mortality and consider my bleak future, I need a distraction.
16:49Something more in the here and now.
16:51So, days on the road have left me a little scruffy.
16:55In Hanoi, you can get a tidy up at the side of the road.
16:59I looked in the mirror the other day and I was looking a bit unkempt.
17:03And I just spotted that there's these barbers that have set up these little street barbershops.
17:10So, I thought I'd come and get a bit of a trim.
17:13And I'm going to ask him if he can shave my ears, because my ears are getting a little bit hairy.
17:20There's a barber at the end of my road in London that I go to often.
17:25But I tell you what, he could learn a thing or two from this fellow.
17:28This is next level grooming.
17:32It's getting in my ears.
17:34They really need it doing.
17:35It's ridiculous.
17:36I don't know what happens when you get older.
17:39The hair disappears off the top of your head.
17:41It just seems to go into your brain and come out of your ears.
17:44My ears have never been hairier.
17:47Wow.
17:49That's the cleanest that ear's been in years.
17:53That's the sort of thing I'd clean the car with.
17:56But it works.
17:58This is less of a barbershop, more of a public spectacle.
18:01I can't imagine getting my nose shaved on a street in London.
18:05But this is Hanoi.
18:06Where it's de rigueur.
18:07Well, that was fantastic.
18:09I mean, I feel great.
18:12I just wanted a shave and a trim.
18:15But I got the full works.
18:17This guy is a top barber.
18:20He knows what he's doing.
18:21I feel like a million dollars.
18:24I feel ready to face the day.
18:25As I strut around Hanoi with my striking new exterior, it's my interior I'm focused on.
18:35Mr. Lum's insights into what the future might hold for my health are playing on my mind.
18:40Hello.
18:41Hello.
18:42Hello.
18:43Hello.
18:44Hi.
18:45Um...
18:46I went to a priest and he said that my small intestine might give me a problem.
18:54I must know clearly what the problem is.
19:01Yes.
19:02Oh.
19:03Okay.
19:04Er...
19:05I don't know what the problem is.
19:06That's the problem.
19:07It's not an unreasonable request from shop owner Jenny here on Lan Ong Street, a famous area
19:15dedicated to traditional medicine.
19:16I want to be a bit healthier.
19:20Jenny has a degree in traditional Vietnamese medicine, a practice influenced by the Chinese.
19:27It's a holistic approach, strictly herbal products that aim to restore balance in the
19:32body.
19:33A traditional medicine, you can cook, you can drink.
19:36This bag is a type of leaf that can treat constipation.
19:41Yeah.
19:42Yeah, I'll keep that in mind.
19:44This one is tea.
19:45Tea?
19:46This is for...
19:47Yeah.
19:48...everything.
19:49You can drink the same tea.
19:50Reduce aging, weight loss, liver detox.
19:52This...
19:53Yeah.
19:54This is exactly it.
19:55Yeah.
19:56Yeah, exactly.
19:57Sounds like the ultimate wonder herb.
19:58The mythical cure that promises to fix everything from my gut to my existential dread.
20:03I've taken the priest's advice.
20:05I've decided to take better care of myself.
20:07First step, I've got some traditional medicine.
20:10Some remedies for a bit of gut health, a bit of general health.
20:15Here, remedies like this are integrated into Vietnam's public health system.
20:22And it's almost like the West is slowly catching up to this.
20:28Medicinal shopping isn't just about curing what ails you.
20:31Some good old-fashioned retail therapy can also do the trick.
20:35You just need to know where to go.
20:37With my mum still on my mind, and word of a Vietnamese tradition that honors those no longer with us, I'm meeting up with a local guide, Danny, to help me shop.
20:49Just on the way here, I saw there was a shop selling lampshades.
20:53Mm-hmm.
20:54Then there was a shop selling balloons.
20:56Yes.
20:57Then there was one selling fruit.
20:58Then there's flowers.
20:59Yes.
21:00There's flowers everywhere.
21:01So you can see the whole street.
21:02No mouths here with designer brands.
21:04Danny tells me Lanong Street is the best place to buy items to celebrate a special custom here.
21:10It involves fire, paper, and the afterlife.
21:14It's a very traditional thing that we have.
21:18Like, we believe our ancestors or our dead grandmother, grandfather, they will continue living in another place.
21:27So, on the middle day of the month, we were burning the money paper, or maybe once I saw my mum burn a mansion.
21:35A mansion?
21:36Made of paper.
21:37Like a huge house made of paper?
21:39A mansion, yes.
21:40Who was that for?
21:41Oh, for my grandmother.
21:42Your grandmother?
21:43Yes.
21:44So she's got a nice place to live in the other world?
21:48Sure.
21:49Like, she will have a mansion, and she can invite friends to join her for parties.
21:53Right.
21:54Yeah.
21:55We believe that whatever happens, whatever we do in this life, will be continuing that life.
22:00I'm intrigued by the local custom to honour loved ones by buying handcrafted paper effigies and burning them.
22:08The idea is these items will pass through the smoke and rise up into the next life to be with them.
22:14You would provide people with things that they might need?
22:16Yes.
22:17Money, car.
22:18Money.
22:19Clothes?
22:20Clothes, of course.
22:21Food?
22:22Yeah.
22:23Sometime.
22:24A car?
22:25But how do you know that you can drive a car in the other world, though?
22:28Well, for people who have drive a licence, that would not be a big problem.
22:32Right.
22:33You need a driving licence, though.
22:34Yeah.
22:35You couldn't just assume that you could drive there.
22:38Yeah.
22:39Or if you're not sure about that, you burn the horse.
22:42Burn a horse, right.
22:43Yep.
22:44Just to sort of cover all your bases for travel.
22:47So we're going to hang these on that tree.
22:49Paper effigies are an art form in their own right.
22:52A symbol of the care we still have for those who have left this world.
22:57I need a dog.
22:58Oh, look at this.
23:00Is this something that you would burn?
23:02Yeah, it does look like what my mum's used to burn.
23:06Oh, my word.
23:07Yeah.
23:08It's an entire mansion.
23:10It comes with a dog.
23:12It comes with a car, a dog, a fan, like a dining table, a little bonsai tree.
23:18This is amazing.
23:19One, two, three, four, five.
23:20One, two, three, four, five.
23:21My mum, Madrin, left us 20 years ago, and I'd love to send her something she'd really appreciate.
23:26I'm thinking about getting a little something to burn for my mum.
23:33Sure.
23:34I mean, are there other items here, do you think?
23:37Do you think I might be able to find a radio or a music?
23:41You love music, you see?
23:42Well, probably.
23:44That's what you're looking for.
23:46That's it?
23:47Yeah.
23:48That is exactly it.
23:50It's a Toshiba radio.
23:54That is exactly it.
23:56Right, OK.
23:57I think your mum's going to love it.
23:58My old pal, Sean Locke, left us in 2021, and I'd like to send him something special, too.
24:04Who wouldn't love a big horse like that?
24:07Yeah.
24:08They're so demanding, aren't they, the restless spirits of the dead?
24:13Yeah.
24:14They're always after something.
24:17They're pretty more demanding in that life than they were in this.
24:20Yeah.
24:21Well, my mum said they are dead, just give them what they want.
24:26Why not?
24:27Yeah, fair enough.
24:29Everything.
24:30A radio and a horse, two items I didn't see myself buying and made out of paper,
24:35that will soon go up in flames when I do a ceremonial burn before I leave Hanoi.
24:40As you do.
24:44In the centre of Hanoi, in its beating heart, stands something immovable.
24:52The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
24:54A monumental brutalist structure that houses the preserved body of the communist revolutionary.
25:01But for many, it's more than a monument.
25:04It's a pilgrimage.
25:05And for me, it's a starting point.
25:07To understand this country, you must also understand Uncle Ho.
25:12Hello.
25:13Hi.
25:14Two.
25:15High five.
25:16So I'm here at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum here in Hanoi, and I'm here to get in with literally thousands of people.
25:31I really get a sense that coming here means a huge amount to these people.
25:37It gives you an idea of the sense of occasion that this place has, the sense of reverence people have for him.
25:44A sense of someone more than just a person.
25:48He's like, he's the soul of the nation in many ways.
25:54It's important to remember that whilst Ho Chi Minh is a revered figure in communist Vietnam's official narrative, he was also a deeply polarising figure internationally, especially amongst Vietnamese people abroad.
26:07I just want a quick point.
26:10We can't film inside the mausoleum, so I'm going to go in and have a quick look, and I'll report back on the other side.
26:20It's been a long wait, and I'm not sure what to expect.
26:23He's been here since 1975, and I wonder what he'll look like.
26:27Well, I've just come out of the mausoleum.
26:30First impressions I got was the temperature drops.
26:34It's quite dimly lit.
26:36You walk up a series of stairs.
26:38You turn around into the actual centre of the mausoleum where his body's lying, and there's no time to stop and take it in.
26:45You can't take a picture, and there's four soldiers on permanent guard around the body.
26:52But I guess that adds to the air of the mystique.
26:56Apparently, his final wish was that his body be cremated and the ashes scattered around Vietnam.
27:04But in the end, he was persuaded to be embalmed, and his body kept here in a mausoleum.
27:11By exceeding to those wishes, he was putting the needs and the demands of the people and the nation first, even beyond his own wishes for what would happen to him when he died.
27:27It's clear how deep his legacy runs.
27:34The face of the revolution and guiding force through war is ever-present here.
27:41As the capital of the north and the military heart of the communist resistance, Hanoi became a target for heavy US bombing.
27:49American Thunder Chief jets plaster important communist targets in North Vietnam, at and near Hanoi.
27:56The Kep airfield sustains heavy damage in two separate attacks.
28:01And as we remember 50 years since the end of the war, to help me understand how the city became a powerful symbol of national unity and resistance,
28:12I'm meeting a legendary US war veteran, Chuck Searcy, who didn't just leave the destruction behind.
28:18He returned to clean it up.
28:21We're standing on the Long Bien Bridge, which was a kind of a major connection across the river.
28:29Quite a significant strategic target.
28:32A symbol of the tenacity of the Vietnamese that they kept rebuilding it.
28:38I don't think we, Americans, bombing this bridge, kept it out of commission for very long,
28:43and piecing it back together with, as we say back home, chewing gum and bailing wire.
28:50But they made it work.
28:53Chuck served as a US intelligence analyst, returning to Hanoi to offer support to the community.
29:00At least five million tons of bombs dropped on Vietnam by the US,
29:05and that is more than all the bombs in World War II.
29:09These are just amazingly destructive and terrifying for the people here.
29:13Yeah.
29:14A lot of Vietnamese still remember that.
29:16He's dedicated over three decades of his life to healing the scars of conflict in Vietnam,
29:22dealing with the deadly legacy of unexploded mines.
29:26We found that the people of Vietnam were so welcoming in their attitudes toward us.
29:31I was astonished by their forgiveness.
29:34The legacy of that, the sort of amount of ordnance that got dropped,
29:42there was a significant amount of that that failed to go off.
29:47And that really was what sort of prompted your work.
29:52The Pentagon estimated that about 10% of the ordnance that we dropped on Vietnam did not detonate as designed.
30:00So it didn't explode, it didn't, it was lying on the ground for five, ten, twenty, now 50 years.
30:06A lot of that ordnance is still there, and it's still deadly.
30:09It's still a threat to children going to school, the farmers plowing their fields.
30:13Meeting Chuck is a reminder of the devastating impact the war had on Vietnam.
30:20But you can't tell that story without getting the perspective of a local veteran.
30:29My guide, Kim, is taking me to meet a man who served under Uncle Ho,
30:33an ex-counterintelligence officer who has now amassed a huge collection of wartime relics.
30:39OK, this is the back bill.
30:43Dao Ha is a retired lieutenant colonel from the People's Public Security Forces.
30:48He rarely talks about his work, it's all top secret.
30:52But he's surrounded by artefacts that tell stories of those who served.
30:56This is a treasure trove.
30:59It's every kind of things, furniture and statues.
31:04This is an extraordinary collection you have here, Dao.
31:08And can you tell me, what are these things up here?
31:12These were used to carry food by the soldiers.
31:17Come.
31:24I got it.
31:27Classic mess tin, so you could put your food in there, put it on a fire.
31:31Yes.
31:32Surrounded by physical reminders of the war, I want to know how a veteran, half a century on,
31:38makes sense of the conflict that has clearly shaped his life.
31:42What are your thoughts now, 50 years after the end of the war?
31:46We don't dwell in the past too much.
31:53We should unite and we should work together and look forward to a better future together.
31:59Wise words from someone who's now a custodian of the relics of the war.
32:04It's so many.
32:05I'm wounding that.
32:074,000?
32:09Have you got a spare one?
32:11I mean, I'll buy it off him.
32:12He won't sell you one.
32:13Oh, no.
32:14I don't want a free one.
32:16But if he's got 4,000, he's not going to miss it.
32:19His collection doesn't just preserve history, it offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the soldiers who lived it.
32:27This was used to carry a soldier's ashes.
32:31He died in the war and his comrades collected his ashes and put them in his bag and carried it back to his family.
32:42And then his family brought it to him.
32:45Is this like a radio?
32:47Daoha's place is recognised as a bona fide local museum of war artefacts.
32:51A fascinating archive and a great resource for those studying that era.
32:56It's...
32:58And have a look at this.
32:59It says it's safe, right?
33:04It won't, it won't explode.
33:06It won't go off.
33:07My word.
33:08I'm going to put this down very gently.
33:11What sort of bomb is this?
33:15My friend Daoha keeps upsizing.
33:17Every bomb's getting bigger.
33:19This one.
33:21This one.
33:23This is the best form of therapy.
33:25Preserving the past is a way to honour those who served.
33:29And also an opportunity to heal wounds from his time serving.
33:32But for Daoha, his music is the best form of therapy.
33:37So apart from a collector of water bottles and bike parts and disused weapons and all the environmental work you do, you sing songs as well?
33:47For him, he just writes what feels right to him, how he feels about his own mother.
33:55A renowned composer, this song was written on the anniversary of his mum's death when he was visiting her grave.
34:02The meaning of the song was written on the grave.
34:31The meaning of the song is from a childhood memory of his mum in the middle of the green fields.
34:41She's working in the rain to bring the young Daoha food.
34:45And he wishes the rain to stop and that his mum doesn't need to suffer.
34:48When Daoha grew up, he joined the army.
34:58He left home.
34:59And when he came back, she was gone.
35:01He's been named.
35:03He's been named after the travelling.
35:04He was gone.
35:05And he was gone.
35:06He's my mother.
35:07And she went back home.
35:08He won.
35:09He's been написated to a home garden.
35:10Wow.
35:11That was...
35:12Yeah.
35:13That was brilliant.
35:14Oh, wow, that was, yeah, that was brilliant.
35:25My time across this great nation of Vietnam so far has been an absolute delight,
35:30especially when it comes to mixing with locals.
35:33But today, I've met a Hanoi native with a bit of an attitude.
35:44Rude.
35:46So rude.
35:50It's not going well.
35:52Normally, I've got, you know, a little bit of a good...
35:56Oh, hang on, thanks for telling me he's perked up.
35:58Hello. Hello, mate.
36:01Hello.
36:02I'm bringing out all the tricks in the book for Mr. Aloof.
36:07What do you mean?
36:09What, where, what is his name?
36:12Han, he's not answering.
36:15Han.
36:17Oh, for God's sake.
36:20Waste of time that was.
36:24Maybe it's because my, uh, small intestine's not working.
36:28Dogs can sense it.
36:30He thinks, uh, there's something wrong with this bloke.
36:33Getting the hell out of here before his small intestine explodes.
36:37Hanoi residents, it turns out, are lovely.
36:41They just make you work for it.
36:43He likes to scritch behind the ear.
36:45All doggies love that.
36:49Now I've won over my new friend.
36:51I can enjoy the local delicacy I came here for.
36:54This is the famous egg coffee.
36:57It was invented here in Hanoi in 1940 by an enterprising bartender at the Metropole Hotel.
37:09Of course, during the war, milk was scarce.
37:11So what he came up with was an alternative.
37:14Whipped egg yolks mixed with condensed milk, froth done over coffee.
37:24It's like a cross between cappuccino and tiramisu.
37:28And it's actually delicious.
37:30I mean, he wouldn't want to have more than one of them a month.
37:34Since Mr. Lum's health advice, I'm a bit more conscious of my choices.
37:41And it seems my new friend is watching his way too.
37:50Thao Ha inspired me to hear more local music.
37:53He told me about a hypnotic Vietnamese art form renowned in the north.
37:57In Vietnam's cultural heartlands, there's a haunting and rather beautiful form of traditional music,
38:06which dates back a thousand years.
38:09It's called car true.
38:11And it's a form of stylized singing performed by a female vocalist accompanied by traditional lute and percussion.
38:21Efforts across Vietnam are being made to bring it back to life.
38:27The music was often played at special occasions to commemorate things like the birth of a child or signing of a contract.
38:56So there's a real sense of ceremony and occasion about it.
39:00And it's actually quite mesmerizing, you know.
39:05I mean, this is ancient music.
39:08It's like a bit of living history.
39:11Listening to it is like a glimpse into Vietnam's ancient past.
39:18But I noticed that the girls that were singing, they're quite young.
39:31These are like, this is the next generation.
39:34Our third generation is the cultural.
39:36Right, which is great because there was a time when, you know, it looked like it might not carry on.
39:45But it's wonderful seeing young people carrying on the tradition.
39:49Prong and his grandmother, Tum, are going to try and teach me how to play their music.
40:01First, you have to put the dandelion in the right position.
40:06Oh, like this.
40:08Like this.
40:08Like her.
40:09Oh, yes.
40:10Okay.
40:12Ah.
40:13All right.
40:14Very first dandelion lesson from the master.
40:32This instrument is very old.
40:37It's an ancient instrument.
40:38When does it date back to?
40:40Matta-sanjuri.
40:42This is amazing.
40:44Wow.
40:45At the risk of butchering this pure sound, I've brought something from the future.
40:50Can I make one change?
40:51Yeah.
40:52I've got my own plectrum.
40:54Okay.
40:54I'm used to it.
40:55This is very difficult to play this.
40:57But I've got my own.
40:59Okay.
41:00Yeah.
41:01So, here we go.
41:02The sounds made by each instrument are unlike anything I've encountered.
41:18The role of the drum is about praise.
41:21The drummer must hit when the singer sings well.
41:23What happens if you don't play very well?
41:27Like I was playing very well.
41:28You don't play the drums.
41:36You don't get any drums.
41:38If a singer's not good, but the drums is not good, I don't try to do it.
41:41It's not good.
41:42Yeah.
41:43It's not good.
41:43It's not good.
41:43It's not good.
41:44It's not good.
41:44It's not good.
41:45It's not good.
41:46It's not good.
41:46It's not good.
41:47It's not good.
41:48Approval drum.
41:49So, I get nothing.
41:50Yeah.
41:51I'm a long way off creating a sound close to what these masters make.
42:05But it's not a bad first attempt.
42:07It was a great privilege to be taught by someone like your grandmother.
42:12Yeah.
42:13I think I got to do something which very few people get to do, and that is to actually
42:24have a bit of a jam with some car-true artists and learn from the master, learn from someone
42:32who's played it their entire life.
42:35So, it's a real privilege to be part of that.
42:39And the music itself is so ethereal.
42:41And the voice seems to come from somewhere else entirely.
42:45It's kind of otherworldly.
42:48It's kind of ugly.
42:49It's kind of ugly.
42:50It's kinda ugly.
42:51It's a big part of it.
42:52I'm sorry.
42:53It's kind of ugly.
42:54Here on the banks of the Red River, just outside Hanoi, is where the ancestors of the Vietnamese people, the Dong Son culture, first settled.
43:17You could argue this is where Vietnam began, the birthplace of a nation.
43:24There's a thread running through all my experiences here in Hanoi, and that is a real sense of reverence for the feminine, for mothering generally.
43:38I promised myself earlier to burn some effigies to honour my own mother, and now is that time.
43:46I'm here to embrace this ancient tradition of offering up an effigy to those who have left us, those in the afterlife.
43:54Things that perhaps people didn't have in this life, even mansions and Lamborghinis.
44:02Well, I can tell you now, my mum would have no use for a Lamborghini.
44:05She'd be saying, well, where's the boot? Where are you going to put the shopping? Where's the dog going to go?
44:09But what I do know is that she loved to sing along to the radio. It's one of my earliest memories of her.
44:17And so, I've actually found the perfect offering. It's actually a portable radio in paper effigy form.
44:27So, this is for you, mum.
44:39Keep singing your songs.
44:40And for my dear friend, British comedian Sean Locke, who left us too young, I have something for you.
44:57For my old pal, Sean, I've got a horse. Because who wouldn't want a horse?
45:10As the sun dips over the Red River, I'm taking a moment to contemplate those who've left us behind.
45:30And what a moving, mysterious, and utterly unforgettable time it's been in Hanoi.
45:45Next time, on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
45:48I reckon I've got one more speed in me.
45:52Yeah.
45:52Oh, you OK?
45:53I thought I'd worn the right shoes, but clearly not.
45:56I didn't think I'd be scratching a buffalo's a** today, but always up for something new.
46:00Oh, yeah.
46:20OK.
46:23I'm sorry.
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