Bill Baileys Vietnam - Season 1 Episode 02- Ho Chi Minh
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00:00Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
00:10A city that's been on fast forward for the last 50 years since the end of the war.
00:15So what better time to pause and reflect on this fascinating city.
00:24Vietnam. Of course it's a place of tea plantation.
00:29Traffic. Temples. But then it's something else entirely.
00:38Come with me on an unusual.
00:40Oh no, no, no.
00:41Unfiltered.
00:42I'm soaked. Look at me trousers.
00:45Unforgettable adventure.
00:48Give me five.
00:49My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
00:53I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
00:56As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war.
00:59So as soon as it's safe, right?
01:01I'll explore this fertile land.
01:03Ask the big questions.
01:05Am I in the right place?
01:06Embrace new experiences.
01:08Even my own future.
01:09I'm proud of them.
01:11You are a smart contestant.
01:13Is there any, you know, good news?
01:16Navigate tight spaces.
01:18I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
01:20Make some new friends.
01:21Separated at birth.
01:24This is a voyage of discovery.
01:26Of strange encounters.
01:27This is your whole life in a plant.
01:29And kindred spirits.
01:31An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on earth.
01:36Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam Adventure.
01:39This is Ho Chi Minh City.
01:55A huge, dynamic, clamorous assault on the senses.
02:00But what strikes me most is the traffic.
02:03It's relentless.
02:04Simply crossing the road is an adventure in itself.
02:08On the southeastern curve of this S-shaped nation
02:12sits the former capital of South Vietnam on the Saigon River.
02:17Right, that's the geography sorted for you.
02:21Now, back to the street crossing.
02:24I'm told confidence is key.
02:26All right, here we go.
02:30Oh, .
02:31It's bloody green, you .
02:41Is this worth it for a selfie?
02:44Let's get the .
02:45I mean, it's not worth getting mowed down for,
02:50but it's quite a good shot.
02:56I've arranged a personal guide of this thrumming metropolis,
03:01still affectionately known as Saigon.
03:04No safe bus tour for me.
03:06I want to get amongst it, be at one with the people.
03:15Hi, Mr Bell.
03:16There's my guide.
03:17I'm here.
03:18KK.
03:19Across another road.
03:20Yes.
03:21All right, KK, I'm here.
03:23All right.
03:24Watch out.
03:25Just take this nice and easy.
03:28You can do it.
03:31I'm leaving you.
03:32Come on.
03:33Okay.
03:34Yay.
03:35There we go.
03:36High five.
03:37Hi, KK.
03:38How are you doing all right?
03:39You survived.
03:40I survived, yeah, exactly.
03:41I don't know how.
03:42Hello, nice to meet you.
03:43Lovely to meet you.
03:44Yeah.
03:45How do you do that?
03:46Well, I don't know, actually.
03:47It's not something I do normally.
03:49Oh, my God.
03:50Walk out into traffic.
03:51But, hey, you know, I'm here to try new experiences.
03:54And in this context, safety first.
03:57But let's not let safety get in the way of looking stylish.
04:00All right.
04:01I like the fact that I'm colour-coded with the bike.
04:03Yeah.
04:04Oh, my gosh.
04:05Outfit match.
04:06I know.
04:07Like a pose.
04:08Got to get on here like that.
04:09Yes, exactly.
04:10Okay.
04:11I'm just stretching out my hips a little bit.
04:12Yeah, all right.
04:13I've got a little bit of cramp in me.
04:14All right.
04:15My leg won't go.
04:16Yeah.
04:17Yeah, just stretch it up.
04:19Yeah, that's right.
04:20And I can put my feet on this footrest here.
04:22Yes, right.
04:23Perfect.
04:24All right.
04:25Okay.
04:26All right.
04:27All right.
04:28Have some workout today.
04:29It is a workout.
04:30All right.
04:31All right, you ready?
04:32Okay, let's do it.
04:33Okay, here we go.
04:34All right.
04:35Don't be scared.
04:36Yeah.
04:37What could I possibly be scared of?
04:40Actually, this is exhilarating.
04:42Just me, KK, and nothing but Saigon smog between us and the bitumen.
04:47I'm trusting KK with my life.
04:49Watch out for the scooters.
04:51Uh-oh.
04:52There we go.
04:53Look out.
04:54Yeah.
04:55No worries.
04:56Just a little bit of...
04:57It seems like a whole wall of bikes were coming towards us then.
05:01Yeah, that's the beauty of life, my friend.
05:04Yeah.
05:05Uh, the time that you were about near your death.
05:07You never know that.
05:08Oh.
05:09Okay.
05:10I mean, it's a very good point, but not that reassuring.
05:15Uh, KK, I was going to ask you, how many people are in Ho Chi Minh City?
05:19We have approximately about 12 million.
05:2112 million?
05:2212 million people, yes.
05:23Wow.
05:24And of those 12 million, how many scooters are there here?
05:27I mean, there must be a million.
05:29Yeah, we have actually around more than nine million scooters.
05:34Nine million?
05:35Yes.
05:36That's extraordinary.
05:37With the millions of scooters comes smog.
05:41But the good news is, Vietnam is aiming to phase out scooters by 2050 to achieve net-zero emissions.
05:48Until then, riding a scooter is thirsty work.
05:51By the time you've dodged a billion buses and crossed a five-lane highway, sustenance is essential.
05:58So, are we going to have a quick juice or something?
06:00Yes.
06:01Oh, my God, they have some lovely seats for you as well.
06:03Oh, a tiny stool.
06:05Yes, exactly.
06:06So, we will sit right here.
06:07This is how it sits for you.
06:09I hope it's not too tiny for you.
06:11Is this?
06:12Yes.
06:13Is it how it is?
06:14Just like that, please.
06:15All right.
06:16Have a try.
06:17How do you try?
06:18I'll try it.
06:19Yep.
06:20Ah!
06:21You did it!
06:22Great.
06:23And our friends here as well.
06:24Hello, everyone.
06:25Yeah.
06:26Hi, guys.
06:27This city is set on contorting my body into awkward positions.
06:33But this is good practice, actually, for being on the bike, sitting on a tiny stool.
06:40I feel like a giant.
06:42I feel like these stools are for a different size of person.
06:48So, we have some other drinks for you.
06:49What's that?
06:50Oh, so this one is called the peach tea.
06:51Peach tea?
06:52Yeah.
06:53Right.
06:54Please, have a try.
06:55Okay.
06:56Cheers.
06:57All right.
06:58How was it?
06:59Oh, that's good.
07:00That is really good.
07:01And what is this?
07:02Oh.
07:03So, this is what we call a rice cake pudding, you can say.
07:04Okay.
07:05Mushrooms and minced pork as well.
07:06Right.
07:07So, this is like a dumpling or something.
07:08Yes, it's similar.
07:09In Vietnamese name, we call it banh dò.
07:10Banh dò.
07:11Banh dò.
07:12Yes.
07:13So, anything that is made with flour, as long as it has flour, it's called banh.
07:15So, yes, you have it.
07:16Banh dò.
07:17That's exactly.
07:18And Right.
07:19For this baby himself, it's the breakfast.
07:20This is the breakfast.
07:21This is delicious.
07:22From one to ten, how much would you rate this part?
07:23I mean, a solid 8.
07:25Solid?
07:26My god.
07:27Yeah.
07:28Right now, I mean, this is really hitting a spot.
07:29I want to teach you how much?
07:30Thanks for only 1-10, now we'll notice my weight.
07:33yourself is the breakfast this is this is delicious from 1 to 10 how much would
07:38you rate this I mean a solid 8 yeah right now I mean this is really hitting
07:44the spot I want to teach you how to say cheers in
07:48Vietnam all right go then how do you say so how is it we counted from 1 to 3 in
07:53Vietnam we count MOT is number one MOT MOT MOT yes exactly and number two is
08:01hi yeah you say hi to your friend hi hi yeah it's number two hi hi yeah and then
08:07number three which mean bar like you go to the bar oh back back yeah
08:12what thing what hi but yes all right let's just okay here we go hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi
08:33just as the cacophony of traffic threatens to swallow you whole the Saigon River appears wide
08:47and calm gliding through the center of the city like it knows a quieter way to get things done
08:52stretching over 250 kilometers from Cambodia to the sea it's been a vital economic trade route for
08:59centuries and still is if I ask you how do you describe Vietnamese traffic into work organized chaos
09:17Ho Chi Minh City traffic is like a symphony with no conductor and then standing calmly amid the chaos is
09:24is the father of modern Vietnam the man who led the country through war independence and into history
09:31and whose profound impact brought about the renaming of Saigon Mr Ho Chi Minh for Vietnamese people who live
09:38abroad Uncle Ho may be a deeply polarizing figure but for locals he was the leader of North Vietnam
09:44and fought for autonomy from French colonial rule something about his death is that he was fighting for
09:51so long to have so long to have the independence day independence day is 30 April 1975 yes but he never
09:58survived he never lived to see it exactly he unfortunately passed away before that when the war ended in 1975 and the
10:05North claimed victory Saigon once the capital of the South was renamed Ho Chi Minh City the people love him so much they named him the title the bringer of light
10:17there's not really an equivalent figure in British society the only person I can think of who is anything
10:24like as revered in terms of carrying the hopes of a nation is Winston Churchill we could pay tribute
10:31like this okay you pray like thank you for bringing the hope and the lights for people I hope we have the
10:39blessing to bless us with a splendid journey today a handsome man in his early days before the balding although
10:50the bald heads are held in high regard here the ball the thought of as wise which of course I can't argue with
10:57he's actually quite a good-looking fellow yes quite striking yes exactly but because he's been thinking too much so
11:04his hair like kind of similar oh yes same with me thinking so much all my hair when seems like you carry heavy
11:12responsibility like yeah yeah must have done do you know what it's actually a very good statue as well
11:18yes it's actually really well done you know because some statues are sort of I don't know they they don't
11:25maybe the look likeness isn't great or the actual proportions but this is very well done would you like
11:30to well I mean I mean who knows you know wouldn't that be great have a statue of yourself oh my god I don't
11:36think I'll get a city named after myself oh my god no I don't think so maybe a roundabout
11:41that's my first big lesson of being here of learning about what is important to Vietnamese
11:50people and it's so much of it is is tied up with him and such a sort of reverence
11:58it's interesting that KK was saying don't try and imitate his pose and I guess that's what we do as tourists you know
12:06but actually it's disrespectful and I can see that you know he's he is after all the bringer of light
12:21whoa I wasn't ready
12:22yeah they like using the horn don't they
12:42thank you so much KK it's been fantastic thank you for all your information and all your guides and
12:50guidance and it's been brilliant never mind all that get out of the road you idiot
12:56it's amazing I've survived this challenge at all
13:07this is not a series about the vietnam war which has been dealt with exhaustively elsewhere
13:14but it is 50 years since the end of the war and to help me understand what makes vietnam
13:20so extraordinary I can't ignore the very thing that has defined this country for decades
13:26and with that in mind I've come to this place the koo chi tunnels a tourist site now which celebrates
13:32the ingenuity of the vietnamese in a conflict that was broadcast graphically into the world
13:39this country is no stranger to attempts on its freedom after a thousand years of chinese imperial rule
13:46french colonization and of course the vietnam war it's no wonder the people value independence so much
13:52i'm here to find out a little of what it was like to have been a soldier in the viet kong
13:57in this brutal battle between north and south vietnam that was backed by the us
14:01as i prepare to head down into the tunnels an experience which is not as it turns out for the faint-hearted
14:07i'm just looking at these rules you should not go down the tunnel in the following cases visitors
14:15who are afraid of darkness and narrow places visitors of old age 70 come on that's not that old
14:22visitors who are drunk well yeah fair enough
14:25old drunk people with asthma don't bother don't even bother coming down here who comes here drunk
14:37i know well i'm going to answer that question british tourists
14:40i can just imagine it come on lads let's get out of the tunnels there
14:47yeah oh i know i mean they're pretty well turned out matching scarves and capes
14:54i imagine it was pretty grim down these tunnels i like a cape i do like a cape
14:59it's all pretty practical stuff sandals webbing belt water bottle torch i mean
15:14that's what you need for tunnel life quite attractive in a strange kind of way
15:21the coochie tunnels are a complex underground network designed to conceal the vietcong from the enemy
15:31and local expert tin is going to help me navigate these tiny spaces now these tunnels
15:37originally would have been much smaller wouldn't it today for visiting yeah some part of the tunnel has
15:43been widened for two years right yeah it's about 80 centimeter high by 60 centimeter wide god that's tiny
15:50really really yeah because uh mostly vietnamese people so skinny you know much smaller yeah smaller
15:55yes yeah do you think i'm too big for this um but it's big enough for for you all right it's
16:00comfortable for your time all right i'll take your word for it be careful your step yeah
16:11i'm hoping to avoid a subterranean freak out trying to comprehend how soldiers survived this dank
16:18claustrophobic space which was remarkably all dug by hand wow this is the well down here yeah i see the
16:26wells oh right yeah 15 meters 15 meters by human power there's no technology it must have been tough
16:34living down here must have been like dark and yes damp and were there like sort of snakes and rats down
16:42here and all sorts of animals yes yeah during the rainy season there are a lot of animals in the tunnels
16:47insect you know centipede you know yeah yeah and what about um how long did they would they spend down
16:55here uh minimum for a week and maximum for a month without going out and if they were underground they
17:03were at risk from being bombed or shot or seen by the american forces yeah us i mean near the tunnels but
17:12they didn't know exactly where tunnel system yeah from aircraft helicopter the bombing so if usmi dropped
17:18the heavy bomb local people moved down to second and third level because our tunnel system included
17:23three levels we are on the first level first level not so deep yeah it's gone deep usmi there's another
17:29two levels yeah below this yeah six meter and ten meter yeah it's extraordinary this tunnel system
17:38which stretches out for hundreds of miles in lots of directions was crucial in this war of attrition
17:45this guerrilla warfare it was kind of instrumental in their eventual victory
17:53this bat is that's amazing there he comes whoa to the bat cave
18:00oh okay all right somewhere here not being able to find the entrance to the tunnels was a big part of
18:15how effective they were oh my god is that the entrance this is a secret entrance to the tunnels the actual
18:22side of the entrance it's really small yeah 30 by 40 centimeters i think you don't believe how local people
18:29can fit down here let i uh demonstration for you to see how local people get in the tunnels yeah you
18:35have to do like this the camel flesh the entrance put some leaf on the cap yeah and make sure
18:40everything from around you like a natural right yeah hold it up yeah put the cap over your head yeah
18:50straight up like this and lower your body gone gone disappeared amazing it's like a vanishing trick
19:07that's amazing excuse me i'm here oh what hello i'm here
19:12how'd you get there so fast that's incredible
19:20i'm too big to fit down here do you think uh if you want to go may i show you the bigger size
19:24yes thanks i'd like do you have this in a large oh yeah oh there we go that's more like it bigger so
19:32okay sit down yeah sit down put your left first okay there we go all right okay wow okay yeah your
19:50hand below the cap below here yeah below the cap and now yeah straight your arm yeah straight straight
19:56yeah yeah okay lower your body yeah okay all right yes how was it wow okay hand up first yeah put your
20:18hand up first yes gosh i mean even this is a tight squeeze sure i'm gonna i'm only just about
20:26fit in here but this is the wider one yes wow gosh okay i hear you you're saying oh look he's like
20:35a tunnel badger who needs to lay off the bum meat but in all seriousness the human cost of the war here
20:44was overwhelming with around three million vietnamese dying during what the locals called
20:49the american war i mean the americans threw everything at them i mean they carpet bombed the
20:55place from with b52s they dropped napalm they dropped phosphorus they dropped millions of liters of
21:04asian orange this defoliant which just sort of stripped the landscape of any kind of vegetation
21:10and yet they still prevail and but at a terrible cost you know that the lands was was poisoned by this
21:20dioxin there's fragments of bombs everywhere it's still the legacy of this war is still very much around
21:39above ground is very much my preference in general and ho chi min city has much to offer in that regard
21:54on my travels around the world i find it hard to pass any creature feathered or furred without saying
22:01hello hello hello hello don't be like that hey come and say hello yes oh i've always believed if you
22:12really want to understand a place talk to the animals or at least give them a little pet
22:17oh that's nice hello hello but wait there's more
22:34oh my word that is a pampered looking pooch this dog's getting a fantastic trim here
22:40hey dog look at it how can i resist that doggy in the window i'm drawn to this salon like an englishman
22:52to the midday sun hello hello i have many pets i'm practically dr doolittle and this menagerie of fluff
23:04is making me feel right at home oh i love you too it's like the sort of thing that you know sort of very
23:10fancy parisian women might have
23:21wow this is great i do miss my dogs when i'm away oh so any chance i get for a bit of a cuddle i'm not
23:31going to pass up they don't want to they don't want me to put them down i've got this sense that
23:35they want to want to come with me is that right
23:41you know i'm a soft top that's what it is
23:47look into my eyes
23:55what you're trying to tell me something with your mind
23:57what you want to come back to london with me is that what you're saying
24:03you're mesmerizing me with your cuteness
24:11i'm totally i don't know who's hypnotizing who here
24:17bye
24:17it's like look at you pampered idiots
24:27oh you're getting your ears trimmed are you yeah yeah look at you vain
24:33you're not proper dogs look at me i've got one ear going up one ear going down
24:38there we are as the city settles into early evening i've spotted a group of locals playing this
24:52rather hypnotic game with their feet and i'm thinking this could be the perfect opportunity
24:57to make a fool of myself in public it's called dachau and it's the national street sport of vietnam
25:04and you can play it anywhere all you need is a weighted shuttlecock
25:08and hope that your legs will do what your brain tells it to
25:11lum yuwang is my coach the first is the chicken wing you hit outside of your food
25:17that way you throw to my right i show you to there chicken wait oh
25:22oh okay i'll show you where you hit outside of your food like that yeah take it up
25:33no turning no turning wow i feel like i'm a kung fu fighter learning to juggle with my feet
25:41which of course feels completely natural easy huh when you score you have to pack it over the net to
25:47the other side yeah and the feather is done when you hit the rock right right and you need the 15
25:53boy for winning right 15 and you can take the mess i say similar scoring to badminton so 15 is a set
26:03i love that the game dates back to the second century bc in china when it was a way to keep
26:08soldiers healthy and entertained i like it it's good fun it's a bit like a hacky sack only with a shuttlecock
26:14a simpler way of playing badminton without a racket which i like i like the idea of it you know the
26:21idea of simplifying what can be seen as quite an elitist sport into something that you can just do in
26:28the park i can see a future for this polo without the ponies or the sticks or the ball
26:35i should have brought me crocs that would have been better
26:51it's morning in ho chi minh city and like most big cities and me we need a kick start with the
26:57help of a familiar friend cafe vot uses an old-style cloth filtered coffee technique first used in the
27:06early 20th century and here in the city there's only a few practitioners left hello hello hi how you
27:13doing can i get a olive a black coffee black coffee yes please yeah qua is the grandson of two yet who
27:21started making coffee here when she was just six years old my grandmother has opened this like coffee
27:27for 70 years her whole life wow yeah you seem to be doing a good trade do you know yeah people are
27:36just coming past all the time these are like uh usual customers right for me every day making coffee is
27:43like a ritual oh you know i i love good coffee i'm going to give it a go and learn from a master
27:51all right so i get some of this in here all right now so i need to get this spoon out and then i have
27:58to get in here oh how do you yeah oh i see in there right okay in here like that yeah yeah yeah right
28:08okay so that goes back over there yeah right then you you can hold it all right okay so hold it over
28:17here you have to hold it in an angle angle like that there we go look at that there we go that's it
28:28there we go i spilt it a little bit i'm not getting the job as a barista here anytime soon
28:35one coffee anyone want a coffee anyone coffee fresh coffee come on get your coffee
28:44how much is it this is 22 for 22 000 uh oh 25 all right hold on a second so we get three
28:55one two three yeah right there you go okay
28:59i can get used to this why the comedy doesn't work out i'll sell coffee
29:13i had no idea that vietnam is one of the biggest coffee exporters in the world
29:18open 24 7 this place sees a day in the life of sygonese caffeinating the early workers right
29:25through to the party goers at 2am nice to meet you thank you so much i guess in a an age where
29:31you know young people want everything like right then and there you know you want to go to starbucks
29:37or something and get your latte it's really heartening to hear that actually they're rediscovering
29:44this traditional this authentic way of making coffee i thought that was lovely
30:03the bustling streets offer up many unexpected moments of human connection
30:07the street vendors mostly women are mobile merchants of charm and persistence and masters
30:21at selling you things you never knew you needed that's nice okay all right then i'll get these these
30:26ones and a fan can i get a fan i've only got a hundred thousand dong how much do the fan and the
30:33magnets i've got a hundred i've only got a hundred and that would be all right okay i need more dong
30:41can i get a fan all right there you go yeah okay thank you thank you so much good luck oh look at that oh yes
30:57wait wait wait mr darcy all right i have a hard time appearing coquettish these days
31:08as the sun dips the city shifts up a gear food stalls flicker into action markets serve up their
31:15sometimes dubious delights i'm not eating one of them oh my god the streets thrum with life it's not just
31:22noise it's the soundtrack of a city clocking off and coming alive this evening i'm searching for a
31:30spot to quench my thirst on route i've become distracted by the nightly ballet of commuters
31:36i just want to think what what do they all do where are they all going all these little individual
31:43stories of like lives you know there's all manner of things that have been carried you know it's
31:50it's an entire sort of culture of itself everyone's got some purpose they're driving somewhere they've
31:57taken the family they've got the business on the back you know it's an inexpensive way of getting
32:03around quicker to get around through the traffic you know kind of mind-boggling really i'm going to
32:12have another crack at this crossing the road caper
32:16it might leave you asking why did the bill cross the road or more importantly why did he try to cross it
32:26again i'm convinced after a few days here i've nailed it literally everything my parents have told me not
32:35to do blunder out in the traffic i reckon i've earned myself a drink at the local institution
32:47the caravel hotel once a popular wartime correspondence bar
32:54and they do a very good passion fruit sour and now a place to share an intimate moment with novak
33:00that's what i'm just disconcerting isn't it looking right up his trouser leg
33:17on my travels i become fond of a bit of a sketch some people take photos i enjoy drawing the sites
33:25in this case vietnam's national flower you know it's become a symbol of resilience the fact that the
33:34lotus blooms from mud something beautiful can grow in a way it's symbolic of vietnam in many ways this
33:44idea of independence of freedom growing out of something that was a time of great hardship and
33:52you see it around the lotus is a kind of common thread amongst a lot of the visual imagery in the
33:58city there's a big fountain here with the lotus in the middle but you often see it in you know cafes
34:04and the insignia and designs of lots of places i kind of think it's appropriate image of this country
34:10and this city particularly
34:11it's quite difficult to try that because loads of bikes in the way
34:24uncle ho is sort of giving his veneration behind the lotus in front of city hall with the flag gently
34:32fluttering above there's the three words which are sort of almost like bound up with ho
34:38chi minh's kind of philosophy and that that was you know independence freedom happiness and
34:48on these official documents there's a hyphen between each one independence freedom happiness and apparently
34:55some vietnamese mischievously interpret that as a subtraction mark so what that document could be
35:05interpreted as is independence minus freedom minus happiness it's a little bit rascally
35:15but i can see why
35:23i love slowing things down in the middle of a fast-paced city and staying on trend i'm going to post this
35:29picture into the future in old school snail mail style at the saigon central post office a famous
35:36landmark here i shall send this symbol of vietnam to my final destination harlong bay like a time capsule
35:43to test the postal system and to see if it still resonates when it gets there all right that's it he's
35:49there so got the stamp now i just can't post it
35:59that's it it said it's in the post i got my receipt next time i see it will be in harlong bay
36:09i'm getting the feeling that ho chi minh city is a place where the only thing you can expect
36:14is the unexpected and for a lover of the spontaneous that suits me fine this is a place
36:20that looks like a modern thriving city that just wants to get on there's a sense of energy determinism
36:28dynamism about the place look out there's a triceratops coming
36:36sometimes for me staying focused on the job at hand can be hard oh look now you can get little
36:41that you can get little um scooters how much for one of these
36:49oh despite having a schedule to keep to the director is indulging me
36:55yeah we have four minutes to get over there and be able to ferry
36:59it's all right it's sorted all right
37:01it's a lot faster than i thought oh oh sorry oh hang on i'm in the wrong gear
37:29it's all right we have to go
37:39okay let's go
37:43i'm getting the wind up from the crew so i've got to get moving brilliant thank you
37:49yeah we've got to get the boat i was having too much fun on the crazy goat cart
37:55best 50 000 i've ever spent
38:04gliding across the calm of the saigon river offers a moment to reflect on the rhythm of this city
38:11that's constantly reinventing itself i'm heading to meet a local band to experience my first foray
38:17into vietnamese music what will be the sound of this city
38:25i'm heading off for my first experience of contemporary vietnamese music it's exciting
38:31i've got no idea what to expect it wasn't long ago here playing western music would get you arrested
38:37but times have changed and now i'm about to meet a group who are rewriting the rules i've heard about
38:44this local band that blend traditional vietnamese folk music with modern rock so i thought i'd come and
38:55check them out
39:00nan top are an eight member band and one of the trailblazers of the folk rock genre
39:05and i'm fascinated to hear how they fuse authentic vietnamese sounds with contemporary instruments
39:11this band use a mix of traditional ancient instruments with amplified guitars and metal drumming
39:25it seems an incongruous mix but they managed to pull it off wow fantastic amazing wow thank you is this
39:35common in vietnam no nobody play that nobody's a fuck and rock together you're sort of like
39:42you know pioneers really in a way it's just amazing i've never heard anything like it
39:50it's a measure of the progress of the arts here that nam talk are playing this music at all
39:57i really want to ask you a little bit about these traditional instruments this instrument called
40:03dang john dan john dan john yeah and so you you strum here and then what and what are you doing here
40:11you're you're adjusting the pitch oh i see operation so you can have vibrato or you or pitch change right
40:23okay yes wow it's beautiful oh could you explain to me a little bit about this so we call that uh dan
40:45down bow down bow down bow only one string the down bow is an ancient one string zither that has been adapted
40:52and amplified the stem is bent to change the pitch of the string wow
41:01yes yes yes wow amazing it's so difficult to play i mean it takes an enormous amount of skill because
41:15you it's about the you have to feel the where the sound is coming from uh we have a gift for you oh thank
41:24you yeah here we go this is nice vietnamese yeah
41:30this is lovely okay and this is uh the frog okay so yeah it's like a frog like a frog sound right okay
41:41okay so that's him and then this little that's great yes thank you so much we have another song and
41:50you you can try and join i can join in i'll play piano and frog and frog yeah yeah
41:55prepare for a world's first okay vietnamese folk rock bill bailey style
42:04oh
42:13oh
42:19oh
42:27oh
42:29oh
43:00So when are we going on tour?
43:04I'm available, you know.
43:06I can come and jam with you guys any time.
43:09Nam Thong!
43:10Nam Thong!
43:11Nam Thong!
43:14Three, two, one.
43:16Nam Thong and Mill!
43:18Yeah!
43:24I actually love this city.
43:26It's a dynamic, bustling metropolis.
43:29It's full of resourcefulness, full of young people, full of bikes.
43:36Millions and millions of them.
43:38And as a city dweller, I kind of, I love the energy of it.
43:42And it's a place of contrast as well, because let's not forget, you know, 50 years ago, the fall of Saigon is still present in people's memories.
43:53And as I travel throughout this country, I want to find out more about that balance.
43:58A place which acknowledges the past, but is embracing the future.
44:04Next time, on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
44:10The lofted, verdant hills of Dalat.
44:13Nothing says I love you like 64 knackered flamingos.
44:16My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
44:20I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
44:22songs of Tolerop
44:22I love you like 63 knackered
44:23I love you like tanks,没
44:38I love you like anymore.
44:41I love you like
44:43I love you like
44:47Oh my god
44:47It's my такие
44:49I love you
44:50You
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