Bill Baileys Vietnam - Season 1 Episode 03- Da Lat
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00:00I've left behind the noise and the traffic and the hustle and bustle of Saigon for the elegant colonial retreat, the lofted verdant hills of Dalat, where I hope to breathe some clean mountain air and to achieve a zen state of calm.
00:17But before I do that, send it!
00:20Woohoo!
00:24Hold that thought.
00:25Vietnam. Of course, it's a place of tea plantations, traffic, temples, but then it's something else entirely.
00:42Come with me on an unusual, unfiltered, unforgettable adventure.
00:51Give me five.
00:54My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
00:58I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
01:01As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war.
01:04So is it safe, right?
01:06I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions.
01:10Am I in the right place?
01:11Embrace new experiences, even my own future.
01:15From the problem, you are smart and tested.
01:18Is there any, you know, good news?
01:21Navigate tight spaces.
01:23I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
01:25Make some new friends.
01:28Separated at birth.
01:29This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters.
01:32This is your whole life in a plant.
01:34And kindred spirits.
01:36An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on Earth.
01:41Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam Adventure.
01:44Before we get back to my scenic flight, I want to show you where I am.
02:01This is the central highlands of Vietnam, where thanks to the altitude and the lush green hills,
02:08things grow well up here.
02:09And I've heard so do tourist attractions.
02:12I'm just outside the picturesque town of Dalat.
02:15About six hours' drive north from the big smoke of Ho Chi Minh City.
02:20And boy, do I feel a world away from all the scooters.
02:23By the time you reach Dalat, you've already realised, in Vietnam, things are done a little differently.
02:30And up here in the hills, I reckon they might be different again.
02:32In the most unexpected of ways.
02:36Starting with this place.
02:40This is the Datanla Waterfall Park.
02:43Some kind of adrenaline adventure sports town, where you can be at one with nature and simultaneously satisfy the daredevil in you.
02:51It's a big drawcard for locals and international tourists alike.
02:54I'm suiting up for a zip line, way above the tree line.
02:58And while I look remarkably like some kind of gormless window cleaner, I can assure you, there are no office buildings in sight.
03:08I'm feeling a little nervous.
03:11A little anxious.
03:13But here goes nothing.
03:18Send it!
03:19Woo-hoo!
03:20Ha-ha!
03:24And just like that, I'm flying 1,500 metres on a zip line in Vietnam.
03:30I love the feeling of wind through my throat.
03:33It's not necessarily what I came for, but no complaints.
03:39Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bba-ba-ba
03:47Come on, over the team!
03:50Woah-ho-ho!
03:51Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
03:53Bienvenidos a la Alpine Coaster.
04:22Before you ride, you must listen to and understand the important instructions.
04:27What? What? What important instructions?
04:33Avoiding collisions using a manual brake.
04:37OK.
04:40Keep yourself back and keep your arms and legs inside the coaster car while riding.
04:46Yes.
04:47Ascending into the trees, I feel a sense of trepidation
04:50but I haven't quite understood the instructions.
04:57Whoa!
04:59Whoa!
05:01Whoa!
05:08That's like a...
05:10That's been clappers!
05:12I think I just hit maximum speed on this thing. It's a wonder my teeth didn't fly out.
05:19As you wind your way around the park, you hear the sound of the mighty de Tanler Falls. This is nature at its best.
05:26But there are some other features of the park not to be missed.
05:31You see, nothing says natural beauty like a giant gold frog playing the saxophone.
05:38Or this.
05:39Oh, I mean, he's got some tackle on him. I'm not sure that was ever a thing in Jurassic Park, was it?
05:46Oh, look at the size of his ****.
05:52It's a lovely spot. I mean, it's genuinely beautiful here. You know, there's a beautiful waterfall. We're in a lovely lush valley.
06:01But it's almost like, that's not quite enough. We need a few other things to bring in the tourists. You know, we need a cutesy little bridge.
06:11We need some pitch statues. We need a couple of T-Rex and some dinosaur eggs. Somewhere for people to take selfies.
06:19Because that's, after all, what this is about. But then again, that's, that's what tourism is about. People want to, they see things on Instagram and TikTok and they want to take the picture themselves.
06:32I can't believe I'm doing this.
06:35Yeah, well, come on. I couldn't help myself.
06:38It's the roar of de Tanler Falls that really grabs people here. It's nature's own roller coaster thundering through the trees.
06:44But there could be another reason that punters flock to this path.
06:49I can't quite believe what this is. This is cheese flavoured ice cream.
06:54Look, it's in the shape of a piece of cheese.
07:00A popular dessert in Asia, its unexpected sweet yet savoury flavour, like so much of Vietnam, leaves you wanting more.
07:11Yeah.
07:12Yeah.
07:15Tastes like cheese.
07:18In ice cream form.
07:20I think I've found my favourite thing in the world ever.
07:25That's unbelievable.
07:27Oh my word.
07:28But the cheesy ice cream is just one of the many delights luring people to this Alpine oasis.
07:38The town of Dalat was dreamt up by a homesick Frenchman named Yersin who fell in love with the Alpine region, founding it in 1893.
07:46You know the guy Yersin. You know the famous Swiss born French bacteriologist who discovered the bubonic plague Bacillus. Come on. It's named after him. Yersinia pestis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know him. Yeah.
07:59Anyway, Dalat became renowned for growth and abundance. The pine forests, tea, asparagus and would you believe growing artichokes. This is a vegetable I knew nothing about before today. So a trip to an artichoke farm in the central highlands of Dalat was high on my list.
08:17Hello.
08:18If we flash forward to the end of my time with Dalat artichokes, you might be surprised to see how much my love for them grew.
08:31You have captured my heart with all your different qualities. I have looked upon you and I have maybe underestimated you. I have looked at the other vegetables and plants and thought, well, they are more attractive than now.
08:47Look at you and I think, my God, you are truly the queen of the vegetable patch.
08:55Let me show you how this love affair began. This successful farm is called Artichoke Valley in the Lam Dong highlands of Dalat, a popular region for these magnificent plants.
09:07I didn't expect to see it here in Vietnam. This is a vegetable that's, you know, we see it in Europe a lot.
09:14We take it from France. The French, yeah.
09:17Yeah.
09:18This farm is run by Twan, who left the real estate game to join his parents who have been harvesting artichokes for decades.
09:25I have never been to an artichoke farm and I really want to understand more about them.
09:29Down there?
09:30Yeah.
09:31OK.
09:32OK.
09:33It's quite tough, isn't it?
09:34What a beauty.
09:43The Vietnam government once collectivised farming, stripping away incentive and nearly crippling its food supply.
09:49But today, with a freer market and growing opportunity, farmers like Twan and his mother, Cern, are thriving on their own.
09:57And it turns out they're lucrative and rather magical in more ways than one.
10:02A lot of things, you see, are good for liver, for kidney, sleeping well, it's good for skin, you know, or the not good in your things.
10:12So it's kind of like a cleansing.
10:14Yes, yes.
10:15Like medicine.
10:16Like medicine, yeah.
10:17It's a powerhouse in holistic eastern medicine.
10:20And for sceptics out there, research from western medicine proves its efficacy.
10:25I'm waking up to the potential this precious plant has, and the best is yet to come.
10:30So you can use every part of that?
10:32Yes, yes.
10:33Some men use the root, the old one, put in alcohol for drinking.
10:37It's good for me and stronger.
10:38Really?
10:39Yeah.
10:40So you can make this into...
10:42The root, but the old...
10:43Alcoholic drink?
10:44Yeah, yeah.
10:45We dry on the sun and then put in strong alcohol.
10:48And it'd be for six months or a few years, it's really good.
10:51Really good.
10:52Artichoke whiskey.
10:53For men.
10:54I had no idea this had so many different uses.
10:57Yes.
10:58It's amazing.
10:59The choke is chopped up, boiled, and used in everything from tea to simple soup, to medicinal whiskey.
11:06Now I'm listening.
11:08So this is artichoke hooch.
11:10I never thought I'd be drinking artichoke whiskey.
11:13Yeah.
11:14My whole perception of this vegetable has changed.
11:17I'm going to rename it.
11:18I'm going to call it the party choke.
11:19Yes.
11:20Cheers.
11:21Cheers.
11:22Mmm.
11:23It's good.
11:24You're hungry.
11:25Oh, so yeah.
11:26Oh, yes.
11:27That's enough.
11:28That's enough.
11:29That's enough.
11:30That's enough.
11:31That's enough.
11:32That's enough.
11:33That's enough.
11:34This stuff is potent.
11:35Just the one for me, for now.
11:37I genuinely had no idea the humble artichoke was so versatile.
11:42I've underestimated it pretty much my whole life.
11:45It has so many uses.
11:47I mean, you can get up in the morning, have a cup of artichoke tea.
11:51Lunchtime, have some artichoke stew.
11:54And then take various parts of the leaf for health properties, liver cleansing, helps you sleep at night.
12:03It's good for fertility.
12:05And then in the evening, you have a few glasses of happy water.
12:09This is your whole life in a plant.
12:11It's amazing.
12:13I'm sorry I've misjudged you.
12:17It's all right.
12:23Sorry, I've had a few.
12:24It's quite strong, that happy water, isn't it?
12:27Dallat is a town where contradictions collide.
12:37Especially at this place, the Valley of Love.
12:40Where legend has it, couples who visit are known to break up after they come here.
12:44Risky business, if you ask me.
12:46The Valley of Love is a grand tourist destination with a reputation to match.
12:51I'm curious to see what all the hype is about.
12:54Just a few kilometres north of Dallat town, this love-themed wonderland has me feeling a little uneasy.
13:02So this is it.
13:04I get a whole buggy to myself.
13:06Really?
13:07Things are looking up.
13:09All right.
13:10Flooring.
13:24I'm flying solo in the Valley of Love.
13:27But I get my own private tour of the park.
13:30Amongst the splendour, I spot some familiar faces.
13:39What the **** is that?
13:41Hang on a minute.
13:43Wait a minute.
13:45Wait a minute.
13:52Mighty.
13:56I mean, that is truly terrifying.
14:00What am I?
14:18What is happening?
14:20I've had two sips of Artichoke whisky and I'm dancing with Trump.
14:25This day has not turned out, as I imagined, at all.
14:31Why there is a wannabe Madame Tussauds in a love park, I don't know.
14:36But here I am.
14:37It doesn't really look like Dwayne Johnson.
14:39This is really, it's really eerie because there's no one here.
14:47It's just me and these sort of slightly strange-looking waxworks.
14:59Oh, no, no, no.
15:00Frozen in time and a strange sort of paradox.
15:04This is quickly becoming the most bizarre exhibit in a park full of oddities.
15:09And I thought I'd seen it all.
15:15Oh, ****.
15:17Oh, sweet mother of ****.
15:20What the **** is that?
15:22Having said that, I may end up here one day.
15:35In fact, let's just recreate what that might look like.
15:39See you in your nightmares.
15:58My friends at the wax attraction seem like the only ones here.
16:01The Valley of Love is apparently one of the most popular attractions in Dalat.
16:05But no matter where I look, there's no love to be found.
16:10What is the flamingo obsession? I just don't get it.
16:17Some bloke locally makes flamingos and he's just cleaning up.
16:23He's got a bunch of flamingo moulds and he's just trying to flog them to anywhere,
16:26everywhere he'll take them.
16:28And the tunnel of, you know, the Valley of Love people have said,
16:31yeah, well, how many have you got?
16:33And he goes, how many do you want?
16:35Four dozen?
16:37More than that, even.
16:39But they all look a bit grubby.
16:41Like every one of them could do with a jet wash.
16:46I think the Trump waxwork was in better shape, man.
16:49That's saying something.
16:51Nothing says I love you like 64 knackered flamingos.
16:54As I leave this touristy park, I'm reminded that for about ten years after the end of the war,
17:09Vietnam was closed off to the world.
17:11Since then, tourism has really picked up in huge numbers.
17:15And for Dalat, they flock here for the romantic landscapes.
17:18One of the most beautiful locations that I'm keen to see is less about kitschy romance and more to do with contentment and inner peace.
17:28Nestled into the hills of Dalat and overlooking the serene Tuen Lum Lake is the Truk Lam Monastery, a more authentic kind of tourist attraction.
17:36Hello.
17:37Hello.
17:38Hello.
17:39Hi, lovely to meet you.
17:40Hi.
17:41Nice to meet you.
17:42My name is Bill.
17:43My name is Bong Huynh.
17:44Bong Huynh.
17:45My name is Bon Dat.
17:46Nice to meet you.
17:47Good to meet you.
17:48The grounds of the monastery are stunning, with around 60 monks ranging in age from 20 to 93 years old, tending to the gardens.
17:56My guides, Su Bon Dat and Su Bon Huynh, have dedicated their lives to Buddhism and life here.
18:03So how long have you been here at this monastery?
18:0611 years.
18:0811 years?
18:09Yeah.
18:10This is my third year here.
18:11Third year, right.
18:12Su Bon Huynh tells me that Buddhism came from India and was established here during the second century.
18:18It surprises me that Vietnam is an atheist country, with Buddhism the second most popular religion.
18:33What is so spiritual about Buddhism, it's the fact that you can gain so much from it.
18:43You can get a sense of enlightenment.
18:46Yes.
18:47A bit of peace.
18:49And a sense of, I don't know, just what we would call happiness, I suppose.
18:55Yeah, correct. Happiness.
18:56Happiness.
18:57Happiness.
18:58No more pain, no more sad.
19:00Yeah.
19:01And no more stress.
19:03No more stress.
19:04Sounds great.
19:09Where do I sign up?
19:11The Buddhist monk's commitment is so fascinating.
19:14I'm imagining how I would fare trying to live this life.
19:18I mean, do you leave the monastery and do you have families?
19:23I mean, how does that work?
19:25The monastery is their home.
19:27Yeah.
19:28So they don't have the contract with their family members anymore.
19:33So they have their time to focus on the practice.
19:38So once you join the monastery, this is your family?
19:42Yes.
19:43We are like brother and sister.
19:44Yeah.
19:45For me, that would be difficult.
19:49You know, a sacrifice in a way.
19:53I would have to give up something.
19:55Correct.
19:56Yeah.
19:57It's really tough for the people who decide to take this role seriously.
20:00Yeah.
20:01When they become a monk.
20:02Yeah.
20:03Is there a way that I can achieve all that enlightenment and have all the other things?
20:10I'm slowly realizing that you can't have your cake and eat it too.
20:14I'm willing to give it a try.
20:16True happiness is from...
20:17From inside.
20:18Within.
20:19And come and stay with us.
20:20Yeah.
20:21I'd love to.
20:22How long?
20:23Maybe some day or one week.
20:26Yes.
20:27Or end up staying there for 11 years.
20:31Who knows?
20:33I'd love to find my family.
20:35Yeah, I'm not coming back.
20:36I've achieved a state of inner peace.
20:40I need to give meditation a try before I commit to 11 years.
20:46Not sure how I'm going to go with this.
20:48The monks are going to teach me how to relax my mind.
20:51No small undertaking.
21:00Let the thoughts go away.
21:01Yes.
21:02But how do you do that?
21:04It's difficult.
21:05That's what we practice, yes.
21:07It's hard.
21:08I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
21:11So that's why when you have many years of practice you have the power to control your thoughts.
21:17Okay.
21:38How about you?
21:39I'm in addition.
21:40It's very peaceful.
21:41I mean, it's just an unusual for me to be this...
21:44It's very peaceful.
21:48Right.
21:49I mean, it's just an unusual for me to be this quiet and still for that amount of time.
22:03Right.
22:04And I can see, actually, it's something that if I would practice more, I'd get a lot out of, because I can start to sort of sense things slowing down.
22:16Mm-hmm.
22:17So that's one version of how the meditation was for me.
22:19I wanted to protect the monks from the mayhem inside my mind.
22:23I found meditating quite hard, because my mind is always active.
22:28It's always churning, thinking about things.
22:30He said, if you close your eyes, you might fall asleep.
22:32So I thought, I won't do that then, because I probably will fall asleep.
22:36So he's say, keep your eyes slightly open.
22:51So I kept my eyes slightly open.
22:53I was focusing on the carpet, and then I couldn't help thinking, that's quite a busy design for a meditation carpet.
23:04I mean, there's a lot going on, and then I'm thinking, I used to live in a flat that had that same carpet, and then I'm thinking, oh, I remember that time, and I remember the people I stayed in the flat with, and suddenly my mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents, so I thought, I better close my eyes, and then I'm closing my eyes and thinking, oh, I've got a little bit of a wobbly tooth, I've got to get that scene to, oh, I'm on my toe, and it's like, it's so hard, it's so hard, I'm just thinking about stuff all the time.
23:32It would take me a long time to get to where these guys are.
23:37The dedication required to achieve enlightenment is impressive, but it's also stressing me out.
23:45I don't know whether I could make that sacrifice.
23:48My life, career, family, and I get an enormous amount of happiness from that, but I wouldn't mind a bit of that spiritual enlightenment, you know, just a bit of meditation.
24:02I think maybe I could learn from that.
24:03If I could do maybe an hour a week, or maybe like the second Thursday in every month, and get a glimpse of spiritual enlightenment, I think that would do me.
24:15For me, it's about finding moments of peace in everyday life.
24:21In the back streets of Dalat, I may just have found such a moment on the side of the road.
24:27I've never had the desire for a head wash until now, or a fried banana, for that matter.
24:32What is it, though?
24:35Banana, you know?
24:35Banana?
24:36Yeah, banana.
24:37Oh, is this like fried banana?
24:39Yeah, good, yummy.
24:44Oh, I know this.
24:45It doesn't say hair washing, just head.
24:48Yeah, I have it.
24:49Yeah, well, yeah, go on then.
24:51Yeah, yeah.
24:52No, that's right.
24:53No hair.
24:54No hair, that's right, just a head.
24:57You're all right, you don't need to rub it in.
25:01What's happening?
25:02Mmm, it smells very fragrant.
25:04Is this bliss?
25:12Well, it's a curious sensation, but not unpleasant.
25:15It's been a hell of a day, I've got to say.
25:17It's been an amazing day.
25:20I've done, you know, I've had a bit of enlightenment, meditation, cheesy ice cream, and now a deep-fried
25:30banana and a head wash.
25:31I mean, that is, it's like the best day ever.
25:39Oh.
25:45I don't think I've had my ears cleaned out like that since I was about five.
25:54That was fantastic.
25:56I'm in a bit of a daze, I've got to say.
25:58If the Buddhist monks don't do it for you, then the head wash and the neck massage will.
26:04I feel truly in a state of zen calm.
26:21Life up in the fresh mountain air is treating me well.
26:24Dalat has captivated me with this curious mix of east and west.
26:30You can see the French influence in the architecture around town.
26:33Many of the houses look like they're straight out of the French Alps.
26:37But there's one house that's a bit bigger, a bit fancier.
26:40Well, it's more of a palace.
26:42This is Bao Dai's palace, the last emperor of Vietnam.
26:46He was a leaf in the wind of the shifting powers of this nation.
26:50He's long gone now.
26:52But I'm intrigued to see how a monarch lived in Vietnam.
26:56If only I can sort out my footwear.
26:58So you have to wear protective booties over your shoes.
27:03But it seems to have defeated me.
27:08I don't quite know.
27:09Am I supposed to take my shoe off?
27:14Oh, maybe that's it.
27:16That's it.
27:16You're supposed to take your shoe off.
27:18It's like I'm entering some sort of crime scene,
27:20which you could say it was an imperial crime.
27:24So, yes, in some ways, ideologically, it is.
27:29My feet are just so inordinately big or something.
27:32What are we doing with shoes?
27:33Excuse me.
27:35I haven't even got in yet and I'm already confused.
27:38No glass slippers required here.
27:40Just the kind that won't scuff the royal floorboards.
27:44So far, my first impressions are...
27:47It's not quite Buckingham Palace.
27:50More art deco on a budget.
27:52Tucked into the corner of the drawing room
27:55is Baudet's grand piano
27:57that's no longer looking so grand.
28:02Come on.
28:03It'd be rude not to.
28:04Yeah, this could do with a lot of tea, I'll see.
28:06I mean, it is a bit knackered.
28:08Look at it.
28:09Oh, dear.
28:10The palace was built in the 1930s
28:13just after Baudet ascended the throne
28:15under French colonial rule
28:17and it served as a summer retreat for the emperor
28:20who took to hunting in the woods around Dalat.
28:23He also took to philandering, gambling and general debauchery.
28:27I mean, I'm no brilliant artist myself
28:30but I wouldn't be happy with that.
28:36This is the queen's bedroom.
28:39It was a kind of political marriage
28:40between her and Baudet.
28:43He was a bit of a playboy.
28:45She said, look, you have to stop all that.
28:47I'll only marry you if you make me a queen.
28:51And so he agreed.
28:52It's like rashly.
28:53Sort of thing a bloke would do.
28:55Yeah, yeah, I'll do that.
28:56He couldn't help himself.
28:57He was, you know, born into this privilege.
29:02But this privilege wasn't to last.
29:05His life became a story of riches to rags
29:07which is never the right way round.
29:09When the French rule ended abruptly in 1954
29:12he went into exile in France
29:14and never returned to Vietnam.
29:17He died in a modest apartment in Paris in 1997.
29:25Now, it wouldn't be a Vietnamese tourist attraction
29:27without a photo opportunity.
29:29And at the palace,
29:31visitors are offered the chance
29:32to dress up in full emperor garb.
29:35How do you get fitted up to one of these?
29:37I'll take these off.
29:39Got some proper shoes on.
29:40Take these things off.
29:41As they say,
29:42if you can't beat them, join them.
29:44I think it's important to get a sense
29:45of what it feels like
29:46to walk in someone else's shoes.
29:49Yeah, this is it.
29:50This is the stuff.
29:51Well, perhaps not literally.
29:52I've got my shoes on the wrong way round.
29:54Hold on a minute.
29:55I can't do that.
29:57It's ridiculous.
29:58This particular subtle gold number
30:00is the emperor's ceremonial dress.
30:03Perfect for this occasion.
30:05I might just start wearing this around the house.
30:15Bring me a toasted cheese sandwich.
30:22While the French may have finally bid adieu to Vietnam,
30:30the spirit they planted in Dalat
30:32has grown into something wonderfully Vietnamese.
30:35Shortly, I'll be heading out of town by train
30:37to a local tea plantation.
30:39And for the trip,
30:40I'll need some sustenance.
30:42It's a great little market.
30:44It's got everything.
30:45It's a perfect place
30:46to load up on sort of travel snacks.
30:49Oh, it's strawberry.
30:54Oh, it's dried.
30:56Very happy with these.
31:01Look at that.
31:03Delicious.
31:08Oh.
31:10Yeah.
31:10Yes.
31:11Really good.
31:14Might be my new favourite thing.
31:16Oh, artichoke tea.
31:17Smell it.
31:21Sorry, it's just...
31:22The cab's a bit hot.
31:23Nom, nom, nom.
31:24Very hot.
31:25No, no, no.
31:25It burnt me fingers.
31:29Artichoke tea, of course.
31:30Another use for this wondrous plant.
31:32But I want to get a taste for real tea,
31:34which has been quietly brewing
31:36for centuries in the highlands.
31:38My mode of transport,
31:40the Dalat Plateau Rail.
31:42I'm departing from the Dalat train station,
31:45a revered historical landmark.
31:48Built in the 1930s,
31:49it proudly holds the title
31:51of Vietnam's oldest railway station.
31:54You've got the three pointed
31:56sort of pediments in the middle,
31:58which, some say,
32:02echo the three peaks
32:04of the Lam Biang mountain range.
32:06Me and my strawberries
32:09are bound for the hills of Tri-Mat.
32:11It's a 30-minute heritage train journey
32:13with the prospect of a proper brew
32:16at the end of it.
32:17But first,
32:18I need to find my seat.
32:20It's a big thing in Britain.
32:22If you get the wrong seat,
32:24the wrong coach,
32:25it's just the worst kind of bad behaviour.
32:30It's just so disrespectful.
32:33So I'm slightly anxious
32:35because it says,
32:38Coach 5, seat 19,
32:40but I don't know which one that is.
32:41It goes to the core
32:42of my British embarrassment
32:44to feel that I'm sitting
32:45in the wrong seat.
32:47I'd be mortified.
32:49Is this the right...
32:50Am I in the right place?
32:51It says,
32:52Coach 5, seat 19.
32:55I mean, this isn't 19.
32:56Is this Coach 5?
32:58It seems the train
32:59comes with a resident saxophonist.
33:04I've got a feeling
33:05this might be the least of my worries.
33:09I mean, it's not quite
33:10the Orient Express,
33:11but it does have
33:12its own peculiar charm.
33:14During the war in 1973,
33:16the railway line
33:17was heavily damaged,
33:18but after the country's
33:19reunification in 1975,
33:21it was restored
33:22and now serves
33:24as a reminder
33:25of Vietnam's colonial past.
33:29I love a train ride,
33:31especially when sharing
33:32local produce
33:33with new friends.
33:34and now, take two.
33:34Take two, yeah.
33:35Take two, yeah.
33:35Take two, yeah.
33:42Knock yourselves out.
33:47Nice, eh?
33:47Yeah, you're welcome.
33:53Produce, which turned out
33:55to be very popular.
33:55Well, I mean, I'm enjoying
34:04the train journey
34:05very much.
34:06I just hadn't counted on
34:07the Vietnamese Kenny G.
34:09but, er, I just, you know,
34:14just roll with it, I suppose.
34:17All my strawberries
34:17went down well.
34:19They didn't last long.
34:20I nearly bought the big tub.
34:22I should have bought
34:23a big tub.
34:25I'm making friends here already.
34:26Okay, ready?
34:29One, two, three, three!
34:32Woo!
34:42The cool air,
34:43the rolling hills,
34:44and the lush landscape
34:45of Dalat
34:46all conspire
34:48to create
34:49the perfect ingredients
34:50for a decent cup of tea.
34:51Drinking tea
34:56is such a big part
34:57of British life.
34:58It's like we've claimed it
34:59as a hard national brew.
35:02But, of course,
35:03tea's been around
35:03for thousands of years.
35:04In fact, it started
35:05in the third century B.C.
35:07in China
35:08and has gradually spread
35:09throughout Asia.
35:12And here in the
35:13cool hills
35:14of Dalat
35:16is very conducive
35:17the tea cultivation.
35:19And, in fact,
35:20it's now become
35:21one of Vietnam's
35:23major exports.
35:26At 1,650 metres
35:27above sea level
35:28and with an average
35:29temperature
35:30of around 20 degrees Celsius,
35:32these hills
35:33are fertile.
35:34The farmer
35:34tax family
35:35has passed down
35:36the art of cultivation
35:37over generations.
35:39And just break it off?
35:40Yeah, you can break it.
35:41Yeah.
35:41Yeah, like this.
35:42Like that.
35:42Just the green ones?
35:43Yeah.
35:44Okay.
35:44The dark ones
35:45we don't use, okay?
35:46Okay.
35:47So they leave that.
35:48So all of these...
35:49Yeah, waiting for you.
35:50Okay.
35:50Help us.
35:52Yeah, I will.
35:54Just a couple more
35:55leaves to pick.
35:56Won't take me long.
35:58Tax gonna make me
35:58work for it.
36:00There's a few days
36:01worth of harbours
36:01in here.
36:02One kilogram
36:03the people earn
36:055,000 dong only.
36:07That means
36:07one US dollar
36:09they have to pick
36:10five kilogram.
36:12Okay?
36:12If you want to have
36:13the noodle for today
36:14you have to pick
36:15like 10 kilogram.
36:17That's a lot.
36:18Yeah, work.
36:19Yeah, you've got to work fast.
36:21Yeah.
36:22If you want to have
36:22the beef noodle.
36:24If you want noodles, yeah.
36:25Yeah, sir.
36:25Well, I like noodles.
36:27So you have to pick
36:2810 kilogram.
36:29Picking.
36:30There's no...
36:30You know, it's...
36:31Yeah.
36:31There's no time to hang about.
36:32No time-saving machinery here.
36:35The preference
36:36is to pick by hand
36:37to maintain
36:38a high quality of leaves
36:40ensuring that
36:41no brown bits
36:41get through.
36:42My mum had this
36:43great expression.
36:43She said,
36:44I wouldn't do that
36:45for all the tea in China.
36:47Which is,
36:48when you think about it
36:48it's a lot.
36:50I don't know
36:50what she'd do
36:51with all the tea in China.
36:52Do you know this?
36:53I mean,
36:53she wouldn't have
36:54the distribution network.
36:55So...
36:55And you look around here
36:58and you sort of think,
36:58yeah,
36:59I can see where...
36:59I can see where
37:01that comes from.
37:02You can't hang about.
37:04You've got to get amongst it.
37:07Yeah.
37:09Another 100 grams.
37:11There you go.
37:11Good.
37:12Our culture,
37:13we have the tea culture as well.
37:15Yes.
37:16Well, that's the same.
37:17Obviously,
37:17it's the same in Britain.
37:19Really?
37:19Every time anyone
37:20comes in the house
37:21somebody says,
37:22cup of tea.
37:23Ah, really?
37:24Yeah.
37:24I just think
37:24that's a cup of whiskey.
37:26No.
37:27Whiskey's later.
37:28All right.
37:29Yeah.
37:29You wouldn't start
37:30the day with what?
37:31You might start
37:31the day with whiskey,
37:32but there wouldn't be
37:33much left of the day.
37:35Life on the land,
37:36quite physical work,
37:37so I'm grateful
37:38for a lift
37:39back to the factory.
37:40See you.
37:46This is a great old wagon.
37:48I noticed it was Russian.
37:50Yeah.
37:51I see that old Russian car
37:52to support the number before.
37:54Right.
37:54Yes.
37:56A big...
37:57It's older than me.
37:58Yeah.
37:58It's vintage.
37:59About my age.
38:01Yeah.
38:01Really?
38:02Oh, you look young.
38:03Oh, thanks.
38:04High five.
38:06Give me five.
38:11I've never been more ready
38:12for a cup of tea.
38:13What a beautiful colour as well.
38:15Look at that.
38:15Yes.
38:16Thank you very much.
38:17In Vietnamese, we say
38:19come on.
38:20Come on.
38:21Yeah, like come on.
38:22Yes.
38:22Come on.
38:23I know.
38:24In Vietnam, we just say
38:25enjoy the tea.
38:26Enjoy the tea.
38:27Yeah, but we don't cheer.
38:28No, you don't do that?
38:28We don't cheer with the tea.
38:30There you go.
38:31Cheers.
38:32Cheers.
38:33Oh, that's delicious.
38:38As a Brit, I thought I knew tea, but here in Vietnam, it's a ritual, not just a cuppa.
38:45Will I go back to Builders Brew at home?
38:47Probably, but I'll drink with a little more reverence for the leaves and how they ended up in my cup.
38:55Away from the day-to-day routine of tea cultivation, a much older rhythm runs through these hills.
39:01The ancient music of the Cahoe people, whose roots here go back far beyond the plantations.
39:08One of my favourite things to do when travelling is listening to the sounds of local musicians,
39:13connecting to the traditional culture through music.
39:16The Cahoe ethnic minority is one of the oldest indigenous groups in Vietnam's central highlands,
39:23believed to have existed for around two and a half thousand years.
39:27I'm visiting their music room to understand more about how they lived,
39:31and their instruments might hold the key.
39:35Oh, what an amazing sound you guys make.
39:40Hello, I'm Bill.
39:42Hey.
39:42Nice to meet you.
39:44Nice to meet you too.
39:45So this follows like a pattern of, you know, a scale.
39:55Such a beautiful sound.
39:56I can't help myself.
39:58Got to get on the tools.
39:59So you just sort of, like each stone has a different...
40:04It's a lovely sound, isn't it? It's beautiful.
40:16Renowned for musical traditions, particularly gong festivals,
40:20in 2008, the Cahoe gong culture was recognised by UNESCO as an oral masterpiece of humanity.
40:26Where do these stones come from?
40:28I mentioned mostly they come from the river.
40:30The first purpose of them is to scare and scare the animals.
40:34The animals come in, they just scare them, they shake...
40:37ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
40:38And they'll run away.
40:39Yeah.
40:39It's amazing.
40:40I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.
40:42The Cahoe have lived in harmony in the Longbiang Mountains for generations,
40:46y siempre pasan sus historias y sonidos por word de mouth.
40:51Es interesante c贸mo los franceses han influenciado esta m煤sica
40:54adaptando su sonido tradicional a trav茅s de una canci贸n recognizable.
41:09Creo que he solo jugado Frere Jacques.
41:13Es como una olda canci贸n de francesa.
41:15S铆, esa olda canci贸n de francesa.
41:17La Cahoe people expressan sus emociones,
41:19share historias y conectan con su naturaleza.
41:23All the instruments son, you know, hand-made.
41:26So all of these are, you know,
41:28just made from wood and twine and bamboo.
41:32They're using hand for shaping them.
41:34They're made from bamboo and using hand,
41:36they don't have any technology to creating this kind of sound.
41:40I love the simplicity of these instruments.
41:43No fancy gear, no big production,
41:46just a purity of tone,
41:47a sound that's been echoing through the hills for generations.
41:50This is more traditional, sort of like a xylophone.
41:55It seems like you're missing a note here.
42:09Where's the C?
42:14You need another C there.
42:17Yeah.
42:19Right up my alley, as it were.
42:21I mean, any chance I get to play with musicians,
42:29wherever they are in the world,
42:31whatever instrument, whatever culture,
42:33I will take because it just proves to me yet again
42:37that there's this language that music is
42:40which transcends all kinds of cultural barriers.
42:49Playing with these guys today
42:50gave me that little glimpse into this rich history
42:54that we perhaps don't know much about.
42:59I certainly don't, of Vietnam.
43:02And it's mountain people
43:03and it's more than 50, I think, different ethnic groups.
43:07I'm getting the feeling that Dalat is the kind of place
43:19where you come looking for misty pine forests
43:22and can discover something quite different.
43:25It keeps you guessing in the best possible way.
43:28It's Vietnam's highland wildcard.
43:31Expect the unexpected
43:32and then something comes along stranger still.
43:35Cloud hunting is a popular pre-dawn mission to the hilltops
43:40to capture the sunrise over the endless rolling hills.
43:43And it's all about timing.
43:46Hundreds of young peoples, couples,
43:49all dressed up to the nines.
43:52A hush of anticipation
43:53as their fingers poised over the record buttons
43:57of their devices.
43:59Sense of romance in the air
44:01as the sun gradually creeps over the horizon.
44:05Illuminating the fog-filled valleys
44:07and initiating a sense of wonder
44:11in all of those gathered here
44:13to capture this moment forever
44:15on their Instagram reels
44:18and their TikToks.
44:20Yeah, this all sounds lovely,
44:22but it means you have to get up at the crack of dawn.
44:24But if you come a bit later,
44:26then you get the place yourself.
44:28Which, for me, is much nicer.
44:36Ah, the cynic in me is alive and well.
44:39A well-rested cynic at that.
44:41I can see why when Alexandre Yersin first came here
44:49in the end of the 19th century,
44:51why he was so taken with the place
44:53and why it was so popular with the French
44:55during colonial rule.
44:57There's something about this place
45:01that really kind of gets under your skin
45:04with the natural beauty of it
45:08and the welcoming nature of the local people.
45:12It's a place that's very easy to fall in love with.
45:15Next time on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
45:24And I'm just about to take part
45:26in a bit of laughing yoga.
45:28My ears have never been hairier.
45:30Get a bit of a trim.
45:31Some people shouting.
45:33This is like a health and safety nightmare.
45:45I'll be right back.
46:05Bye.
46:05Bye.
46:06Bye.
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