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
00:05colonial retreat, the lofted verdant hills of Dalat, where I hope to breathe some clean mountain
00:13air and to achieve a zen state of calm. But before I do that, send it! Woo-hoo!
00:24Hold that thought.
00:25Vietnam. Of course, it's a place of tea plantations, traffic, temples. But then, it's something
00:38else entirely. Come with me on an unusual, unfiltered, unforgettable adventure.
00:51Give me five.
00:56And a whole bunch of other tangents. I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
01:01As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war, I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions.
01:09Am I in the right place?
01:11Embrace new experiences, even my own future.
01:15The problem, you are smart and tested. Is 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.
01:27Separate it 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.
01:35An 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, things grow well up here, and I've heard so do tourist attractions.
02:11I'm just outside the picturesque town of Dalat, about six hours' drive north from the big smoke of Ho Chi Minh City, and boy, do I feel a world away from all the scooters.
02:23By the time you reach Dalat, you've already realized, in Vietnam, things are done a little differently, and up here in the hills, I reckon they might be different again, in the most unexpected of ways.
02:35Starting with this place.
02:38This 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.
02:55I'm suiting up for a zip line, way above the tree line, and while I look remarkably like some kind of gormless window cleaner, I can assure you there are no office buildings in sight.
03:09I'm feeling a little nervous, a little anxious, but here goes nothing.
03:14Send it!
03:15Woo-hoo!
03:16Ha-ha!
03:17And just like that, I'm flying 1,500 metres on a zip line in Vietnam.
03:30I love the feeling of wind through my trots.
03:33It's not necessarily what I came for, but no complaints.
03:37Bam-ba-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
03:44Ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:49Whoa-ho!
03:51Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:54Woo-hoo!
03:56The whole thing's over in just two minutes.
03:58I would happily have had more.
04:01And the good news is, I can have more.
04:04This park has something for everyone, especially adrenaline junkies.
04:09I shall next conquer the Alpine Coaster,
04:12an ambitious 2,400-meter track,
04:15the longest coaster in Vietnam and also the most informative.
04:19Welcome to the Tha Tha Tha Alpine Coaster.
04:22Yes.
04:22Before you ride, you must listen to and understand.
04:26The important instructions.
04:27What?
04:29What?
04:30What important instructions?
04:33Avoiding collision.
04:35Manual break.
04:37Okay.
04:40Keep yourself back.
04:42Keep your arms and legs inside the coaster car.
04:45Yes.
04:47Ascending into the trees, I feel a sense of trepidation
04:50that I haven't quite understood the instructions.
04:56Whoa.
04:57Whoa.
05:01Whoa.
05:02F***.
05:09That's like a...
05:10That's been clappers.
05:11I think I just hit maximum speed on this thing.
05:15It's a wonder my teeth didn't fly out.
05:20As you wind your way around the park,
05:22you hear the sound of the mighty de Tanler Falls.
05:25This is nature at its best.
05:27But there are some other features of the park not to be missed.
05:30You see, nothing says natural beauty like a giant gold frog playing the saxophone.
05:38Or this.
05:40Oh, I mean, he's got some tackle on him.
05:43I'm not sure that was ever a thing in Jurassic Park, was it?
05:46Oh, look at the size of his c*****s.
05:52It's a lovely spot.
05:53I mean, it's genuinely beautiful here.
05:57You know, there's a beautiful waterfall.
05:59We're in a lovely lush valley.
06:01But it's almost like, that's not quite enough.
06:05We need a few other things to bring in the tourists.
06:09You know, we need a cutesy little bridge.
06:11We need some pitch statues.
06:13We need a couple of T-Rex and some dinosaur eggs.
06:17Somewhere for people to take selfies.
06:19Because that's, after all, what this is about.
06:22But then again, that's what tourism is about.
06:25People want to, they see things on Instagram and TikTok
06:28and they want to take the picture themselves.
06:32I can't believe I'm doing this.
06:35Yeah, well, come on.
06:36I couldn't help myself.
06:37It's the roar of Datanla Falls that really grabs people here.
06:42It's nature's own rollercoaster thundering through the trees.
06:45But there could be another reason that punters flock to this park.
06:49I can't quite believe what this is.
06:51This is cheese-flavoured ice cream.
06:55Look, it's in the shape of a piece of cheese.
07:00A popular dessert in Asia,
07:03its unexpected sweet yet savoury flavour,
07:06like so much of Vietnam,
07:07leaves you wanting more.
07:12Yeah.
07:15Tastes like cheese.
07:18In ice cream form.
07:19I think I've found my favourite thing in the world ever.
07:25That's unbelievable.
07:27Oh, my word.
07:29But the cheesy ice cream is just one of the many delights
07:34luring people to this alpine oasis.
07:38The town of Dalat was dreamt up by a homesick Frenchman named Yersin,
07:42who fell in love with the alpine region,
07:45founding it in 1893.
07:46You know the guy, Yersin.
07:49You know, the famous Swiss-born French bacteriologist
07:52who discovered the bubonic plague Bacillus.
07:55Come on.
07:56It's named after him.
07:57Yersinia pestis.
07:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:59You know him.
08:00Yeah.
08:00Anyway, Dalat became renowned for growth and abundance,
08:05for pine forests, tea, asparagus,
08:07and, would you believe, growing artichokes.
08:10This is a vegetable I knew nothing about before today.
08:13So a trip to an artichoke farm
08:15in the central highlands of Dalat was high on my list.
08:21Hello.
08:21Hi.
08:22If we flash forward to the end of my time with Dalat artichokes,
08:25you might be surprised to see how much my love for them grew.
08:32You have captured my heart
08:34with all your different qualities.
08:37I have looked upon you
08:39and I have maybe underestimated you.
08:43I have looked at the other vegetables and plants
08:45and thought, well, they are more attractive.
08:46But now, I look at you and I think, my God,
08:50you are truly the queen of the vegetable patch.
08:55Let me show you how this love affair began.
08:59This successful farm is called Artichoke Valley
09:02in the Lam Dong highlands of Dalat,
09:05a popular region for these magnificent plants.
09:07I didn't expect to see it here in Vietnam.
09:09This is a vegetable that's, you know, we see it in Europe a lot.
09:14We take it from France.
09:16The French, yeah.
09:17This farm is run by Twan,
09:19who left the real estate game to join his parents,
09:22who have been harvesting artichokes for decades.
09:24I've never been to an artichoke farm and I really want to understand more about them.
09:30Down there?
09:31Yeah. Okay.
09:32Okay.
09:33It's quite tough, isn't it?
09:34What a beauty.
09:43The Vietnam government once collectivized farming,
09:46stripping away incentive and nearly crippling its food supply.
09:49But today, with a freer market and growing opportunity,
09:53farmers like Twan and his mother, Cern, are thriving on their own.
09:58And 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.
10:07Yeah.
10:08Sleeping well is good for skin, you know.
10:10Wow.
10:11Or 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.
10:24I'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, they use the root, the old one, put in alcohol for drinking.
10:37It's good for men, stronger.
10:38Really?
10:39Yeah.
10:40So you can make this into...
10:41The root, but the old...
10:43Alcoholic drink?
10:44Yeah, yeah.
10:45We dry on the sun and then put in strong alcohol.
10:48Maybe for six months or a few years, it's really good.
10:51Really good?
10:52Artichoke whiskey?
10:53I 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
11:05whiskey.
11:06Now I'm listening.
11:08So this is artichoke hooch.
11:10I never thought I'd be drinking artichoke whiskey.
11:12Yeah.
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.
11:20Yes.
11:21Cheers.
11:22Oh, yes.
11:23That's enough.
11:24That's enough.
11:25That's enough.
11:26This stuff is potent.
11:27Just the one for me.
11:28For now.
11:29I genuinely had no idea the humble artichoke was so versatile.
11:31I've underestimated it pretty much my whole life.
11:32It has so many uses.
11:38I mean, you can get up in the morning, have a cup of artichoke tea.
11:39Lunchtime, have some artichoke stew.
11:41And then take various parts of the leaf for health properties, liver cleansing, helps you
11:45sleep at night.
11:46It's good for fertility.
11:47And then in the evening, you have a few glasses of happy water.
11:48This is your whole life in a plant.
11:49It's amazing.
11:50I'm sorry I've misjudged you.
11:51It's all right.
11:52It's all right.
11:53It's all right.
11:54It's all right.
11:55Sorry, I've had a few...
11:56It's all right.
11:57Sorry I've had a few...
11:58Sorry, I've had a few.
11:59Sorry.
12:00I'm sorry I've misjudged you.
12:01It's all right.
12:02Sorry, I've had a few.
12:04You can take various parts of the leaf for health properties, liver cleansing.
12:05It helps you sleep at night.
12:06It's good for fertility.
12:07And then in the evening, you have a few glasses of happy water.
12:10This is your whole life in a plant.
12:12It's amazing.
12:13I'm sorry I've misjudged you.
12:14It's all right.
12:19Sorry, I've had a few.
12:25It's quite strong, that happy water, isn't it?
12:34Dalat is a town where contradictions collide.
12:37Especially at this place, the Valley of Love, where legend has it,
12:41couples who visit are known to break up after they come here.
12:45Risky business, if you ask me.
12:47The Valley of Love is a grand tourist destination with a reputation to match.
12:52I'm curious to see what all the hype is about.
12:54Just a few kilometres north of Dalat town,
12:57this love-themed wonderland has me feeling a little uneasy.
13:02So, this is it.
13:04I get a whole buggy to myself.
13:07Brilliant.
13:08Things are looking up.
13:10All right.
13:11Flooring.
13:12I'm flying solo in the Valley of Love, but I get my own private tour of the park.
13:30Amongst the splendour, I spot some familiar faces.
13:39What the f*** is that?
13:42Hang on a minute.
13:45Wait a minute.
13:46Mighty.
13:52Mighty.
13:55I mean, that is truly terrifying.
14:00What 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.
14:32Why there is a wannabe Madame Tussauds in a love park, I don't know.
14:37But here I am.
14:38It doesn't really look like Dwayne Johnson.
14:39It's really eerie because there's no-one here.
14:48It's just me and these sort of slightly strange-looking waxworks.
14:59Oh, no, no, no.
15:01Frozen in time and a strange sort of paradox.
15:05This is quickly becoming the most bizarre exhibit in a park full of oddities,
15:10and I thought I'd seen it all.
15:15Oh, f***.
15:17Oh, sweet mother of f***.
15:21What the f*** 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.
15:38See you in your nightmares.
15:57My 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?
16:12I 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,
16:25and he's just trying to flog them to anywhere 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?
16:36Four 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 wax work was in better shape,
16:49and that's saying something.
16:51Nothing says I love you like 64 knackered flamingos.
16:54As I leave this touristy park,
17:05I'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,
17:14and for Dalat, they flock here for the romantic landscapes.
17:18One of the most beautiful locations that I'm keen to see
17:22is less about kitschy romance,
17:25and more to do with contentment and inner peace.
17:28Nestled into the hills of Dalat,
17:30and overlooking the serene Tuen Lum Lake,
17:33is the Truk Lam Monastery,
17:35a more authentic kind of tourist attraction.
17:37Hello.
17:38Hello.
17:39Hi, lovely to meet you.
17:40Nice to meet you.
17:41My name's Bill.
17:42My name's Bong Huynh.
17:44Bong Huynh.
17:44My name's Bong Dat.
17:45Nice to meet you.
17:46Good to meet you.
17:48The grounds of the monastery are stunning,
17:50with around 60 monks ranging in age from 20 to 93 years old
17:54tending to the gardens.
17:57My guides, Su Bon Dat and Su Bon Huenh,
18:00have dedicated their lives to Buddhism and life here.
18:03So how long have you been here at this monastery?
18:0711 years.
18:0811 years?
18:09This is my third year here.
18:11Third year, right.
18:12Su Bon Huenh tells me that Buddhism came from India
18:15and was established here during the 2nd century.
18:19It surprises me that Vietnam is an atheist country,
18:22with Buddhism the second most popular religion.
18:32What is so spiritual about...
18:37Buddhism, it's the fact that you can gain so much from it.
18:43You can get a sense of enlightenment.
18:47Yes.
18:48A bit of peace.
18:49And a sense of, I don't know, just what we would call happiness, I suppose.
18:55Yeah, correct.
18:56Happiness.
18:57Happiness.
18:58No more pain.
18:59No more sad.
19:00Yeah.
19:00And, um, no more strength.
19:03No more stress.
19:07Sounds great.
19:10Where 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, what, how does that work?
19:25The mastery is their home.
19:28Yeah.
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, we are like brother and sister.
19:44For me, that would be difficult, you know, a sacrifice, in a way.
19:53I would have to give up something.
19:56Correct.
19:56Yeah.
19:56It's really tough for the people who decide to take this role seriously when they become
20:02a monk.
20:04Is there a way that I can achieve all that enlightenment and have all the other things?
20:10Yes, I'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 inside.
20:19You can come and stay with us.
20:21Yeah.
20:21I'd love to.
20:22How long?
20:24Maybe someday or one week.
20:27Yes.
20:28Or end up staying there for 11 years.
20:32Who knows?
20:34I'd love to find my family.
20:35Yeah, I'm not coming back.
20:37I'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.
20:52No small undertaking.
20:56Let the thoughts go away.
21:01Yes.
21:02But how do you do that?
21:04It's difficult.
21:05That's what we practice.
21:07It's hard.
21:08Yeah.
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.
21:18Okay.
21:18Okay.
21:18Okay.
21:18Okay.
21:18PIANO PLAYS
21:48PIANO PLAYS
22:00How about you? I'm in addition.
22:02It's very peaceful.
22:05I mean, it's just unusual for me to be this quiet and still for that amount of time.
22:16Right.
22:18And I can see actually it's something that if I would practice more I'd get a lot out of
22:24because I can start to sort of sense things slowing down.
22:29So that's one version of how the meditation was for me.
22:32I wanted to protect the monks from the mayhem inside my mind.
22:36I found meditating quite hard because my mind's always active.
22:41It's always churning, thinking about things.
22:44He said, if you close your eyes, you might fall asleep.
22:47So I thought, I won't do that then because I probably will fall asleep.
22:51So I said, keep your eyes slightly open.
22:53So I kept my eyes slightly open.
22:55I was focusing on the carpet.
22:57And then I couldn't help thinking, that's quite a busy design for a meditation carpet.
23:03You know, I mean, there's a lot going on.
23:06And then I'm thinking, I used to live in a flat that had that same carpet.
23:10And then I'm thinking, I remember that time.
23:12And I remember the people I stayed in the flat with.
23:14And suddenly my mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
23:18So I thought, I better close my eyes.
23:20And then I'm closing my eyes and thinking, oh, I've got a little bit of a wobbly tooth.
23:23I've got to get that scene to.
23:25Oh, I love a toe.
23:26And it's like, it's so hard.
23:28It's so hard.
23:29I'm just thinking about stuff all the time.
23:33It would take me a long time to get to where these guys are.
23:38The dedication required to achieve enlightenment is impressive.
23:42But it's also stressing me out.
23:44I don't know whether I could make that sacrifice.
23:48My life, you know, career, family.
23:52And I get an enormous amount of happiness from that.
23:56But I wouldn't mind a bit of that spiritual enlightenment.
23:59You know, just a bit of meditation.
24:01I think maybe I could learn from that.
24:03If I could do maybe an hour a week.
24:05Or maybe like the second Thursday in every month.
24:09And get a glimpse of spiritual enlightenment.
24:13I think that would do me.
24:17For 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.
24:30Or a fried banana, for that matter.
24:32What is it, though?
24:34Banana, you know?
24:35Banana?
24:36Yeah, banana.
24:37Oh.
24:38Is this like fried banana?
24:40Yeah.
24:41Good.
24:42Yummy.
24:43Oh.
24:44I know this.
24:45It doesn't say hair washing.
24:47Just head.
24:48Yeah.
24:49Well, yeah.
24:50Go on, then.
24:51Yeah, yeah.
24:52No, that's right.
24:53No hair.
24:54No hair, that's right.
24:55Just the head.
24:56You're all right.
24:57You don't need to rub it in.
24:58What's happening?
24:59Mmm, it smells very fragrant.
25:10Is this bliss?
25:11Well, 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.
25:19I've done, you know, I've had a bit of enlightenment, meditation, cheesy ice cream, and now a deep fried banana and a head wash.
25:32I mean, that is, it's like the best day ever.
25:36I 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.
25:59If the Buddhist monks don't do it for you, then the head wash and the neck massage will.
26:05I feel truly in a state of zen calm.
26:21Life up in the fresh mountain air is treating me well.
26:25Dalat 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.
26:55If only I could sort out my footwear.
26:58So you have to wear protective booties over your shoes, but it seems to have defeated me.
27:08I don't quite know.
27:09Am I supposed to take...
27:10If I take my shoe off...
27:14Oh, maybe that's it.
27:16That's it.
27:17You're supposed to take your shoe off.
27:18It's like I'm entering some sort of crime scene, which you could say it was an imperial crime.
27:25So, yes, in some ways, ideologically, it is.
27:28My feet are just so inordinately big or something.
27:32What are we doing with shoes?
27:33Excuse me.
27:34I haven't even got in yet and I'm already confused.
27:37No 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.
27:53Tucked into the corner of the drawing room is Bao Dai's grand piano.
27:58That'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 TLCs.
28:06I mean, it is a bit knackered.
28:08Look at it.
28:09Oh, dear.
28:11The palace was built in the 1930s, just after Bao Dai ascended the throne under French colonial rule.
28:17And it served as a summer retreat for the emperor, who 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, but I wouldn't be happy with that.
28:36This is the queen's bedroom.
28:38It was a kind of political marriage between her and Bao Dai.
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.
28:50And so he agreed.
28:52It's a rashly sort of thing a bloke would do.
28:55Yeah, yeah.
28:56I'll do that.
28:57He couldn't help himself.
28:58He was, you know, born into this privilege.
29:01But this privilege wasn't to last.
29:04His life became a story of riches to rags, which is never the right way round.
29:09When the French rule ended abruptly in 1954, he went into exile in France and never returned to Vietnam.
29:16He died in a modest apartment in Paris in 1997.
29:20Now, it wouldn't be a Vietnamese tourist attraction without a photo opportunity.
29:29And at the palace, visitors are offered the chance to dress up in full emperor garb.
29:34How do you get fitted up to one of these?
29:36I'll take these off.
29:38Got some proper shoes on.
29:40Take these things off.
29:41As they say, if you can't beat them, join them.
29:43I think it's important to get a sense of what it feels like to walk in someone else's shoes.
29:48Yeah, this is it. This is the stuff.
29:50Well, perhaps not literally.
29:52I've got my shoes on the wrong way round. Hold on a minute.
29:55I can't do that. It's ridiculous.
29:58This particular subtle gold number is the emperor's ceremonial dress.
30:03Perfect for this occasion.
30:05I might just start wearing this around the house.
30:13Bring me a toasted cheese sandwich.
30:26While the French may have finally bid adieu to Vietnam,
30:30the spirit they planted in Dalat has grown into something wonderfully Vietnamese.
30:35Shortly, I'll be heading out of town by train to a local tea plantation.
30:39And for the trip, I'll need some sustenance.
30:42It's a great little market. It's got everything.
30:45It's a perfect place to load up on sort of travel snacks.
30:52Oh, strawberry.
30:54Oh, it's dried.
30:56I'm very happy with these.
31:01Look at that.
31:03Delicious.
31:04Oh, really good.
31:14Might be my new favourite thing.
31:16Oh, artichoke tea.
31:18Smell it.
31:19Sorry, it's just...
31:22The cab's a bit hot.
31:23Nom, nom, nom.
31:24Very hot.
31:25No, no, no. It burnt my fingers.
31:27Artichoke tea, of course.
31:29Another use for this wondrous plant.
31:32But I want to get a taste for real tea,
31:34which has been quietly brewing for centuries in the Highlands.
31:38My mode of transport, the Dalat Plateau Rail.
31:41I'm departing from the Dalat Train Station, a revered historical landmark.
31:47Built in the 1930s, it proudly holds the title of Vietnam's oldest railway station.
31:53Got the three pointed sort of pediments in the middle, which, some say, echo the three peaks of the Lambian mountain range.
32:07Me and my strawberries are bound for the hills of Trimat.
32:10It's a 30-minute heritage train journey, with the prospect of a proper brew at the end of it.
32:16But first, I need to find my seat.
32:19It's a big thing in Britain.
32:22If you get the wrong seat, the wrong coach, it's just the worst kind of bad behaviour.
32:30It's just so disrespectful.
32:33So I'm slightly anxious, because it says, Coach 5, seat 19, but I don't know which one that is.
32:40It goes to the core of my British embarrassment, to feel that I'm sitting in the wrong seat.
32:46I'd be mortified.
32:49Is this the right... Am I in the right place? It says, Coach 5, seat 19.
32:55I mean, this isn't 19. Is this Coach 5?
32:58It seems the train comes with a resident saxophonist.
33:01I've got a feeling this might be the least of my worries.
33:09I mean, it's not quite the Orient Express, but it does have its own peculiar charm.
33:14During the war in 1973, the railway line was heavily damaged.
33:18But after the country's reunification in 1975, it was restored, and now serves as a reminder of Vietnam's colonial past.
33:27Take one. Take one. Have a new one.
33:30I love a train ride, especially when sharing local produce with new friends.
33:34Oh, take two, yeah.
33:42Knock yourselves out.
33:46Nice, eh? Yeah, you're welcome.
33:48Yeah, you're welcome.
33:53Produce, which turned out to be very popular.
34:03Well, I mean, I'm enjoying the train journey very much.
34:07I just hadn't counted on to Vietnamese Kenny G.
34:10But, er, I just, you know, just roll with it, I suppose.
34:16All my strawberries went down well.
34:19They didn't last long.
34:20I nearly bought the big tub.
34:22I should have bought a big tub.
34:25I'm making friends here already.
34:28OK, ready?
34:29One, two, three, hey!
34:32Woo!
34:42The cool air, the rolling hills, and the lush landscape of Dalat, all conspire to create the perfect ingredients for a decent cup of tea.
34:52Drinking tea is such a big part of British life.
34:58It's like we've claimed it as a hard national brew.
35:02But, of course, tea's been around for thousands of years.
35:05In fact, it started in the third century BC, in China, and has gradually spread throughout Asia.
35:11And here in the cool hills of Dalat, it's very conducive, the tea cultivation.
35:18And, in fact, it's now become one of Vietnam's major exports.
35:26At 1,650 metres above sea level, and with an average temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius, these hills are fertile.
35:34The farmer tax family has passed down the art of cultivation over generations.
35:39And just break it off.
35:40Yeah, you can break it.
35:41Yeah.
35:42Like this.
35:43Like that.
35:44Just the green ones?
35:45Yeah.
35:46OK.
35:47I did.
35:48So they leave that.
35:49So all of these...
35:50Yeah, waiting for you.
35:51OK.
35:52Help us.
35:53Yeah, I will.
35:54Just a couple more leaves to pick.
35:56Won't take me long.
35:57Tax is going to make me work for it.
36:00There's a few days' worth of harbours in here.
36:02One kilogram, the people earn $5,000 only.
36:03That means one US dollar, they have to pick five kilograms.
36:12OK.
36:13If you want to have the noodle for today, you have to pick like 10 kilograms.
36:18That's a lot.
36:19Yeah.
36:20Work.
36:21Yeah.
36:22You've got to work fast.
36:23Beef noodle.
36:24If you want noodles, yeah.
36:25Yes, sir.
36:26Well, I like noodles.
36:27So you have to pick 10 kilograms.
36:29Keep picking.
36:30There's no...
36:31Yeah.
36:32There's no time to hang about.
36:33No time-saving machinery here.
36:35The preference is to pick by hand, to maintain a high quality of leaves, ensuring that no brown
36:41bits get through.
36:42My mum had this great expression.
36:43She said, I wouldn't do that for all the tea in China.
36:47Which is, when you think about it, it's a lot.
36:49No, I don't know what she'd do with all the tea in China.
36:52I mean, she wouldn't have the distribution network, so...
36:57And you look around here and you sort of think, yeah, I can see where that comes from.
37:02You can't hang about.
37:04You've got to get amongst it.
37:07Yeah.
37:08Another hundred grams.
37:10There you go.
37:11Good.
37:12Our culture, we have the tea culture as well.
37:15Yes.
37:16Well, that's the same, obviously.
37:17It's the same in Britain.
37:18Really?
37:19Every time anyone comes in the house, somebody says, a cup of tea.
37:23Ah, really?
37:24Yeah.
37:25I just think that a cup of whiskey.
37:26No, whiskey's later.
37:28All right.
37:29Yeah.
37:30You wouldn't start the day with what?
37:31You might start the day with whiskey, but there wouldn't be much left of the day.
37:35Life on the land, quite physical work, so I'm grateful for a lift back to the factory.
37:40Bye.
37:41See ya.
37:46This is a great old wagon.
37:48I noticed it was Russian.
37:49Yeah.
37:50That's in the old Russian car.
37:52It's supposed to be that word before.
37:54Right.
37:55Yes.
37:56A bit too old than me.
37:57Yes.
37:58It's vintage.
37:59About my age.
38:00Yeah.
38:01Really?
38:02Oh, you look young.
38:03Oh, thanks.
38:04High five.
38:05Give me five.
38:06I've never been more ready for a cup of tea.
38:13Yeah.
38:14What a beautiful color as well.
38:15Look at that.
38:16Yes.
38:17Thank you very much.
38:18In Vietnamese, we say, come on.
38:20Come on.
38:21Yeah, like, come on.
38:22Yes.
38:23Come on.
38:24I know.
38:25In Vietnam, we just say, enjoy the tea.
38:26Enjoy the tea.
38:27Yeah, but we don't cheer.
38:28No, you don't do that?
38:29We don't cheer with the tea.
38:30There you go.
38:31Cheers.
38:32Cheers.
38:33Cheers.
38:34Be careful.
38:35It's too hot.
38:36Oh.
38:37Nighty.
38:38Oh, that's delicious.
38:39As a Brit, I thought I knew tea.
38:41But here in Vietnam, it's a ritual.
38:44Not just a cuppa.
38:45Will I go back to Builders Brew at home?
38:47Probably.
38:48But I'll drink with a little more reverence for the leaves
38:50and how they ended up in my cup.
38:56Away from the day-to-day routine of tea cultivation,
38:59a much older rhythm runs through these hills.
39:02The ancient music of the Cahoe people,
39:04whose roots here go back far beyond the plantations.
39:08One of my favorite things to do when traveling
39:10is listening to the sounds of local musicians,
39:13connecting to the traditional culture through music.
39:17The Cahoe ethnic minority is one of the oldest indigenous groups
39:21in Vietnam's Central Highlands,
39:23believed to have existed for around 2,500 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.
39:37What an amazing sound you guys make.
39:40Hello, I'm Bill.
39:41Hey.
39:42Nice to meet you.
39:44Nice to meet you.
39:45Hello.
39:46So this follows like a pattern of, you know, a scale.
39:50Such a beautiful sound.
39:56I can't help myself.
39:57Got to get on the tools.
39:59So you just sort of, like each, each stone has a different.
40:04It's a lovely sound, isn't it?
40:14It's beautiful.
40:15Renowned for musical traditions, particularly gong festivals,
40:19in 2008, the Cahoe Gong culture was recognized by UNESCO
40:23as an oral masterpiece of humanity.
40:26Where do these stones come from?
40:28Mostly they come from the river.
40:30The first purpose of them, to scare, and scare the animals.
40:34The animals come in, they just scare them.
40:36They shake.
40:37Ding, ding, ding.
40:38Like that, and the animal will run away.
40:39Yeah.
40:40It's amazing.
40:41I've never seen anything like it.
40:42The Cahoe have lived in harmony in the Long Biang Mountains
40:46for generations, and still pass their songs and stories on
40:49by word of mouth.
40:52Funny how the French have even influenced this ancient music,
40:55adapting their traditional sound into a recognizable tune.
40:59I think he just played Frère Jacques.
41:12Yeah.
41:13Yeah.
41:14It's like an old French song.
41:15Yeah, that old French song.
41:17The Cahoe people express their emotions, share stories,
41:20and connect with their natural environment.
41:23All the instruments are, you know, handmade.
41:26So all of these are, you know, just made from wood and twine and bamboo.
41:32They're using hand for shaping them.
41:34Yeah.
41:35And make from bamboo and use 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, just a purity of tone,
41:47a sound that's been echoing through the hills for generations.
41:51This is more traditional, sort of like a xylophone.
41:55Seems like you're missing a note here.
42:13Where's the C?
42:14You need another C there.
42:16Yeah.
42:17Right up my alley, as it were.
42:22I mean, any chance I get to play with musicians, wherever they are in the world,
42:31whatever instrument, whatever culture, I will take.
42:34Because it just proves to me, yet again, that there's this language that music is,
42:40which transcends all kinds of cultural barriers.
42:49Playing with these guys today gave me that little glimpse into this rich history
42:55that we perhaps don't know much about.
42:58I certainly don't, of Vietnam.
43:01And 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 where you come looking for misty pine forests
43:22and can discover something quite different.
43:24It keeps you guessing in the best possible way.
43:27It's Vietnam's Highland wildcard.
43:30Expect the unexpected, and then something comes along stranger still.
43:35Cloud hunting is a popular pre-dawn mission to the hilltops
43:39to capture the sunrise over the endless rolling hills.
43:43And it's all about timing.
43:45Hundreds of young peoples, couples, all dressed up to the nines.
43:51A hush of anticipation as their fingers poised over the record buttons of their devices.
44:00A sense of romance in the air as the sun gradually creeps over the horizon,
44:05illuminating the fog-filled valleys.
44:08And initiating a sense of wonder in all of those gathered here to capture this moment.
44:15forever on their Instagram reels and their TikToks.
44:20Yeah, this all sounds lovely, but it means you have to get up at the crack of dawn.
44:24But if you come a bit later, then you get the place yourself.
44:30Which, for me, is much nicer.
44:36Ah, the cynic in me is alive and well.
44:39A well-rested cynic, at that.
44:42I can see why, when Alexandre Yersin first came here, in the end of the 19th century,
44:51why he was so taken with the place.
44:54And why it was so popular with the French during colonial rule.
44:57There's something about this place that really kind of gets under your skin.
45:06With the natural beauty of it, the welcoming nature of the local people.
45:11It's a place, it's very easy to fall in love with.
45:22Next time, on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
45:24And I'm just about to take part in a bit of laughing yoga.
45:28My ears have never been hairier.
45:30Get a bit of a trim.
45:31Some people shouting.
45:34See, this is a health and safety nightmare.
45:36Nightmare.
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