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00:12Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a city that's been on fast forward for the last 50
00:18years since the end of the war. So what better time to pause and reflect on this fascinating city?
00:29Vietnam, 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.
00:53Give me five. My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents. I'm thinking about a sandwich I had
00:59in 1982. As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war. So as soon as it's safe,
01:05right?
01:06I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions. Am I in the right place? Embrace new experiences,
01:12even my own future. I'm proud of them. You are a smart contestant. Is there any more good news?
01:21Navigate tight spaces. I'm not entirely sure I'm going to get help. Make some new friends.
01:28Separated at birth. This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters. This is your whole life in a plant.
01:34Kindred spirits. An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on earth. This is Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
01:58This is Ho Chi Minh City. A huge, dynamic, clamorous assault on the senses. But what strikes me most is
02:07the traffic. It's relentless.
02:08Simply crossing the road is an adventure in itself. On the southeastern curve of this S-shaped nation sits the
02:18former capital of South Vietnam on the Saigon River.
02:22Right, that's the geography sorted for you. Now, back to the street crossing. I'm told confidence is key.
02:30All right, here we go. Oh, f***, nice. It's bloody green, you n***er.
02:45Is this worth it for a selfie? Let's get the f*** out of us.
02:52I mean, it's not worth getting low down for, but it's quite a good shot.
03:02I've arranged a personal guide of this thrumming metropolis, still affectionately known as Saigon. No safe bus tour for me.
03:11I want to get amongst it, be at one with the people.
03:19Hi, Mr. Bell. There's my guide. Yeah, I'm here.
03:22KK, across another road. Yes. All right, I'm here. All right. Watch out.
03:30Just take this nice and easy.
03:33You can do it!
03:35Yeah, I can't believe in you.
03:38Okay.
03:39Yay!
03:40There we go.
03:41High five.
03:43How are you doing? All right?
03:43You survived.
03:44I survived, yeah, exactly.
03:46I don't know how.
03:47Hello, nice to meet you.
03:48Lovely to meet you.
03:49How do you do that?
03:50Well, I don't know, actually. It's not something I do normally.
03:54Oh, my God.
03:54Walk out into traffic, but hey, you know, I'm here to try new experiences.
03:59And in this context, safety first. But let's not let safety get in the way of looking stylish.
04:05All right.
04:05I like the fact that I'm colour-coded with the bike.
04:08Yeah, oh, my God.
04:10Outfit match.
04:11I know, totally.
04:11Where I strike a pose.
04:12Got to get on here like that.
04:14Yes, exactly.
04:15Okay, hang on.
04:15Just stretching out my hips a little bit.
04:17Yeah, all right.
04:17Got a little bit of cramp in me.
04:19All right.
04:20My leg won't go.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Yeah, just stretch it up.
04:24Yeah, that's right.
04:25And I can put my feet on this footrest here.
04:27Yes, right.
04:28Perfect.
04:29All right.
04:30All right.
04:31All right.
04:31All right.
04:32Have some workout today.
04:34It is a workout.
04:35All right.
04:36All right, you ready?
04:37Okay, let's do it.
04:38Okay, here we go.
04:39All right.
04:40Don't be scared.
04:42What could I possibly be scared of?
04:45Actually, this is exhilarating.
04:47Just me, KK, and nothing but Saigon smog between us and the bitumen.
04:52I'm trusting KK with my life.
04:55Watch out.
04:55What a scooter is.
04:56Uh-oh.
04:57There we go.
04:57Look out.
04:59Yeah.
04:59No worries.
05:01Just a little bit of...
05:02It seems like a whole wall of bikes were coming towards us then.
05:06Yes, that's the beauty of life, my friend.
05:09Yeah.
05:09You never know the time that you are about near your death.
05:12You never know that.
05:13Oh.
05:13Okay.
05:15I mean, it's a very good point, but not that reassuring.
05:21Uh, KK, I was going to ask you, how many people are in Ho Chi Minh City?
05:24We have approximately about 12 million.
05:2612 million?
05:2712 million people, yes.
05:29Wow.
05:29And of those 12 million, how many scooters are there here?
05:32I mean, there must be a million.
05:33Yeah, we have actually around more than nine million scooters.
05:39Nine million?
05:40Yes.
05:41That's extraordinary.
05:42With the millions of scooters comes smog.
05:46But the good news is, Vietnam is aiming to phase out scooters by 2050 to achieve net zero emissions.
05:52Until then, riding a scooter is thirsty work.
05:56By the time you've dodged a billion buses and crossed a five-lane highway, sustenance is essential.
06:03So, are we going to have a quick juice or something?
06:05Yes.
06:06Oh, my God, they have some lovely seats for you as well.
06:08Oh, a tiny stool.
06:10Yes, exactly.
06:11So, we will sit right here.
06:12This is the seat for you.
06:14I hope it's not too tiny for you.
06:16Is this?
06:17Yes.
06:18Is this how it is?
06:19Just like that, please.
06:20All right.
06:20Have a try.
06:21How do you try?
06:22Oh, I'll try it.
06:24Yep.
06:25Oh.
06:26You did it.
06:27Great.
06:28And our friends here as well.
06:29Hello, everyone.
06:30Yeah.
06:30Hi, guys.
06:32This city is set on contorting my body into awkward positions.
06:39But this is good practice, actually, for being on the bike, sitting on a tiny stool.
06:45I feel like a giant.
06:47I feel like these stools are for a different size of person.
06:55So, we have some other drinks for you.
06:58What's that?
06:58Oh, so this one is called the peach tea.
07:01Yeah.
07:02Peach tea?
07:02Yeah.
07:02Right.
07:03Please, have a try.
07:04Okay.
07:05Cheers.
07:08All right.
07:09How was it?
07:10Oh, that's good.
07:11That is really good.
07:13And what is this?
07:14Oh.
07:14So, this is what we call a rice cake pudding, you can say.
07:18Okay.
07:18Mushrooms and minced pork as well.
07:20Right.
07:21So, this is like a dumpling or something.
07:23Yes.
07:23It's similar.
07:24In Vietnamese name, we call it banh giò.
07:27Banh giò.
07:27Banh giò.
07:28Yes.
07:28So, anything that's made with flour, as long as it has flour, it's called banh.
07:33So, yes, you have it.
07:34Banh giò.
07:35Exactly.
07:37And for this baby himself, it's the breakfast.
07:40This is the breakfast.
07:41This is delicious.
07:42From one to ten, how much would you rate yourself?
07:44I mean, a solid eight.
07:46Solid?
07:47Yeah.
07:48Right now, I mean, this is really hitting the spot.
07:51I want to teach you how to say cheers in Vietnam.
07:54All right, go on then.
07:54How do you say?
07:55So, how is it?
07:57We counted from one to three in Vietnam.
07:59We count mot is number one.
08:01M-O-T.
08:03Mot.
08:03Mot, yes, exactly.
08:05And number two is hi.
08:07You say hi to your friend.
08:08Hi.
08:09Hi.
08:09Yeah, it's number two.
08:10Hi.
08:11And then number three, which means bar, like you go to the bar.
08:15Oh.
08:15Ba.
08:17Yeah.
08:17Counting.
08:18Mot.
08:19Hai.
08:20Ba.
08:20Yes.
08:21All right, let's do that for the count.
08:22Okay, here we go.
08:23Mot.
08:24Hai.
08:25Ba.
08:25Yo.
08:27Hi.
08:27Hi.
08:36Cheers.
08:37Cheers.
08:45Just as the cacophony of traffic threatens to swallow you whole, the Saigon River appears,
08:51wide and calm, gliding through the center of the city like it knows a quieter way to get
08:57things done.
08:58Stretching over 250 kilometers from Cambodia to the sea, it's been a vital economic trade
09:04route for centuries, and still is.
09:07If I ask you, how do you describe Vietnamese traffic in two words?
09:11How do you call it?
09:13Organized chaos.
09:14Exactly.
09:15Ten out of ten.
09:16Right out of the back.
09:18Yes.
09:22Ho Chi Minh city traffic is like a symphony with no conductor.
09:26And then, standing calmly amid the chaos, is the father of modern Vietnam.
09:31The man who led the country through war, independence, and into history.
09:36And whose profound impact brought about the renaming of Saigon, Mr. Ho Chi Minh.
09:41For Vietnamese people who live abroad, Uncle Ho may be a deeply polarizing figure.
09:47But for locals, he was the leader of North Vietnam, who fought for autonomy from French
09:51colonial rule.
09:53The sad thing about his death is that he was fighting for so long to have the Independence
09:57Day.
09:58Independence Day is 30 April 1975.
10:02Yes.
10:02He never survived.
10:04He never lived to see it.
10:05Yes, exactly.
10:05He unfortunately passed away before that.
10:07When the war ended in 1975, and the North claimed victory, Saigon, once the capital of
10:14the South, was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
10:17The people loved him so much, they named him the title, the bringer of light.
10:23There's not really an equivalent figure in British society.
10:27The only person I can think of, who is anything like us revered in terms of carrying the hopes
10:32of a nation, is Winston Churchill.
10:34We could pay tribute, like this.
10:37Okay.
10:37And you pray, like, pray Mr. Ho Chi Minh, thank you for bringing the hope and the light
10:42for our people.
10:43I hope we have the blessing to bless us with a splendid journey today.
10:51A handsome man in his early days, before the balding, although bald heads are held in
10:56high regard here.
10:57The bald are thought of as wise, which of course, I can't argue with.
11:02He's actually quite a good looking fellow, isn't he?
11:05Yes, actually.
11:05Quite striking.
11:06Yes, exactly.
11:07But because he's been thinking too much, so his hair is kind of similar to him.
11:12Oh, yes.
11:12Very strapped.
11:13Same with me.
11:14I'm thinking so much, so my hair went…
11:16Seems like you carry heavy responsibility like him too.
11:19Yeah, must have done.
11:20Do you know what?
11:21It's actually a very good statue as well.
11:23Yes.
11:23It's actually really well done.
11:25Yes.
11:26You know, because some statues are sort of, I don't know, they don't, maybe their
11:30likeness isn't great or the actual proportions, but this is very well done.
11:35Would you like to have a statue in the future?
11:37I mean, who knows, you know, wouldn't it be great to have a statue of yourself?
11:40Oh my God.
11:41I don't think I'd get a city named after myself.
11:43Oh my God.
11:43No, I don't think so.
11:45Maybe a roundabout.
11:48That's my first big lesson of being here, of learning about what is important to Vietnamese
11:55people.
11:56And so much of it is tied up with him.
11:59And such a sort of reverence.
12:03It's interesting that KK was saying, don't try and imitate his pose.
12:08And I guess that's what we do as tourists, you know.
12:11But actually, it's disrespectful.
12:14And I can see that, you know.
12:17He's, he is after all, the bringer of light.
12:25Oh!
12:26I wasn't ready for that.
12:28Jeez!
12:29Oh!
12:32I was just getting here.
12:33No, I wasn't ready for that.
12:35I head-butted the back of your helmet.
12:38Yeah, they like using the horn, don't they?
12:47Thank you so much, KK.
12:49It's been fantastic.
12:51Thank you for all your information and all your guides, guidance.
12:55It's been brilliant.
12:57Never mind all that.
12:58Get out of the road, you idiot.
13:00All right.
13:01See you next time.
13:02It's amazing I've survived this challenge at all.
13:13This is not a series about the Vietnam War, which has been dealt with exhaustively elsewhere.
13:20But it is 50 years since the end of the war.
13:23And to help me understand what makes Vietnam so extraordinary, I can't ignore the very thing that has defined this
13:30country for decades.
13:32And with that in mind, I've come to this place, the Cu Chi Tunnels, a tourist site now, which celebrates
13:38the ingenuity of the Vietnamese in a conflict that was broadcast graphically to the world.
13:45This country is no stranger to attempts on its freedom.
13:48After a thousand years of Chinese imperial rule, French colonization, and of course the Vietnam War, it's no wonder that
13:56people value independence so much.
13:58I'm here to find out a little of what it was like to have been a soldier in the Viet
14:02Cong in this brutal battle between North and South Vietnam that was backed by the U.S.
14:07As I prepare to head down into the tunnels, an experience which is not, as it turns out, for the
14:13faint hearted.
14:16I'm just looking at these rules.
14:18You should not go down the tunnel in the following cases.
14:21Visitors who are afraid of darkness and narrow places.
14:24Visitors of old age, 70.
14:26Come on, that's not that old.
14:29Visitors who are drunk.
14:30Well, yeah, fair enough.
14:34Old drunk people with asthma.
14:37Don't bother.
14:38Don't even bother coming down here.
14:40Who comes here drunk?
14:43I know what I'm going to answer that question.
14:46British tourists.
14:48I can just imagine it.
14:49Come on, lads.
14:51Let's get out of the tunnels.
14:52Yeah.
14:54Yeah.
14:55Oh, I know.
14:56I mean, they're pretty well turned out, matching scarves and capes.
15:01I imagine it was pretty grim down in these tunnels.
15:04I like a cape.
15:05I do like a cape.
15:08It's all pretty practical stuff.
15:11Sandals, webbing belt, water bottle, torch.
15:17I mean, that's what you need for tunnel life.
15:24Quite attractive in a strange kind of way.
15:30The Cu Chi tunnels are a complex underground network designed to conceal the Viet Cong from the enemy.
15:37And local expert Tin is going to help me navigate these tiny spaces.
15:41Now, these tunnels originally would have been much smaller, wouldn't they?
15:46Today for visiting, yeah, some part of the tunnel has been widened for two years.
15:51Right.
15:51Yeah.
15:52It's about 80cm high by 60cm wide.
15:55God, that's tiny, really.
15:57Yeah.
15:58Because mostly Vietnamese people are so skinny, you know.
16:00Much smaller.
16:01Yeah, smaller.
16:02Do you think I'm too big for this?
16:03Um, but it's big enough for you.
16:06All right.
16:06It's comfortable for your side.
16:08Okay, all right.
16:08I'll take your word for it.
16:11Be careful your step.
16:13Yeah.
16:17I'm hoping to avoid a subterranean freak-out, trying to comprehend how soldiers survived this dank, claustrophobic space,
16:25which was remarkably all dug by hand.
16:28Wow.
16:30This is the well down here, right?
16:32Yeah, you see the well.
16:32Ah, right.
16:33Yeah.
16:33It's about 15 meters.
16:3515 meters deep.
16:36Yeah.
16:36By human power.
16:37There's no technology.
16:38Yes.
16:39It must have been tough living down here.
16:41It must have been, like, dark and...
16:43Yes.
16:44...damp and...
16:45Were there, like, sort of, snakes and rats down here and all sorts of things?
16:50Yeah, a lot of animals, yes.
16:51During the rainy season, there are a lot of animals in the tunnels.
16:54Insects, you know, centipedes, you know.
16:56Yeah.
16:56Yeah.
16:57And what about, um, how long did they, would they spend down here?
17:01Uh, minimum for a week and maximum for a month without going out.
17:06And if they were underground, they were at risk from being bombed or shot or seen by the American forces?
17:16Yeah, sure.
17:17U.S. Army knew the tunnels, but they didn't know exactly where the tunnel system, yeah.
17:21From aircraft, helicopters, the bombing.
17:23So if U.S. Army dropped the heavy bomb, local people moved down to second and third level.
17:28Yeah.
17:28Because our tunnel system included three levels.
17:31We are on the first level.
17:32Okay.
17:32First level, not so deep.
17:33Yeah.
17:34It's gone deep U.S. Army bombed.
17:35There's another two levels?
17:36Yeah, two levels.
17:36Below this?
17:37Yeah, six meter and ten meter.
17:38Yeah, deep.
17:39That's extraordinary.
17:42This tunnel system, which stretches out for hundreds of miles in lots of directions, was crucial in this war of
17:51attrition, this guerrilla warfare.
17:52It was kind of instrumental in their eventual victory.
17:59This bat is...
18:02It's amazing.
18:03Here he comes.
18:04Whoa!
18:06To the bat cave!
18:15Okay.
18:16Right, somewhere here?
18:18Not being able to find the entrance to the tunnels was a big part of how effective they were.
18:23Oh my God, is that the entrance?
18:26This is the secret entrance to the tunnels.
18:28The actual size of the entrance.
18:30It's really small, yeah.
18:3130 by 40 centimeter.
18:33I think you don't believe how local people can fit down here.
18:36Okay.
18:36Let me demonstrate some for you to see how local people get in the tunnels.
18:41Okay.
18:41Yeah.
18:41You have to do like this.
18:42Camo flash the entrance.
18:44Put some leaves on the cap.
18:45Yeah.
18:46And make sure everything from around you like a natural.
18:48Right.
18:50Yeah.
18:51Yeah.
18:51Hold it up.
18:53Yeah.
18:55Put the cap over your head.
18:56Yeah, swipe your arm.
18:57Yeah.
18:57Like this.
18:58And lower your body.
18:59Yes.
19:04Gone.
19:06Disappeared.
19:08Amazing.
19:09It's like a vanishing trick.
19:13That's amazing.
19:14Excuse me.
19:15I'm here.
19:16On what?
19:17Hello, I'm here.
19:20How did you get there so fast?
19:22That's incredible.
19:26I'm too big to fit down here, do you think?
19:28If you want to go, may I show you the bigger size?
19:30Yes, thanks.
19:31I'd like it.
19:31Do you have this in a large?
19:33Yeah.
19:35Oh, there we go.
19:36That's more like it.
19:37Bigger.
19:37So, okay.
19:39Sit down.
19:39Yeah, sit down.
19:40Put your leg first.
19:41Okay, here we go.
19:46Right.
19:48Okay.
19:52Okay.
19:53Wow.
19:55Okay.
19:56Yeah.
19:56Your hand below the cap.
19:57Below here?
19:58Yeah, below the cap.
19:59And now, yeah, straight your arm, yeah.
20:02Straight on?
20:02Straight your arm.
20:03Like this.
20:05Yeah, your arm straight.
20:06Straight, yeah.
20:06Straight on?
20:07Yeah, okay.
20:08Oh, okay.
20:08Lower your body.
20:09Yeah.
20:11Okay.
20:12All right.
20:13Yes.
20:17Aha.
20:21How was it?
20:23Wow.
20:23Okay, hand up first.
20:24Yeah, put your hand up first.
20:25Hand up first, yeah.
20:26Yes.
20:26Gosh.
20:27I mean, even this is a tight squeeze.
20:29It's all right.
20:31I'm only just about fitting here.
20:33But this is the wider one.
20:35Yes.
20:36Wow.
20:38Gosh.
20:39Okay, I hear you.
20:40You're saying, oh, look, it's like a tunnel badger
20:42who needs to lay off the banh mi.
20:43Back there.
20:46But in all seriousness, the human cost of the war here
20:49was overwhelming, with around 3 million Vietnamese
20:53dying during what the locals called the American War.
20:57I mean, the Americans threw everything at them.
20:59I mean, they carpet bombed the place with BB-52s,
21:03they dropped napalm, they dropped phosphorus,
21:07they dropped millions of litres of Asian orange,
21:11this defoliant, which just sort of stripped the landscape
21:15of any kind of vegetation.
21:16And yet, they still prevail.
21:21And, but at a terrible cost, you know,
21:23the lands was poisoned by this dioxin.
21:27There's fragments of bombs everywhere.
21:30It's still, the legacy of this war is still very much around.
21:50above ground is very much my preference in general,
21:53and Ho Chi Minh City has much to offer in that regard.
22:00On my travels round the world, I find it hard to pass any creature,
22:05feathered or furred, without saying hello.
22:09Hello. Hello, don't be like that.
22:13Hey, come and say hello.
22:15Yes, oh.
22:17I've always believed if you really want to understand a place,
22:20talk to the animals, or at least give them a little pet.
22:23Bong. Hey.
22:26Oh, that's nice.
22:30Hello, mate. Hello.
22:31Hello.
22:33But wait, there's more.
22:40Oh, my word.
22:41That is a pampered-looking pooch.
22:44This dog's getting a fantastic trim here.
22:49Hey, dog, look at it.
22:51How can I resist that doggy in the window?
22:54Oh.
22:56I'm drawn to this salon like an Englishman to the midday sun.
23:01Xin chà o.
23:02Hello, Xin chà o.
23:03Oh, hello.
23:05I have many pets.
23:07I'm practically Dr. Doolittle,
23:09and this menagerie of fluff is making me feel right at home.
23:12Oh, I love you too.
23:13It's like the sort of thing that, you know,
23:15sort of very fancy Parisian women might have.
23:27Wow.
23:28This is great.
23:31I do miss my dogs when I'm away.
23:33Oh.
23:34So any chance I get for a bit of a cuddle,
23:37I'm not going to pass up.
23:38They don't want me to put them down.
23:41I've got this sense that they want to come with me.
23:43Is that right?
23:47You know I'm a soft top.
23:49That's what it is.
23:53Look into my eyes.
24:01What?
24:02You're trying to tell me something with your mind.
24:04What?
24:05You want to come back to London with me.
24:07Is that what you're saying?
24:09You're mesmerizing me with your cuteness.
24:17I'm totally, I don't know who's hypnotizing who here.
24:23Bye.
24:29He's like, look at you pampered idiots.
24:33Oh, you're getting your ears trimmed are you?
24:35Yeah, yeah.
24:36Look at you.
24:37Vein.
24:39You're not proper dogs.
24:41Look at me.
24:42I've got one ear going up, one ear going down.
24:52There we are.
24:53As the city settles into early evening,
24:55I've spotted a group of locals playing this rather hypnotic game
24:59with their feet.
25:00And I'm thinking, this could be the perfect opportunity to make a fool of myself in public.
25:06It's called Dachau, and it's the national street sport of Vietnam.
25:11And you can play it anywhere.
25:12All you need is a weighted shuttlecock and hope that your legs will do what your brain tells
25:17them to.
25:17It's called Dachau.
25:18Lam Yuwang is my coach.
25:19Okay, go on.
25:20The foot is the chicken wing.
25:21You hit outside of your foot.
25:23That way?
25:24You blow to my right.
25:25I show you.
25:25To there?
25:27Chicken wing.
25:28Oh!
25:30Okay.
25:30I show you where you hit now.
25:32Outside of your foot.
25:33Like that?
25:34Yeah.
25:35Take it up.
25:39No turning.
25:40No turning.
25:43Wow.
25:43I feel like I'm a kung fu fighter learning to juggle with my feet.
25:47Which of course feels completely natural.
25:49Oh, easy, huh?
25:51When you score, you have to put it over the net to the other side.
25:55Yeah.
25:55And the feather is done when you hit the round.
25:57Right.
25:57Right?
25:58And you need the 15 points for winning.
26:00Right.
26:0015.
26:01And you can take the match.
26:02I say similar scoring to badminton.
26:03Yeah.
26:04So 15 is a set.
26:05Yeah.
26:07Oh.
26:09I love that the game dates back to the second century BC in China.
26:13When it was a way to keep soldiers healthy and entertained.
26:17I like it.
26:18It's good fun.
26:18It's a bit like a hacky sack, only with a shuttlecock.
26:22A simpler way of playing badminton without a racket.
26:25Which I like.
26:26I like the idea of it.
26:27You know, the idea of simplifying what can be seen as quite an elitist sport
26:32into something that you can just do in the park.
26:35I can see a future for this.
26:37Polo.
26:38Without the ponies.
26:39Or the sticks.
26:40Or the ball.
26:44I should have brought my Crocs.
26:45That would have been better.
26:59It's morning in Ho Chi Minh City.
27:01And like most big cities and me, we need a kickstart with the help of a familiar friend.
27:09Cafe Vot uses an old style cloth filtered coffee technique, first used in the early 20th century.
27:15And here in the city, there's only a few practitioners left.
27:18Ciao.
27:19Ciao.
27:19Ciao.
27:20Hi, how are you doing?
27:21Can I get out of a black coffee?
27:24Black coffee, all right.
27:25Yes, please.
27:25Yeah.
27:26Khoa is the grandson of Tu Yette, who started making coffee here when she was just six years old.
27:32My grandmother has opened this like coffee for 70 years, her whole life.
27:38Wow.
27:38Yeah.
27:39You seem to be doing a good trade here though.
27:42Yeah.
27:43People are just coming past all the time.
27:45These are like usual customers.
27:48Right.
27:49For me, every day, making coffee is like a ritual.
27:52Oh.
27:53You know, I love good coffee.
27:55I'm going to give it a go and learn from a master.
27:59Okay.
27:59All right, so I get some of this in here.
28:01Yeah, okay.
28:02All right.
28:03Now, so I need to get this spoon out and then I have to get in here.
28:07Oh, how do you...
28:08Yeah, bottom first.
28:09Oh, I see.
28:10In there.
28:10Bottom first.
28:11Right, okay.
28:12In here, like that?
28:13Yeah.
28:14Okay.
28:15Yeah.
28:15Right, okay.
28:17So that goes back over there.
28:19Yeah.
28:19Right.
28:20Then you...
28:21You can...
28:22Hold it.
28:23Right.
28:24Right, okay.
28:24So hold it over here.
28:25You have to hold it in an angle.
28:27In an angle, like that.
28:29Whoopla!
28:32There we go.
28:33Look at that.
28:33Yeah.
28:34There we go.
28:35That's it.
28:36There we go.
28:36There we go.
28:38I spilled it a little bit.
28:40I'm not getting the job as a barista here anytime soon.
28:44One milk coffee.
28:46Oh.
28:46Anyone want a coffee?
28:48Anyone?
28:48Coffee?
28:49Fresh coffee.
28:50Come on, get your coffee.
28:52How much is it?
28:53This is 22 for milk coffee.
28:55Oh, 22,000...
28:56Yeah.
28:57Oh, 25.
28:59Hold on a second.
29:00So we're getting three.
29:02Three, hang on.
29:03One, two, three.
29:05Yeah, perfect.
29:06There you go.
29:07Okay.
29:08Come on.
29:10I can get used to this.
29:14If my comedy doesn't work out, I'll sell coffee.
29:21I had no idea that Vietnam is one of the biggest coffee exporters in the world.
29:26Open 24-7, this place sees a day in the life of Saigonese, caffeinating the early workers
29:32right through to the party-goers at 2 a.m.
29:34Nice to meet you.
29:35Thank you so much.
29:36I guess in an age where, you know, young people want everything, like, right then and there,
29:43you know, you want to go to Starbucks or something and get your latte.
29:47It's really heartening to hear that actually they're rediscovering this traditional, this
29:53authentic way of making coffee.
29:55I thought that was lovely.
30:10The bustling streets offer up many unexpected moments of human connection.
30:16Oh.
30:20I didn't expect a car to come down here.
30:23The street vendors, mostly women, are mobile merchants of charm and persistence
30:28and masters at selling you things you never knew you needed.
30:32That's nice.
30:32Okay.
30:33All right, then.
30:33I'll get these ones.
30:35And a fan.
30:36Can I get a fan?
30:37I've only got 100,000 dong.
30:39How much do the fan and the magnets?
30:41This one...
30:42I've got 100.
30:43250.
30:44I've only got 100.
30:45100 to three.
30:46Oh, right.
30:47Okay.
30:47I need more dong.
30:49Can I get a fan?
30:50Yeah.
30:50All right, there you go.
30:52Yeah.
30:52Okay.
30:54Come on.
30:54Come on.
30:55Yeah, come on.
30:58Have a good luck.
30:59Thank you so much.
30:59Good luck.
31:01Oh, look at that.
31:02Oh, yes.
31:05Why?
31:05Why, Mr. Darcy?
31:08All right, I have a hard time appearing coquettish these days.
31:15As the sun dips, the city shifts up a gear.
31:19Food stalls flicker into action.
31:21Markets serve up their sometimes dubious delights.
31:25I'm not eating one of them.
31:26Oh, my God.
31:27The streets thrum with life.
31:30It's not just noise.
31:31It's the soundtrack of a city clocking off and coming alive.
31:36This evening, I'm searching for a spot to quench my thirst.
31:39En route, I've become distracted by the nightly ballet of commuters.
31:46It's what I think, what do they all do?
31:48Where are they all going?
31:49All these little individual stories of, like, lives, you know.
31:54There's all manner of things that have been carried, you know.
31:58It's an entire sort of culture of itself.
32:02Everyone's got some purpose.
32:03They're driving somewhere.
32:05They've taken their family.
32:07They've got their business on the back.
32:09You know, it's an inexpensive way of getting around.
32:12It's quicker to get around through the traffic, you know.
32:16Kind of mind-boggling, really.
32:19I'm going to have another crack at this crossing the road caper.
32:27It might leave you asking, why did the Bill cross the road?
32:31Or, more importantly, why did he try to cross it again?
32:37I'm convinced, after a few days here, I've nailed it.
32:40Literally everything my parents have told me not to do,
32:45blunder out into traffic.
32:48Madness.
32:50I reckon I've earned myself a drink at the local institution,
32:55the Caravelle Hotel,
32:56once a popular wartime correspondence bar.
33:02And they do a very good passion fruit sour.
33:05And now a place to share an intimate moment with Novak.
33:11That's sort of disconcerting, isn't it?
33:15Looking right up his trouser leg.
33:24On my travels, I've become fond of a bit of a sketch.
33:29Some people take photos.
33:31I enjoy drawing the sights.
33:33In this case, Vietnam's national flower.
33:35You know, it's become a symbol of resilience.
33:41The fact that the lotus blooms from mud.
33:45Something beautiful can grow.
33:47In a way, it's symbolic of Vietnam in many ways.
33:52It's this idea of independence, of freedom,
33:55growing out of something that was a time of great hardship.
34:00And you see it around.
34:01The lotus is a kind of common thread
34:04amongst a lot of the visual imagery in the city.
34:06There's a big fountain here with the lotus in the middle.
34:09But you often see it in cafes and the insignia
34:13and designs of lots of places.
34:15I kind of think it's an appropriate image of this country.
34:18And this city, particularly.
34:25It's quite difficult to draw it, though,
34:26because loads of bikes are in the way.
34:32Uncle Ho, he's sort of giving his veneration
34:35behind the lotus in front of City Hall
34:38with the flag gently fluttering above.
34:41There's the three words which are sort of almost like
34:44bound up with Ho Chi Minh's kind of philosophy.
34:48And that was, you know, independence, freedom, happiness.
34:54And on these official documents,
34:58there's a hyphen between each one.
35:00Independence, freedom, happiness.
35:02And apparently some Vietnamese mischievously
35:05interpret that as a subtraction mark.
35:09So what that document could be interpreted as
35:14is independence minus freedom minus happiness.
35:20It's a little bit rascally.
35:23But I can see why.
35:30I love slowing things down in the middle of a fast-paced city
35:34and staying on trend.
35:36I'm going to post this picture into the future
35:38in old-school snail mail style
35:41at the Saigon Central Post Office,
35:43a famous landmark here.
35:45I shall send this symbol of Vietnam to my final destination,
35:49Ha Long Bay,
35:50like a time capsule to test the postal system
35:53and to see if it still resonates when it gets there.
35:55All right. That's it. He's there.
35:58So I've got the stamp.
36:01Now I've just got a post-it.
36:07That's it. It's sent. It's in the post. I've got my receipt.
36:10Next time I see it, it'll be in Ha Long Bay.
36:17I'm getting the feeling that Ho Chi Minh City is a place
36:20where the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.
36:23And for a lover of the spontaneous, that suits me fine.
36:27This is a place that looks like a modern, thriving city
36:32that just wants to get on.
36:34There's a sense of energy, determinism, dynamism about the place.
36:38Look out. There's a triceratops coming.
36:43Sometimes, for me,
36:45staying focused on the job at hand can be hard.
36:48Oh, look.
36:48You can get little...
36:49You can get little, um, scooters.
36:53How much for one of these?
36:56Oh, s***.
36:59Despite having a schedule to keep to,
37:01the director is indulging me.
37:03We have four minutes to get over there and nail the ferry.
37:07It's all right.
37:07It's all right. It's sorted.
37:08OK, ten minutes.
37:09All right.
37:12Oh!
37:21It's a lot faster than I thought.
37:24Oh, s***.
37:26Oh, s***.
37:27Sorry.
37:30Oh.
37:31Hang on. I'm in the wrong gear.
37:33F***.
37:42Right.
37:43We have to go.
37:46OK, let's go.
37:50Whoo!
37:51Whoo!
37:51I'm getting the wind-up from the crew,
37:53so I've got to get moving.
37:55Brilliant.
37:57Yeah, we've got to get the boat.
38:00I was having too much fun on the crazy go-kart.
38:05Best 50,000 dong I've ever spent.
38:12Gliding across the calm of the Saigon River offers a moment to reflect on the rhythm of this city that's
38:19constantly reinventing itself.
38:21I'm heading to meet a local band to experience my first foray into Vietnamese music.
38:27What will be the sound of this city?
38:36I'm heading off for my first experience of contemporary Vietnamese music.
38:41It's exciting.
38:43I've got no idea what to expect.
38:45It wasn't long ago here, playing Western music would get you arrested.
38:49But times have changed and now I'm about to meet a group who are rewriting the rules.
38:55I've heard about this local band that blend traditional Vietnamese folk music with modern rock.
39:05So I thought I'd come and check them out.
39:12Nam Thok are an eight-member band and one of the trailblazers of the folk rock genre.
39:17And I'm fascinated to hear how they fuse authentic Vietnamese sounds with contemporary instruments.
39:28This band use a mix of traditional ancient instruments with amplified guitars and metal drumming.
39:36It seems an incongruous mix, but they managed to pull it off.
39:40Wow! Fantastic! Amazing! Wow!
39:45Thank you!
39:46Is this common in Vietnam?
39:48No, nobody play that.
39:50Mix folk and rock together.
39:52You're sort of like, you know, pioneers really in a way.
39:57It's just amazing. I've never heard anything like it.
40:02It's a measure of the progress of the arts here that Nam Thok are playing this music at all.
40:08I really want to ask you a little bit about these traditional instruments.
40:12This instrument called Dan Zhang.
40:15Dan Zhang. Yeah.
40:17And so you, you strum here.
40:21And then what, and what are you doing here?
40:23You're, you're adjusting the pitch.
40:25Yeah, press.
40:28Oh, I see.
40:30So you can have vibrato or you, or pitch change, right? Okay.
40:35Yes.
40:40Wow, it's beautiful.
40:50Wow, good technique.
40:53Could you explain to me a little bit about this?
40:55Yes.
40:55So we call that Dan Bao.
40:57Dan Bao.
40:58Dan Bao, only one string.
41:00The Dan Bao is an ancient one string zither that has been adapted and amplified.
41:05The stem is bent to change the pitch of the string.
41:08Wow.
41:12Yes.
41:14Yes.
41:15Yes.
41:15Wow.
41:18Amazing.
41:19It's so difficult to play.
41:22I mean, it takes an enormous amount of skill because you, it's about the, you have to feel the, where
41:31the sound is coming from.
41:33Yeah.
41:33We have a gift for you.
41:35Oh, thank you.
41:36There we go.
41:36Yeah.
41:36Here we go.
41:37This is nice.
41:39Vietnamese.
41:40Yeah.
41:42This is lovely.
41:44Okay.
41:45And this is the frog.
41:47Okay.
41:48So.
41:50It's like a frog.
41:51Like a frog sound.
41:52Right.
41:53Okay.
41:54So that's him.
41:56And then this little.
41:58That's great.
41:59Yes.
41:59Thank you so much.
42:00We have another song and you, you can try an instrument.
42:03I can join, I can join in.
42:04I'll play piano and frog.
42:06And frog.
42:07Yeah.
42:09Prepare for a world first.
42:11Okay.
42:12Vietnamese folk rock, Bill Bailey style.
42:14Oh yeah!
42:16In my heart, Tony.
42:16Do you just click?
42:26Did you hear?
42:33Hey, yes.
42:34Back to you, too.
42:36Oh, no!
43:06Oh!
43:07Thank you!
43:08Thank you!
43:09Yeah!
43:11Fantastic!
43:12So when are we going on tour?
43:16I'm available, you know.
43:17I can come and jam with you guys any time.
43:21Nantok!
43:22Nantok!
43:23Nantok!
43:25Three, two, one.
43:28Nantok and Mill!
43:30Yeah!
43:36I actually love this city. It's a dynamic, bustling metropolis, full of resourcefulness, full of young people, full of bikes,
43:48millions and millions of them.
43:50And as a city dweller, I kind of, I love the energy of it.
43:54And it's a place of contrast as well, because let's not forget, you know, 50 years ago, the fall of
44:00Saigon is still present in people's memories.
44:04And as I travel throughout this country, I want to find out more about that balance.
44:09A place which acknowledges the past, but is embracing the future.
44:19Next time on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
44:21The lofted, verdant hills of Dalat.
44:25Nothing says I love you like 64 knackered flamingos.
44:28My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
44:31I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
44:34I love you, too.
44:34I love you, too.
44:35I love you, too.
44:47I love you, too.
45:03leness of the way out in defeats of lots and engaging from top Alcohol.
45:04One
45:04Three
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