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00:01As I explore Vietnam's capital, Hanoi,
00:04I'm resisting the urge to cull a few of these tiny stools
00:07that bedevil this great nation.
00:10I really want to kick one of those stools into the water.
00:16Everywhere I turn, there's one of these spinal tormentors,
00:20but I'm on my best behaviour.
00:22This stool will live to bend the knees of another hapless giant.
00:26Not today, Beardy.
00:32Vietnam.
00:33Of course, it's a place of tea plantations,
00:37traffic, temples.
00:39But then, it's something else entirely.
00:45Come with me on an unusual...
00:49Unfiltered...
00:50I'm soaked! Look at my trousers!
00:53Unforgettable adventure.
00:56Give me five.
00:57My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents.
01:00I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
01:04As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war...
01:07So it's safe, right?
01:09I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions...
01:12Am I in the right place?
01:14Embrace new experiences, even my own future.
01:18Rob them, you're smart and testing.
01:21Is there any, you know, good news?
01:24Navigate tight spaces.
01:26I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
01:28Make some new friends.
01:31Separated at birth!
01:32This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters...
01:35This is your whole life in a plant.
01:37...and kindred spirits.
01:39An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on Earth.
01:44Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam Adventure.
02:02Well, it's six o'clock in the morning, here in Hanoi.
02:09And the city's waking up.
02:11Lots of people taking part in these sort of morning activities.
02:16It's joggers are out.
02:18The tai chi and the yoga practitioners are all out.
02:23There's a lot of activity going on.
02:25And I'm just about to take part in a bit of laughing yoga.
02:33Before I giggle my way to enlightenment or perhaps a public humiliation, I want to show you where I am.
02:40The name Hanoi means the city inside the river, and it's a nod to its location, nestled between river bends
02:47in the northern part of the country.
02:49This is a chance for me to explore Vietnam's spiritual side, from life to death, and all the curious rituals
02:57in between.
02:58I'm told that laughter is the best medicine.
03:01Well, not if you're an asthmatic like me.
03:03But I'm open to persuasion.
03:05Oh!
03:07Hey!
03:08Ah!
03:10Oh!
03:13As a comedian, it seems a little odd to start with the laughing and work backwards, but hey, when in
03:18Hanoi...
03:19Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:22Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:24Vin, our instructor, has some tricks up his sleeve to keep it light.
03:28Ooh!
03:32What, this?
03:33Yes.
03:33Talk, talk, talk.
03:34Like this?
03:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:36Oh, like that?
03:36Oh, yeah.
03:38Okay.
03:42I feel this could be the point of no return.
03:46I'm in danger of losing my mind.
03:47I'm in danger.
03:51Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
03:57Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
04:02Oh, my God!
04:03I don't.
04:04I don't know.
04:16I don't know!
04:18I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
04:22I don't know!
04:23Yay!
04:26Now, for the silent treatment.
04:29How long can you go without laughing?
04:32I like this game.
04:33One, two, three!
04:35One, two, three!
04:43I'm just warming up now.
04:47Letting go is so liberating.
04:49What an absolute joy to be lost in the moment.
04:52Completely.
04:59As someone for whom laughter is my business,
05:02I'm interested to know what they get out of it.
05:05In my job in London, I'm a comedian.
05:09I tell jokes.
05:11Get laughs.
05:12So, perhaps we could do that.
05:15I'll tell a joke.
05:16No, no, no, no.
05:18No.
05:18Don't need anything.
05:19No.
05:21We laugh for no reason.
05:23For no reason?
05:24Well, that's literally the whole point of my life.
05:27Well, that's me out of a job.
05:28Normally, my body don't know which is real.
05:34Your body reacts?
05:36Yes.
05:36Like, it's a genuine laugh.
05:39Yeah.
05:40With or without a comedic set-up, your body is getting the benefits.
05:44Oh, oh.
05:44Vin and the women who do this between 5 and 6 a.m. every day
05:48tell me they do it for the endorphins and the positive energy.
05:51Vietnamese people talk together.
05:54If we don't save the time to do the morning exercise.
05:58Hospital.
05:59Yeah.
05:59It becomes the patient.
06:01You'll get, you'll get ill.
06:02Keeping positive.
06:04Yeah.
06:05In the, here as well.
06:06You've been doing this, what, 14 years now?
06:11Laughing every day.
06:13Every day.
06:14Yeah.
06:16These lovely ladies remind me of my mum, who I lost in 2005.
06:20Like them, she loved to laugh, to nurture, and look after everyone.
06:25Oh.
06:26One, two, three.
06:28Yay!
06:31Ha, ha, ha!
06:36That was great fun.
06:38I actually feel quite energised by that.
06:41Laughing's hard.
06:43You know, really gets the blood pumping, gets the air going through the lungs.
06:48It's a workout in itself.
06:50Better than jogging, anyway.
06:54The Red River brings a vitality, a life force to the city.
06:58It symbolises fertility, a deep-rooted connection between nature and people.
07:05Along with the river, there's another man-made thoroughfare that powers straight through the centre of Hanoi.
07:11It's almost unbelievable and defies logic.
07:15I need to see it to believe it.
07:19So, behind me is the famous train street here in Hanoi.
07:23And this was built by the French in 1902 and was used as a regular train line.
07:32But, in recent times, it's become a hugely popular tourist attraction,
07:37because the train line runs through buildings and houses and cafes,
07:41which are built right up to the tracks.
07:44Incredibly, a large, unyielding train passes through this press of humanity several times a day,
07:50often not even on time.
07:52Well, apparently, one of the things to do here,
07:54you get a bottle top off a beer bottle and you put it on the rail,
07:58and the train goes past and flatten it.
08:01So, when in Rome...
08:09Any minute now, the 11.23 service to Ha Long City will be barrelling through here,
08:14blowing the froth off these cappuccinos.
08:16What?
08:18The train is about to come through here,
08:21and there's people ordering things from the cafe across the other side of the tracks.
08:27There's people shouting, it's mint.
08:32Here it comes.
08:36Oh, my Lord.
08:38Oh, idiot.
08:41What the ****?
08:46Oh, my ****.
08:49Oh, my ****.
08:52Oh, my ****.
08:57Oh, my God.
08:59Oh, my God.
09:00Oh, my God.
09:00Honestly, this is a health and safety nightmare.
09:05Stop coming.
09:06This is the last carriage.
09:09Yeah.
09:09Woo!
09:10Whee!
09:11Woo-hoo!
09:16Absolute madness.
09:20And here...
09:22Here's my bottle top.
09:25Well, I think I've got myself a new plectrum.
09:30That was, yeah, quite an experience.
09:33I mean, it's a big train.
09:35It's not just a little, like a tube train.
09:37It's a big, proper inter-Sydney train.
09:40Huge rolling stock.
09:42Enormous great thing.
09:44A foot from your nose.
09:49After any near-death experience, I always feel peckish.
09:53Perhaps it's a renewed appetite for life.
09:56So I'm heading to the old town, away from the touristy buds,
10:00seeking sustenance for the mind and for the body.
10:06It seems like a lovely spot to just hang out and have a plate of noodles.
10:13It's quite different from other cities in Vietnam
10:17inasmuch as a lot of people still live in the city.
10:23It feels more like village life.
10:27People are still living in these areas.
10:31It feels a little more lively.
10:36I love it.
10:37Kind of reminds me of home.
10:40And this is delicious.
10:42Oh, my word.
10:45But just when you think all your needs are catered for,
10:48a street vendor walks past selling everything at the kitchen sink.
10:52In fact, she's probably got that as well.
10:55Oh.
10:57Oh.
10:59How much for one?
11:0120?
11:02OK. I'll give you that one.
11:07It's OK.
11:08But it doesn't go all the way down.
11:11You drive a hard bargain.
11:15So the initial price was 100, and I said,
11:19no, I'm not paying that.
11:21Because it's only a back scratcher.
11:24So I went in low at 20.
11:29But she sort of haggled me up to 30.
11:32So I don't know.
11:33I think I've got...
11:34I think we've both got a good deal.
11:3730,000 dongs, not even a quid.
11:39But its scratchability is worth 10 times that.
11:43That is hitting the spot.
11:49What?
11:50What are you saying?
11:54What? Oh, down the shirt!
11:56Oh, I didn't think that!
11:59I'm trying to put it down the back of my shirt.
12:01I don't need that.
12:03You can scratch it through my shirt, thank you.
12:12Despite having no official religion,
12:15Vietnam is nonetheless a deeply spiritual place.
12:19Family shrines adorn the households throughout the nation.
12:24I've never been one for the spirit world,
12:26but I'm here to meet someone who apparently has a great affinity
12:30with these matters.
12:32So bearing gifts,
12:34I come to find out what the universe has in store for me.
12:38Hello.
12:38Lam.
12:39Yes, hello.
12:40Bill.
12:40Lovely to meet you.
12:41Nice to meet you too.
12:42I brought some offerings.
12:44Yes.
12:45For the temple.
12:47Mr. Lam practices Dao Tan Mo,
12:50the worship of mother goddesses,
12:52which was established in Vietnam in the 16th century.
12:56It's a branch of Vietnamese folk religion,
12:58which is more shamanic in nature.
13:02In our culture,
13:05the mother is the biggest.
13:08Everything big is a female.
13:11For example, the great rival,
13:14it means the female rival.
13:18Oh, I see.
13:18So greatness is associated with femininity.
13:22We believe in the great,
13:24in the great of the mother.
13:26Right.
13:27His path to this role wasn't straightforward.
13:30He studied medicine abroad
13:31before finding his home as a spiritual practitioner.
13:35What do people believe in this religion,
13:37Vietnamese religion?
13:38What happens when you die?
13:40We have the mother goddess of the earth.
13:44Like you come home,
13:46just relax.
13:48I'm looking forward to that.
13:50Relaxing.
13:51Yeah, just relaxing.
13:52Just relaxing.
13:53Even though fortune telling is seen by the government
13:56as superstitious,
13:57it's still a widely used custom.
13:59Lam, now the reason I'm here partly
14:02is to make some offerings to meet you,
14:04and also, I believe, to find out a little bit about my own future,
14:11and maybe any advice you have for me.
14:14So, the first, you must tell me your full name.
14:18Okay, Bill Bailey.
14:20Bill Bailey.
14:21Years of birth.
14:221965.
14:24And your place?
14:26The place where I live?
14:28Yes.
14:28Is in London.
14:30Can you give me the full address?
14:34Well, if I give the full address,
14:36people come round my house.
14:38Yes.
14:40I can't give you that.
14:43How my address matters is beyond me,
14:46but it's clearly part of the process.
14:49This year's is not a good year of you.
14:52Oh.
14:55Get a little problem,
14:57your small intestine.
15:03It can be worse.
15:05Good, good worse.
15:05And become the disease.
15:07Right.
15:09Around October.
15:10Okay.
15:12Because of the job,
15:14or because of something like that,
15:16you have too much the problem to take care in your life,
15:24and you don't focus to yourself.
15:27Yeah.
15:28That's true.
15:29It's so you must orchestrate your tales.
15:32Okay.
15:32Because your health.
15:34Your health is not good.
15:37Because your...
15:38He continued in this downbeat vein for a while.
15:40Honestly, it wasn't that great.
15:42Yes.
15:42Sounds pretty bleak.
15:43Is there any, you know, good news?
15:47Good news?
15:49Anything positive I can think about?
15:54Nope.
15:55Well, I better get praying for my small intestine.
16:04When I first went in there, I was a little skeptical.
16:06I have to say, quite a few of the things that Lam said were right on the money.
16:15And...
16:17Really quite good advice.
16:21So...
16:24I guess that's what I'll take from it.
16:27You know?
16:30Look after yourself.
16:32You know?
16:33Don't work too hard.
16:35Look out for others.
16:38Let them be who they want to be.
16:39I mean, all of that is...
16:41is good advice.
16:48As I reluctantly process my mortality and consider my bleak future, I need a distraction.
16:54Something more in the here and now.
16:57So, days on the road have left me a little scruffy.
17:00In Hanoi, you can get a tidy up at the side of the road.
17:04I looked in the mirror the other day and I was looking a bit unkempt.
17:08And I just spotted that there's these barbers that have set up these little street barber shops.
17:15So I thought I'd come and get a bit of a trim.
17:18And I'm going to ask him if he can shave my ears, because my ears are getting a little bit
17:23hairy.
17:25There's a barber at the end of my road in London that I go to often.
17:30But I tell you what, he could learn a thing or two from this fella.
17:33This is next level grooming.
17:37It's getting in my ears.
17:39They really need it doing.
17:40It's ridiculous.
17:42I don't know what happens when you get older.
17:43Your hair disappears off the top of your head.
17:46It just seems to go into your brain and come out of your ears.
17:49My ears have never been hairier.
17:52Wow.
17:54That's the cleanest that ear's been in years.
17:58That's the sort of thing I clean the car with.
18:01But it works.
18:02This is less of a barbershop, more a public spectacle.
18:06I can't imagine getting my nose shaved on a street in London.
18:10But this is Hanoi, where it's de rigueur.
18:12Well, that was fantastic.
18:14I mean, I feel great.
18:17I just wanted a shave and a trim, but I got the full works.
18:22This guy, he's a top barber. He knows what he's doing.
18:25I feel like a million dollars.
18:28I feel ready to face the day.
18:33As I strut around Hanoi with my striking new exterior,
18:37it's my interior I'm focused on.
18:40Mr Lum's insights into what the future might hold for my health
18:43are playing on my mind.
18:46Hello.
18:47Hello.
18:48Hello.
18:49Hi.
18:52I went to a priest and he said that my small intestine
18:57might give me a problem.
19:03I must know clearly what the problem is.
19:06Oh, okay.
19:09I don't know what the problem is.
19:11That's the problem.
19:14It's not an unreasonable request from shop owner Jenny
19:17here on Lan Ong Street, a famous area dedicated to traditional medicine.
19:22I want to be a bit healthier.
19:26Jenny has a degree in traditional Vietnamese medicine,
19:29a practice influenced by the Chinese.
19:31It's a holistic approach, strictly herbal products
19:34that aim to restore balance in the body.
19:37traditional medicine, you can cooking, you can drink.
19:40This bag is a type of leaf that can treat constipation.
19:46Yeah, I'll keep that in mind.
19:48This one is the tea.
19:50Tea.
19:51This is for everything.
19:54Reduce aging, weight loss, liver detox.
19:57This, yeah, this is exactly it.
19:59Yeah, exactly.
20:00Sounds like the ultimate wonder herb.
20:02The mythical cure that promises to fix everything
20:05from my gut to my existential dread.
20:07I've taken the priest's advice.
20:09I've decided to take better care of myself.
20:12First step, I've got some traditional medicine,
20:15some remedies for a bit of gut health, a bit of general health.
20:20Here, remedies like this are integrated into Vietnam's public health system.
20:27And it's almost like the West is slowly catching up to this.
20:32Medicinal shopping isn't just about curing what ails you.
20:36Some good old fashioned retail therapy can also do the trick.
20:39You just need to know where to go.
20:42With my mum still on my mind, and word of a Vietnamese tradition
20:46that honours those no longer with us, I'm meeting up with a local guide,
20:50Danny, to help me shop.
20:54Just on the way here, I saw there was a shop selling lampshades.
20:58Mm-hmm.
20:59Then there was a shop selling balloons.
21:01Yes.
21:01Then there was one selling fruit, then there's flowers.
21:04Yes.
21:05Flowers everywhere.
21:06So you can see the whole street.
21:07No mouths here with designer brands.
21:09Danny tells me Lanong Street is the best place to buy items
21:12to celebrate a special custom here.
21:14It involves fire, paper, and the afterlife.
21:19It's a very traditional thing that we have.
21:23Like, we believe our ancestor or our dead grandmother, grandfather,
21:28they will continue living in another place.
21:31So, on the middle day of the month, we were burning the money paper,
21:36or maybe once I saw my mum burn a mansion.
21:40A mansion?
21:41Made of paper.
21:42Like a huge house made of paper?
21:44A mansion, yes.
21:45Who was that for?
21:46Oh, for my grandmother.
21:48Your grandmother?
21:49Yes.
21:49So she's got a nice place to live in the other world.
21:53Sure.
21:54Like, she will have a mansion,
21:55and she can invite friends to join her for parties.
21:58Right.
21:59Yeah.
21:59We believe that whatever happens, whatever we do in this life,
22:03will be continuing that life.
22:06I'm intrigued by the local custom to honour loved ones
22:09by buying handcrafted paper effigies and burning them.
22:13The idea is these items will pass through the smoke
22:16and rise up into the next life to be with them.
22:19You would provide people with things that they might need?
22:21Yes, money, car...
22:23Money, clothes?
22:24Clothes, of course.
22:25Food?
22:25Yeah.
22:27Sometimes.
22:27A car?
22:28Bit of food.
22:29Hang on.
22:29How do you know that you can drive a car in the other world, though?
22:33Well, for people who have to drive a licence,
22:36that would not be a big problem.
22:37Right.
22:37You need a driving licence, though.
22:39Yeah.
22:39You couldn't just assume that you could drive there.
22:43Yeah.
22:44Or if you're not sure about that, you burn the horse.
22:47Burn a horse, right.
22:49Yep.
22:49Just to sort of cover all your bases for travel.
22:52Mm-hmm.
22:52So we're going to hang these on that tree.
22:54Paper effigies are an art form in their own right.
22:57A symbol of the care we still have for those who have left this world.
23:01It's a tiny little dog.
23:03Oh, look at this.
23:05Is this something that you would burn?
23:08Yeah, it does look like what my mum's used to burn.
23:11Oh, my word.
23:13Yeah.
23:14It's an entire mansion.
23:16It comes with a dog.
23:17It comes with a car, a dog, a fan, like a dining table,
23:22a little bonsai tree.
23:24This is amazing.
23:25One, two, three, four, five.
23:26My mum, Madryn, left us 20 years ago,
23:28and I'd love to send her something she'd really appreciate.
23:31I'm thinking about getting a little, uh,
23:35something to burn for my mum.
23:38Sure.
23:38I mean, are there other items here, do you think?
23:42Do you think I might be able to find a radio or a music?
23:46You love music, you see?
23:47Well, probably.
23:49That's what you're looking for.
23:51That's it?
23:52Yeah.
23:53That's ex-, that is exactly it.
23:56It's a Toshiba radio.
24:00That is exactly it.
24:01Right, OK.
24:01I think your mum's going to love it.
24:03My old pal, Sean Locke, left us in 2021,
24:06and I'd like to send him something special too.
24:10Who wouldn't love a big horse like that?
24:12Yeah.
24:14They're so demanding, aren't they, the restless spirits of the dead?
24:18Yeah.
24:20They're always after something.
24:22They're pretty more demanding in that life than they were in this.
24:25Yeah.
24:27Well, my mum said they are dead, just give them what they want.
24:31Why not?
24:33Yeah.
24:33Fair enough.
24:34Everything.
24:35A radio and a horse.
24:36Two items I didn't see myself buying and made out of paper
24:40that will soon go up in flames when I do a ceremonial burn before I leave Hanoi.
24:45As you do.
24:52In the centre of Hanoi, in its beating heart, stands something immovable,
24:57the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
25:00A monumental, brutalist structure that houses the preserved body
25:04of the communist revolutionary.
25:06But for many, it's more than a monument.
25:09It's a pilgrimage.
25:10And for me, it's a starting point.
25:12To understand this country, you must also understand Uncle Ho.
25:17Hello.
25:18Hi.
25:21Two.
25:22High five.
25:24So I'm here at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum here in Hanoi.
25:30And I'm here to get in with literally thousands of people.
25:36I really get a sense that coming here means a huge amount to these people.
25:42It gives you an idea of the sense of occasion that this place has.
25:46The sense of reverence people have for it.
25:49A sense of someone more than just a person.
25:53He's like...
25:54He's the soul of the nation in many ways.
25:58It's important to remember that whilst Ho Chi Minh is a revered figure in communist Vietnam's official narrative,
26:06he was also a deeply polarizing figure internationally, especially amongst Vietnamese people abroad.
26:12I just want a quick point.
26:15We can't film inside the mausoleum.
26:18So I'm going to go in and have a quick look.
26:20And I'll report back on the other side.
26:24It's been a long wait and I'm not sure what to expect.
26:28He's been here since 1975 and I wonder what he'll look like.
26:32Well, I've just come out of the mausoleum.
26:35First impressions I got was the temperature drops.
26:40It's quite dimly lit.
26:41You walk up a series of stairs.
26:43You turn around into the actual centre of the mausoleum where his body is lying and there's no time to
26:49stop and take it in.
26:50You can't take a picture.
26:51And there's four soldiers on permanent guard around the body.
26:58But I guess that adds to the air of the mystique.
27:02Apparently, his final wish was that his body be cremated and the ashes scattered around Vietnam.
27:09But in the end, he was persuaded to be embalmed and his body kept here in a mausoleum.
27:17By exceeding those wishes, he was putting the needs and the demands of the people and the nation first.
27:27Even beyond his own wishes for what would happen to him when he died.
27:38It's clear how deep his legacy runs.
27:41The face of the revolution and guiding force through war is ever present here.
27:46As the capital of the north and the military heart of the communist resistance,
27:51Hanoi became a target for heavy US bombing.
27:55American Thunder Chief jets plaster important communist targets in North Vietnam at and near Hanoi.
28:01The Kep airfield sustains heavy damage in two separate attacks.
28:08And as we remember 50 years since the end of the war,
28:11to help me understand how the city became a powerful symbol of national unity and resistance,
28:16I'm meeting a legendary US war veteran, Chuck Searcy,
28:21who didn't just leave the destruction behind.
28:23He returned to clean it up.
28:26We're standing on the Long Bien Bridge,
28:29which was a kind of a major connection across the river.
28:34Quite a significant strategic target.
28:37A symbol of the tenacity of the Vietnamese that they kept rebuilding it.
28:43I don't think we Americans bombing this bridge kept it out of commission for very long.
28:48And piecing it back together with, as we say back home, chewing gum and bailing wire.
28:55But they made it work.
28:58Chuck served as a US intelligence analyst, returning to Hanoi to offer support to the community.
29:05At least five million tons of bombs dropped on Vietnam by the US.
29:11And that is more than all the bombs in World War II.
29:14Just amazingly destructive and terrifying for the people here.
29:18Yeah.
29:18A lot of Vietnamese still remember that.
29:21He's dedicated over three decades of his life to healing the scars of conflict in Vietnam,
29:26dealing with the deadly legacy of unexploded mines.
29:30We found that the people of Vietnam were so welcoming in their attitudes toward us.
29:36I was astonished by their forgiveness.
29:39The legacy of that, the sort of amount of ordinance that got dropped,
29:46there was a significant amount of that that failed to go off.
29:52And that really was what sort of prompted your work.
29:57The Pentagon estimated that about 10% of the ordinance that we dropped on Vietnam did not detonate as designed.
30:04Hmm.
30:05So it didn't explode, it didn't, it was lying on the ground for five, 10, 20, now 50 years.
30:11A lot of that ordinance is still there.
30:13And it's still deadly.
30:14It's still a threat to children going to school, the farmers plowing their fields.
30:21Meeting Chuck is a reminder of the devastating impact the war had on Vietnam.
30:26But you can't tell that story without getting the perspective of a local veteran.
30:34My guide, Kim, is taking me to meet a man who served under Uncle Ho.
30:39An ex-counter-intelligence officer who has now amassed a huge collection of wartime relics.
30:44That's the minion.
30:46That's the minion.
30:46That's the minion.
30:47Right.
30:48Dao Ha is a retired lieutenant colonel from the People's Public Security Forces.
30:53He rarely talks about his work, it's all top secret.
30:57But he's surrounded by artefacts that tell stories of those who served.
31:01This is a treasure trove.
31:04It's every kind of things, furniture and statues and...
31:09This is an extraordinary collection you have here, Dao.
31:12Can you tell me, what are these things up here?
31:18These were used to carry food by the soldiers.
31:28I got it.
31:32Classic mess tin, so you could put your food in there, put it on a fire.
31:36Yes.
31:37Surrounded by physical reminders of the war,
31:40I want to know how a veteran, half a century on,
31:43makes sense of the conflict that has clearly shaped his life.
31:47What are your thoughts now, 50 years after the end of the war?
31:55We don't dwell in the past too much.
31:58We should unite and we should work together and look forward to a better future together.
32:04Wise words from someone who's now a custodian of the relics of the war.
32:09There's so many.
32:10I'm warning that.
32:134,000?
32:15Have you got a spare one? I mean, I'll buy it off him.
32:17He won't sell you one.
32:18Oh, no, I don't want a free one.
32:21But if he's got 4,000, he's not going to miss it.
32:25His collection doesn't just preserve history, it offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the soldiers who lived it.
32:32This was used to carry a soldier's ashes.
32:36He died in the war and his comrades collect his ashes and put them in his bag and carried it
32:46back to his family.
32:47And then his family brought it to him.
32:50Is this like a radio?
32:52Daoha's place is recognised as a bona fide local museum of war artefacts.
32:56A fascinating archive and a great resource for those studying that era.
33:02It's...
33:03And have a look at this.
33:04It says it's safe, right?
33:09It won't, it won't explode.
33:11It won't go off.
33:13I'm going to put this down very gently.
33:18What sort of bomb is this?
33:19My friend Daoha keeps upsizing.
33:22Every bomb's getting bigger.
33:30Preserving the past is a way to honour those who served.
33:34And also an opportunity to heal wounds from his time serving.
33:38But for Daoha, his music is the best form of therapy.
33:42So apart from a collector of water bottles and bike parts and disused weapons and all the environmental work you
33:51do, you sing songs as well?
33:53For him, he just writes what feels right to him, how he feels about his own mother.
34:00A renowned composer, this song was written on the anniversary of his mum's death when he was visiting her grave.
34:35The meaning of the song is...
34:37He writes from a childhood memory of his mum in the middle of the green fields.
34:46She's working in the rain to bring the young Daoha food.
34:50And he wishes the rain to stop and that his mum doesn't need to suffer.
35:00When Daoha grew up, he joined the army, he left home, and when he came back, she was gone.
35:08When I came back home and a garden, she opened up my garden in the middle of the young Daoha
35:20family.
35:20Oh, that was...
35:24Yeah.
35:25That was brilliant.
35:30my time across this great nation of vietnam so far has been an absolute delight especially when
35:36it comes to mixing with locals but today i've met a hanoi native with a bit of an attitude
35:50rude so rude
35:54it's not going well
35:57normally i've got you know a bit of a good oh hang on thanks for telling me you've perked up
36:03hello hello mate hello i'm bringing out all the tricks in the book for mr aloof
36:13what where what is his name pan he's not answering pan oh for god's sake
36:25waste of time that was maybe it's because my uh small intestine is not working dogs can sense it he
36:35thinks there's something wrong with this bloke getting the hell out of here for his small intestine
36:43explodes
36:44hanoi residents it turns out are lovely they just make you work for it he likes a scritch behind the
36:50ear all doggies love that
36:53now i've won over my new friend i can enjoy the local delicacy i came here for
36:58this is the famous egg coffee it was invented here in hanoi in 1940 by an enterprising bartender at the
37:12metropole hotel because during the war milk was scarce so what he came up with was an alternative whipped
37:20egg yolks mixed with condensed milk froth done over coffee it's like a cross between cappuccino and tiramisu
37:33and it's actually delicious i mean he wouldn't want to have more than one of them a month
37:40since mr lum's health advice i'm a bit more conscious of my choices
37:46and it seems my new friend is watching his way too
37:55thou ha inspired me to hear more local music
37:58he told me about a hypnotic vietnamese art form renowned in the north
38:03in vietnam's cultural heartlands there's a haunting and rather beautiful form of traditional music
38:11which dates back a thousand years it's called car true and it's a form of stylized singing
38:20performed by a female vocalist accompanied by traditional lute and percussion efforts across vietnam
38:27of being made to bring it back to life
38:29and i just say that was
38:49I just tell them that was fantastic, I loved it.
38:52This music was often played at special occasions
38:57to commemorate things like the birth of a child
38:59or the signing of a contract,
39:01so there's a real sense of ceremony and occasion about it.
39:05And it's actually quite mesmerising, you know.
39:10I mean, this is ancient music.
39:13It's like a bit of living history.
39:15Listening to it is like a glimpse
39:20into Vietnam's ancient past.
39:31But I noticed that the girls that were singing,
39:34they're quite young, these are like...
39:36Yeah.
39:37This is the next generation.
39:38Our third generation is the casual.
39:42Right, which is great because
39:44there was a time when, you know,
39:47it looked like it might not carry on.
39:50But it's wonderful seeing young people
39:53carrying on the tradition.
40:02Prong and his grandmother, Tum,
40:04are going to try and teach me how to play their music.
40:06First, you have to put the dandai in the right position.
40:11Oh, like this.
40:13Like this.
40:14Like this.
40:14Oh, yes.
40:15OK.
40:17Ah.
40:18All right.
40:29That's good.
40:31Very first dandai lesson from the master.
40:37This instrument is very old.
40:42It's an ancient instrument.
40:43Yeah.
40:43When does it...
40:43When does it date back to?
40:46Maticensury.
40:47This is amazing.
40:48Wow.
40:50At the risk of butchering this pure sound,
40:52I've brought something from the future.
40:54Can I make one change?
40:57Yeah.
40:57I've got my own plectrum.
40:59OK.
40:59I'm used to...
41:00This is very difficult to play this,
41:01but I've got my own.
41:02Yeah.
41:03OK.
41:05Yeah.
41:06So, here we go.
41:18The sounds made by each instrument are unlike anything I've encountered.
41:22You play.
41:23The role of the drum is about praise.
41:26The drummer must hit when the singer sings well.
41:29What happens if you don't play very well?
41:31Like, I've been playing very well.
41:33You don't play the drums.
41:41You don't get any...
41:42There's no drums.
41:43If a singer sings well and doesn't play well,
41:45you don't play the drums.
41:46If a singer sings well and doesn't play well,
41:47you don't play well.
41:47You don't play well.
41:48Yeah.
41:49We don't play well.
41:50The approval drum.
41:53So, I get nothing.
41:54Yeah.
42:05I'm a long way off creating a sound close to what these masters make.
42:09But it's not a bad first attempt.
42:11It was a great privilege to be taught by someone like your grandmother.
42:16Yeah.
42:24I think I got to do something which very few people get to do,
42:28and that is to actually have a bit of a jam with some car-true artists
42:33and learn from the master, learn from someone who's played it their entire life.
42:39So, it's a real privilege to be part of that.
42:43And the music itself is so ethereal.
42:47And the voice seems to come from somewhere else entirely.
42:51It's kind of otherworldly.
42:52And the music itself is so ethereal.
43:10Here on the banks of the Red River just outside Hanoi
43:13is where the ancestors of the Vietnamese people,
43:16the Dong Son culture, first settled.
43:21You could argue this is where Vietnam began,
43:25the birthplace of a nation.
43:33There's a thread running through all my experiences here in Hanoi.
43:37And that is a real sense of reverence for the feminine,
43:41for mothering generally.
43:43I promised myself earlier to burn some effigies to honour my own mother.
43:48And now is that time.
43:51I'm here to embrace this ancient tradition of offering up an effigy
43:55to those who have left us, those in the afterlife.
44:00Things that perhaps people didn't have in this life.
44:04Even mansions and Lamborghinis.
44:06Well, I can tell you now, my mum would have no use for a Lamborghini.
44:10She'd be saying, well, where's the boot?
44:12Where are you going to put the shopping?
44:13Where's the dog going to go?
44:15But what I do know is that she loved to sing along to the radio.
44:20It's one of my earliest memories of her.
44:22And so, I've actually found the perfect offering.
44:26It's actually a portable radio in paper effigy form.
44:36So, this is for you, mum.
44:44Keep singing your songs.
44:56And for my dear friend, British comedian Sean Locke,
44:59who left us too young, I have something for you.
45:06For my old pal Sean, I've got a horse.
45:11Because...
45:13Who wouldn't want a horse?
45:28As the sun dips over the Red River,
45:31I'm taking a moment to contemplate those who've left us behind.
45:35And what a moving, mysterious, and utterly unforgettable time
45:40it's been in Hanoi.
45:50Next time on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
45:53I reckon I've got one more speed in me.
45:56Yeah.
45:57I thought I'd worn the right shoes, but clearly not.
46:01I didn't think I'd be scratching a buffalo's a** today,
46:03but always up for something new.
46:05...
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