- 2 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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 behavior.
00:22This stool will live to bend the knees of another hapless giant.
00:25Not 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 me trousers!
00:53...unforgettable adventure.
00:55Give 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.
01:03As 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.
01:18The problem, you are smart and tested.
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
01:41To one of the most fascinating places on earth.
01:44This is Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
01:51The
01:52The
01:52The
01:52The
01:52The
01:54The
01:56The
01:57The
02:00The
02:01The
02:01The
02:03The
02:03The
02:04The city's waking up.
02:11Lots of people
02:13Taking part in these sort of warning activities.
02:16It's joggers are out.
02:19The tai chi and the yoga practitioners are all out.
02:24There'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,
02:38I want to show you where I am.
02:40The name Hanoi means the city inside the river.
02:44And it's a nod to its location nestled between river bends in the northern part of the country.
02:49This is a chance for me to explore Vietnam's spiritual side.
02:54From life to death and all the curious rituals in 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.
03:13As a comedian, it seems a little odd to start with the laughing and work backwards.
03:17But hey, when in Hanoi...
03:19Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
03:24Vin, our instructor, has some tricks up his sleeve to keep it light.
03:28Woo!
03:32What, this?
03:33Yes.
03:33Talk, talk, talk.
03:34Like this?
03:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:36Oh, like that?
03:36Oh, yeah.
03:42I feel this could be the point of no return.
03:46I'm in danger of losing my mind.
03:48Ha ha ha ha...
03:57Ha ha ha...
04:01I don't know.
04:14I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't
04:21know, I don't know, I don't know, watch it, yay!
04:26Now, for the silent treatment.
04:29How long can you go without laughing? I like this game.
04:33One, two, three.
04:43I'm just warming up now.
04:47Letting go is so liberating, what an absolute joy to be lost in the moment, completely.
04:59As someone for whom laughter is my business, I'm interested to know what they get out of it.
05:05In my job in London, I'm a comedian. I tell jokes. Get laughs. So, perhaps we could do that. I'll
05:15tell a joke.
05:17No, no, no, no. No, don't mean anything. No.
05:21For no reason? Well, 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 what is real.
05:33Your body reacts like it's a genuine laugh.
05:39With or without a comedic set-up, your body is getting the benefits.
05:43Vin and the women who do this between 5 and 6 a.m. every day tell me they do it
05:49for the endorphins and the positive energy.
05:51Vin and Miss people talk together.
05:53If we don't save the time to do the morning exercise.
05:57Hospital.
05:59Yeah, it becomes the patient.
06:01You'll get ill, keeping positive in here as well.
06:07You've been doing this, what, 14 years now?
06:11Laughing every day.
06:13Every day.
06:15These 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.
06:26One, two, three.
06:28Yay!
06:36That was great fun.
06:38I actually feel quite energized by that.
06:41Laughing's hard.
06:42You know, really gets the blood pumping, gets the air going through the lungs.
06:47It's a workout in itself.
06:50Better than jogging, anyway.
06:54The Red River brings a vitality, a life force to the city.
06:59It symbolizes fertility.
07:01A deep-rooted connection between nature and people.
07:05Along with the river, there's another man-made thoroughfare that powers straight through the center 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, which 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, you get a bottle top off a beer bottle,
07:57and you put it on the rail, and the train goes past and flatten it.
08:00So, when in Rome...
08:09Any minute now, the 11.23 service to Harlong City will be barrelling through here,
08:14blowing the froth off these cappuccinos.
08:17What?
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.
08:27People shouting, it's mental.
08:33Here it comes.
08:37Oh, my Lord.
08:38Oh, Gideon.
08:41What the ?
08:46Oh, my God.
08:48Oh, my .
08:59Honestly, this is like a health and safety nightmare.
09:05Stop going.
09:06This is the last carriage.
09:09Woo!
09:10Whee!
09:12Woo-hoo!
09:15Absolute madness.
09:19And here...
09:22Here's my bottle top.
09:25Well, I think I've got myself a new plectrum.
09:30That was, uh, yeah, quite an experience.
09:33I mean, it's a big train.
09:35It's not just a little...
09:36like a tube train.
09:37It's a big, proper, inter-Sydney train.
09:40Huge rolling stop.
09:42Enormous great thing.
09:44A foot from your nose.
09:46Yes.
09:49After any near-death experience, I always feel peckish.
09:53Perhaps it's a renewed appetite for life.
09:57So I'm heading to the old town, away from the touristy bars,
10:00seeking sustenance for the mind and for the body.
10:07It seems like a lovely spot to just, uh, hang out and have a plate of noodles.
10:13It's quite different from other cities in Vietnam, inasmuch 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.
10:39Mmm.
10:41And this is delicious.
10:42Oh, my word.
10:45But just when you think all your needs are catered for,
10:47a street vendor walks past selling everything at the kitchen sink.
10:52In fact, she's probably got that as well.
10:54Oh.
10:57Oh.
10:59How much for one?
11:0120?
11:02Okay.
11:02I'll give you that one.
11:07It's okay.
11:09But 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, you know, 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, I think I've got...
11:34I think we've both got a good deal.
11:3630,000 dongs, not even a quid.
11:39Oh.
11:40But its scratchability is worth 10 times that.
11:43Yes.
11:44That is hitting the spot.
11:49What?
11:50What?
11:51What are you saying?
11:54What?
11:55Oh, 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.
12:03Just scratching through my shirt, thank you.
12:16Despite having no official religion,
12:19Vietnam is nonetheless a deeply spiritual place.
12:22Family shrines adorn the households throughout the nation.
12:27I've never been one for the spirit world.
12:30But I'm here to meet someone who apparently has a great affinity with these matters.
12:36So bearing gifts, I come to find out what the universe has in store for me.
12:41Hello.
12:42Lam.
12:43Yes, hello.
12:43Nice to meet you.
12:44Bill.
12:44Lovely to meet you.
12:45Nice to meet you too.
12:46I brought some offerings.
12:48Yes.
12:48For the temple.
12:50Mr. Lam practices Dao Tan Mo, the worship of mother goddesses,
12:56which was established in Vietnam in the 16th century.
12:59It's a branch of Vietnamese folk religion, which is more shamanic in nature.
13:06In our culture, the mother is the biggest.
13:12Everything big is a female.
13:14For example, the great rival, it means the female rival.
13:21Right.
13:21Oh, I see.
13:22So greatness is associated with femininity.
13:26We believe in the great of the mother.
13:29Right.
13:30His path to this role wasn't straightforward.
13:33He studied medicine abroad before finding his home as a spiritual practitioner.
13:38What do people believe in this religion, Vietnamese religion?
13:42What happens when you die?
13:44We have the mother goddess of the earth.
13:47Like you come home.
13:49Just relax.
13:51I'm looking forward to that.
13:53Relaxing.
13:54Yeah, just relaxing.
13:55Just relaxing.
13:57Even though fortune telling is seen by the government as superstitious,
14:00it's still a widely used custom.
14:02Lan, now the reason I'm here partly is to make some offerings to meet you.
14:08And also, I believe, to find out a little bit about my own future.
14:14And maybe any advice you have for me.
14:17So, the first, you must tell me your full name.
14:22Okay, Bill Bailey.
14:23Bill Bailey.
14:24Years of birth.
14:261965.
14:27And your place?
14:29The place where I live?
14:31Yes.
14:32Is in London.
14:34Can you give me the full address?
14:38Well, if I give the full address, people come around my house.
14:41Yes.
14:42I can't give you that.
14:47How my address matters is beyond me, but it's clearly part of the process.
14:53This year's is not a good year of you.
14:56Oh.
14:59Get a little problem, your small intestine.
15:06It can be worse.
15:09Good, good worse.
15:12It's around October.
15:14Okay.
15:15Because of the job, or because of something like that,
15:20you have too much the problem to take care in your life.
15:27And you don't focus to yourself.
15:30Yeah.
15:31That's true.
15:32So you must focus to yourself.
15:35Okay.
15:35Because your health.
15:37Your health is not good.
15:40Because your age...
15:41He continued in this downbeat vein for a while.
15:44Honestly, it wasn't that great.
15:45Sounds pretty bleak.
15:47Is there any, you know, good news?
15:51Good news?
15:52Anything positive I can think about?
15:57Nope.
15:58Nope.
15:58Well, I better get praying for my small intestine.
16:07When I first went in there, I was a little skeptical.
16:10I have to say, quite a few of the things that Lam said were right on the money.
16:20And really quite good advice.
16:24So...
16:27I guess that's what I'll take from it.
16:30You know?
16:33Look after yourself.
16:35You know?
16:36Don't work too hard.
16:39Look out for others.
16:41Let them be who they want to be.
16:43I mean, all of that is...
16:45...is good advice.
16:51As I reluctantly process my mortality and consider my bleak future, I need a distraction.
16:58Something more in the here and now.
17:00So, days on the road have left me a little scruffy.
17:03In Hanoi, you can get a tidy up at the side of the road.
17:08I looked in the mirror the other day and I was looking a bit unkempt.
17:11And I just spotted that there's these barbers that have set up these little street barber shops.
17:19So I thought I'd come and get a bit of a trim.
17:22And I'm going to ask him if he can shave my ears, because my ears are getting a little bit
17:26hairy.
17:29There's a barber at the end of my road in London that I go to often.
17:33But I tell you what, he could learn a thing or two from this fellow.
17:37This is next level grooming.
17:40It's getting in my ears.
17:42They really need it doing.
17:44It's ridiculous.
17:45I don't know what happens when you get older.
17:47The hair disappears off the top of your head.
17:49It just seems to go into your brain and come out of your ears.
17:53My ears, I've never been hairier.
17:55Wow.
17:57That's the cleanest that ear's been in years.
18:01That's the sort of thing I'd clean the car with.
18:04But it works.
18:06This is less of a barbershop, more of a public spectacle.
18:09I can't imagine getting my nose shaved on a street in London.
18:13But this is Hanoi, where it's de rigue.
18:16Well, that was fantastic.
18:17I mean, I feel great.
18:21I just wanted a shave and a trim, but I got the full works.
18:25This guy, he's a top barber. He knows what he's doing.
18:29I feel like a million dollars. I feel ready to face the day.
18:36As I strut around Hanoi with my striking new exterior, it's my interior I'm focused on.
18:43Mr. Lum's insights into what the future might hold for my health are playing on my mind.
18:49Hello.
18:51Hello.
18:52Hi.
18:55I went to a priest and he said that my small intestine might give me a problem.
19:07I must know clearly what the problem is.
19:10Oh, okay.
19:13I don't know what the problem is.
19:15That's the problem.
19:17It's not an unreasonable request from shop owner Jenny here on Lan Ong Street, a famous area dedicated to traditional
19:24medicine.
19:25I want to be a bit healthier.
19:29Jenny has a degree in traditional Vietnamese medicine, a practice influenced by the Chinese.
19:35It's a holistic approach, strictly herbal products that aim to restore balance in the body.
19:41It's a traditional medicine. You can cook, you can drink.
19:43This bag is a type of leaf that can treat constipation.
19:50Yeah.
19:51Yeah, I'll keep that in mind.
19:52This one is tea.
19:53This is for everything.
19:58Reduce ageing, weight loss, liver detox.
20:01Yeah, this is exactly it.
20:04Sounds like the ultimate wonder herb.
20:06The mythical cure that promises to fix everything from my gut to my existential dread.
20:10I've taken the priest's advice, I've decided to take better care of myself.
20:16First step, I've got some traditional medicine, some remedies for a bit of gut health, a bit of general health.
20:23Here, remedies like this are integrated into Vietnam's public health system.
20:31And it's almost like the West is slowly catching up to this.
20:36Medicinal shopping isn't just about curing what ails you.
20:39Some good old fashioned retail therapy can also do the trick.
20:43You just need to know where to go.
20:45With my mum still on my mind, and word of a Vietnamese tradition that honors those no longer with us,
20:52I'm meeting up with a local guide, Danny, to help me shop.
20:57Just on the way here, I saw there was a shop selling lampshades, then there was a shop selling balloons,
21:04then there was one selling fruit, then there's flowers, there's flowers everywhere.
21:09No mouths here with designer brands. Danny tells me Lanong Street is the best place to buy items to celebrate
21:17a special custom here.
21:18It involves fire, paper, and the afterlife.
21:23It's a very traditional thing that we have.
21:27Like, we believe our ancestors, or our dead grandmother, grandfather, they will continue living in another place.
21:35So, on the middle day of the month, we were burning the money paper, or maybe once I saw my
21:42mum burn a mansion.
21:44A mansion?
21:45Made of paper.
21:46Like a huge house made of paper?
21:48A mansion, yes.
21:48Who was that for?
21:50Oh, for my grandmother.
21:51Your grandmother?
21:52Yes.
21:52So, she's got a nice place to live in the other world?
21:57Sure.
21:57Like, she will have a mansion, and she can invite friends to join her for parties.
22:02Right.
22:02Yeah.
22:03We believe that whatever happens, whatever we do in this life, we'll be continuing that life.
22:09I'm intrigued by the local custom to honor loved ones by buying handcrafted paper effigies and burning them.
22:16The idea is these items will pass through the smoke and rise up into the next life to be with
22:22them.
22:22You would provide people with things that they might need?
22:25Yes, money, car.
22:27Clothes.
22:28Clothes, of course.
22:29Food?
22:29Yeah.
22:30Sometime.
22:31A car?
22:32But the food.
22:32How do you know that you can drive a car in the other world, though?
22:36Well, for people who have drive a license, that would not be a big problem.
22:41Right.
22:41You need a driving license, though.
22:42Yeah.
22:43You couldn't just assume that you could drive there.
22:47Yeah.
22:47Or if you're not sure about that, you burn the horse.
22:51Burn a horse.
22:52Right.
22:52Yep.
22:52Just to sort of cover all your bases for travel.
22:55So, we're going to hang these on that tree.
22:57Paper effigies are an art form in their own right.
23:01A symbol of the care we still have for those who have left this world.
23:05It's a tiny little dog.
23:07Oh, look at this.
23:08Is this something that you would burn?
23:11Yeah, it does look like what my mum's used to burn.
23:15Oh, my word.
23:17Yeah.
23:17It's an entire mansion.
23:19It comes with a dog.
23:21It comes with a car, a dog, a fan, like a dining table, a little bonsai tree.
23:27This is amazing.
23:28One, two, three, four, five.
23:29My mum, Madryn, left us 20 years ago, and I'd love to send her something she'd really appreciate.
23:34I'm thinking about getting a little, uh, something to burn for my mum.
23:42Sure.
23:42I mean, are there other items here, do you think?
23:45Do you think I might be able to find a radio or a music?
23:49You love music, you see?
23:50Well, probably.
23:52That's what you're looking for.
23:54That's it?
23:56Yeah.
23:56That's ex-, that is exactly it.
23:59It's a Toshiba radio.
24:03That is exactly it.
24:04Right, okay.
24:05I think your mum's gonna love it.
24:06My old pal Sean Locke left us in 2021, and I'd like to send him something special, too.
24:13Who wouldn't love a big horse like that?
24:16Yeah.
24:16Yeah.
24:18They're so demanding, aren't they, the restless spirits of the dead?
24:22Yeah.
24:24They're always after something.
24:25They're pretty more demanding in that life than they were in this.
24:29Yeah.
24:31Well, my mum said, oh, they are dead, just give them what they want.
24:35Why not?
24:36Yeah.
24:37Fair enough.
24:38Everything.
24:38A radio and a horse, two items I didn't see myself buying, and made out of paper, that
24:44will soon go up in flames when I do a ceremonial burn before I leave Hanoi.
24:49As you do.
24:58In the center of Hanoi, in its beating heart, stands something immovable.
25:03The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
25:06A monumental brutalist structure that houses the preserved body of the communist revolutionary.
25:13But for many, it's more than a monument.
25:15It's a pilgrimage.
25:16And for me, it's a starting point.
25:18To understand this country, you must also understand Uncle Ho.
25:23Hello.
25:24Hi.
25:27Two.
25:28High five.
25:30So I'm here at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum here in Hanoi.
25:36And I'm here to get in with literally thousands of people.
25:42I really get a sense that coming here means a huge amount to these people.
25:48It gives you an idea of the sense of occasion that this place has.
25:53The sense of reverence people have for him.
25:55A sense of someone more than just a person.
25:59He's like...
26:00He's like...
26:02He's the soul of the nation in many ways.
26:05It's important to remember that whilst Ho Chi Minh is a revered figure in communist Vietnam's official narrative, he was
26:13also a deeply polarizing figure internationally, especially amongst Vietnamese people abroad.
26:18I just want a quick point.
26:21We can't film inside the mausoleum.
26:24So I'm going to go in and have a quick look.
26:27And I'll report back on the other side.
26:31It's been a long wait and I'm not sure what to expect.
26:34He's been here since 1975.
26:36And I wonder what he'll look like.
26:39Well, I've just come out of the mausoleum.
26:41First impressions I got was the temperature drops.
26:46It's quite dimly lit.
26:47You walk up a series of stairs.
26:49You turn around into the actual center of the mausoleum where his body's lying.
26:54And there's no time to stop and take it in.
26:56You can't take a picture.
26:58And there's four soldiers on permanent guard around the body.
27:04But I guess that adds to the air of the mystique.
27:09Apparently, his final wish was that his body be cremated and the ashes scattered around Vietnam.
27:15But in the end, he was persuaded to be embalmed and his body kept here in a mausoleum.
27:23By exceeding those wishes, he was putting the needs and the demands of the people and the nation first,
27:33even beyond his own wishes for what would happen to him when he died.
27:44It's clear how deep his legacy runs.
27:47The face of the revolution and guiding force through war is ever-present here.
27:53As the capital of the north and the military heart of the communist resistance,
27:57Hanoi became a target for heavy US bombing.
28:01American Thunder Chief jets plaster important communist targets in North Vietnam at and near Hanoi.
28:08The Kep airfield sustains heavy damage in two separate attacks.
28:14And as we remember 50 years since the end of the war,
28:18to help me understand how the city became a powerful symbol of national unity and resistance,
28:23I'm meeting a legendary US war veteran, Chuck Searcy, who didn't just leave the destruction behind.
28:30He returned to clean it up.
28:32We're standing on the Long Bien Bridge, which was a kind of a major connection across the river.
28:40Quite a significant strategic target.
28:43A symbol of the tenacity of the Vietnamese, that they kept rebuilding it.
28:49I don't think we, Americans, bombing this bridge kept it out of commission for very long.
28:55And piecing it back together with, as we say back home, chewing gum and bailing wire.
29:02But they made it work.
29:05Chuck served as a US intelligence analyst, returning to Hanoi to offer support to the community.
29:12At least five million tons of bombs dropped on Vietnam by the US.
29:17And that is more than all the bombs in World War II.
29:20Just amazingly destructive and terrifying for the people of Vietnam.
29:24Yeah.
29:24A lot of Vietnamese children still remember that.
29:27He's dedicated over three decades of his life to healing the scars of conflict in Vietnam,
29:33dealing with the deadly legacy of unexploded mines.
29:36We found that the people of Vietnam were so welcoming in their attitudes toward us,
29:42and I was astonished by their forgiveness.
29:45The legacy of that, the sort of amount of ordinance that got dropped,
29:53there was a significant amount of that that failed to go off.
29:58And that really was what sort of prompted your work.
30:03The Pentagon estimated that about 10% of the ordinance that we dropped on Vietnam
30:09did not detonate as designed.
30:11So it didn't explode, it didn't, it was lying on the ground for five, ten, twenty,
30:16now 50 years, a lot of that ordinance is still there.
30:19And it's still deadly, it's still a threat to children going to school,
30:23the farmers plowing their fields.
30:27Meeting Chuck is a reminder of the devastating impact the war had on Vietnam.
30:32But you can't tell that story without getting the perspective of a local veteran.
30:41My guide Kim is taking me to meet a man who served under Uncle Ho,
30:45an ex-counter-intelligence officer who has now amassed a huge collection of wartime relics.
30:51Nice to meet you.
30:55Dao Ha is a retired lieutenant colonel from the People's Public Security Forces.
31:00He rarely talks about his work, it's all top secret,
31:03but he's surrounded by artefacts that tell stories of those who served.
31:07This is a treasure trove.
31:10It's every kind of things, furniture and statues.
31:15This is an extraordinary collection you have here, Doug.
31:19And can you tell me, what are these things up here?
31:24These were used to carry food by the soldiers.
31:34I got it.
31:39Classic mess tin. So you could put your food in there, put it on a fire.
31:42Yes.
31:44Surrounded by physical reminders of the war,
31:46I want to know how a veteran half a century on
31:49makes sense of the conflict that has clearly shaped his life.
31:53What are your thoughts now, 50 years after the end of the war?
32:01We don't dwell in the past too much.
32:04We should unite and we should work together and look forward to a better future together.
32:10Wise words from someone who's now a custodian of the relics of the war.
32:15There's so many. I'm wondering that.
32:194,000?
32:21Have you got a spare one? I mean, I'll buy it off him.
32:23He won't sell you one.
32:25Oh, no, I don't want a free one.
32:27But if he's got 4,000, he's not going to miss it.
32:32His collection doesn't just preserve history.
32:35It offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the soldiers who lived it.
32:38This was used to carry a soldier's ashes.
32:43He died in the war and his comrades collected ashes and put them in his bag and carried it back
32:52to his family.
32:54And then his family brought it to him.
32:57It's like a radio.
32:58Daoha's place is recognised as a bona fide local museum of war artefacts.
33:03A fascinating archive and a great resource for those studying that era.
33:08It's...
33:09And have a look at this.
33:11Wait, wait, wait. It says it's safe, right?
33:16It won't, it won't explode.
33:17It won't go off.
33:18What a word.
33:20I'm going to put this down very gently.
33:25What sort of bomb is this?
33:26My friend Daoha keeps upsizing.
33:28Every bomb's getting bigger.
33:29The best one.
33:36Preserving the past is a way to honour those who served.
33:40And also an opportunity to heal wounds from his time serving.
33:44But for Daoha, his music is the best form of therapy.
33:48So apart from a collector of water bottles and bike parts and disused weapons,
33:56all the environmental work you do, you sing songs as well.
33:59For him, he just writes what feels right to him.
34:04How he feels about his own mother.
34:07A renowned composer, this song was written on the anniversary of his mum's death
34:12when he was visiting her grave.
34:42The meaning of the song is that
34:43is from a childhood memory of his mum
34:45in the middle of the green fields.
34:53She's working in the rain to bring the young Dao Ha food
34:56and he wishes the rain to stop
34:58and that his mum doesn't need to suffer.
35:07When Dao Ha grew up, he joined the army.
35:09He left home and when he came back, she was gone.
35:25She knew it.
35:27Wow.
35:29That was...
35:32That was brilliant.
35:41My time across these great nations
35:43so far has been an absolute delight,
35:46especially when it comes to mixing with locals.
35:49But today, I've met a Hanoi native with a bit of an attitude.
36:00Rude.
36:02So rude.
36:05It's not going well.
36:09Normally, I've got, you know, a bit of a good...
36:12Oh, hang on. Something's perked up.
36:14Hello. Hello, mate.
36:17Hello.
36:18I'm bringing out all the tricks in the book for Mr. Aloof.
36:23What do you mean?
36:25What, where, what is his name?
36:28Pan.
36:29He's not answering.
36:31Pan.
36:33Oh, for God's sake.
36:36What a waste of time that was.
36:40Maybe it's because my, uh, small intestine's not working.
36:44Dogs can sense it.
36:46He thinks there's something wrong with this bloke.
36:49Getting the hell out of here before his small intestine explodes.
36:55Hanoi residents, it turns out, are lovely.
36:57They just make you work for him.
37:00He likes to scritch behind the ear. All doggies love that.
37:04Now I've won over my new friend.
37:07I can enjoy the local delicacy I came here for.
37:10This is the famous egg coffee.
37:14It was invented here in Hanoi in 1940
37:20by an enterprising bartender at the Metropole Hotel.
37:24Because during the war, milk was scarce.
37:28So what he came up with was an alternative.
37:31Whipped egg yolks mixed with condensed milk.
37:36Froth done.
37:38Over coffee.
37:40It's like a cross between cappuccino and tiramisu.
37:44And it's actually delicious.
37:46I mean, you wouldn't want to have more than one of them a month.
37:51Since Mr. Lum's health advice, I'm a bit more conscious of my choices.
37:57And it seems my new friend is watching his way too.
38:06Thao Ha inspired me to hear more local music.
38:09He told me about a hypnotic Vietnamese art form renowned in the north.
38:14In Vietnam's cultural heartlands,
38:17there's a haunting and rather beautiful form of traditional music
38:22which dates back a thousand years.
38:25It's called ca tru.
38:27And it's a form of stylized singing
38:31performed by a female vocalist
38:33accompanied by traditional lute and percussion.
38:37Efforts across Vietnam are being made to bring it back to life.
38:53CHOIR SINGS
38:58You just say that was...
39:00Tell them that was fantastic. I loved it.
39:04This music was often played at special occasions
39:08to commemorate things like the birth of a child or signing of a contract.
39:12So there's a real sense of ceremony and occasion about it.
39:16And it's actually quite mesmerizing, you know.
39:21I mean, this is ancient music.
39:24It's like a bit of living history.
39:27Listening to it is like a glimpse into Vietnam's ancient past.
39:42But I noticed that the girls that were singing, they're quite young.
39:47These are like...
39:48This is the next generation.
39:50Our third generation is the ca tru.
39:53Right.
39:54Which is great because there was a time when, you know,
39:58it looked like it might not carry on.
40:01But it's wonderful seeing young people carrying on the tradition.
40:07CHOIR SINGS
40:09CHOIR SINGS
40:12CHOIR SINGS
40:12Trong and his grandmother, Tam,
40:15are going to try and teach me how to play their music.
40:18First, you have to put the dandelion in the right position.
40:22Oh, like this? Like this?
40:25Like her?
40:26Oh, yes. OK.
40:28Ah.
40:29All right.
40:32CHOIR SINGS
40:33CHOIR SINGS
40:38CHOIR SINGS
40:41That's good.
40:42The very first dandelion lesson from the master.
40:48This instrument is very old. It's an ancient instrument.
40:54When does it, when does it date back to?
40:57My accessory.
40:58This is amazing.
41:00Wow.
41:01At the risk of butchering this pure sound,
41:03I've brought something from the future.
41:06Can I make one change?
41:08Yeah.
41:08I've got my own plectrum.
41:10OK.
41:11I'm used to, this is very difficult to play this,
41:13but I've got my own.
41:15OK.
41:16Yeah.
41:17So, here we go.
41:29The sounds made by each instrument are unlike anything I've encountered.
41:34The role of the drum is about praise.
41:37The drummer must hit when the singer sings well.
41:40What happens if you don't play very well?
41:43Like I was playing very well, you don't play the drums.
41:48anh không tốt thì sẽ như thế nà o?
41:52You don't get any drums.
41:54You don't get any there's no drums?
41:54Nếu mà ca si-
41:55Nếu mà ca si-
41:55nếu mà ca si-
41:55nếu mà ca si hi hát không hay mà đà n không tốt thì...
41:56Thì thì không sỠchống à ?
41:59Yeah.
42:00We are not gonna get the approval drum.
42:04So, I get nothing.
42:06Dạ!
42:06Tung tanh, tanh tanh, tanh tung tanh, tanh tanh tanh.
42:10Tung tanh tanh, tanh, tanh, tanh tanh…
42:16I'm a long way off creating a sound close to what these masters make but it's not a bad first
42:22attempt
42:22it was a great privilege to be taught by someone like a grandmother yeah I think I got to do
42:37something which very few people get to do that is to actually have a bit of a jam with some
42:43car true artists and learn from the master learn from someone who's played it their entire life so
42:51it's a real privilege to be to be part of that and the music itself is so ethereal and the
42:59voice seems
43:00to come from somewhere else entirely it's kind of otherworldly here on the banks of the Red River
43:23just outside Hanoi is where the ancestors of the Vietnamese people the Dong Cern culture first
43:30settled you could argue this is where Vietnam began the birthplace of a nation
43:44there's a thread running through all my experiences here in Hanoi and that is a
43:49real sense of reverence for the feminine for mothering generally I promised myself earlier
43:56to burn some effigies to honor my own mother and now is that time I'm here to embrace this ancient
44:04tradition of offering up an effigy to those who have left us those in the afterlife things that
44:12perhaps people didn't have in this life even mansions and Lamborghinis well I can tell you now
44:18my mum would have no use for a Lamborghini she'd be saying well where's the boot when you go put
44:23the
44:24shopping where's the dog gonna go but what I do know is that she loved to sing along to the
44:30radio
44:31one of my earliest memories of her and so I've actually found the perfect offering it's actually
44:39a portable radio in paper effigy form so this is for you mum
45:07and for my dear friend British comedian Sean Locke who left us too young I have something for you
45:17for my old pal Sean I've got a horse because who wouldn't want a horse
45:39as the Sun dips over the Red River I'm taking a moment to contemplate those who've left us behind
45:46and what a moving mysterious and utterly unforgettable time it's been in Hanoi
46:01next time on Bill Bailey's Vietnam I reckon I've got one more speed in me
46:09yeah I thought I'd worn the right shoes but clearly not I didn't think I'd be scratching
46:13a buffalo today but always up for something new
46:19it's going to be a super Sunday tomorrow here on Channel 4 we have a whole bunch of comedy
46:22legends back in the tent once again it's the start of the great celebrity bake-off for stand-up to
46:27cancer from 20 to 8 and then no tent just a forest with nowhere to hide but would you rather
46:32be the
46:32hunter or the hunted it's the start of our epic new series the hunt prey versus predator tomorrow
46:37nights at 9 and we've a different hunt next Ethan Hunt as Tom Cruise stars in Mission Impossible Rogue Nation
Comments