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00:09In my circuitous route to enlightenment, I find myself this time in herbal hot water in a stranger's
00:16house in Vietnam in a barrel. Once you can put a tap on it, just draw off a pipe of
00:28Bill Bailey's
00:29bath. Flog it. Five pound a pipe. Yeah, that's Bill Bailey's bath water. This time, I'm in
00:40the mountains of Sapa. Vietnam. Of course, it's a place of tea plantations, traffic, temples,
00:55but then it's something else entirely. Come with me on an unusual, unfiltered, unforgettable
01:10adventure. My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents. I'm thinking about a sandwich
01:18I had in 1982. As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war. I'll explore
01:26this fertile land, ask the big questions. Am I in the right place? Embrace new experiences,
01:32even my own future. Prop them, you're smart and tested. Is there any, you know, good news?
01:41Navigate tight spaces. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out. Make some new friends.
01:47Separated at birth. This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters. This is your whole life
01:53in a plant. And kindred spirits. An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on earth.
02:01Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam Adventure.
02:20Chapa, the rooftop of Vietnam. This little town is perched high up in the Huang Lian Mountains,
02:27the southeastern tip of the Himalayas, just a stone's throw from the Chinese border.
02:33It's in beautiful surroundings. Rice terraces wrapped around steep hills, clouds languidly drifting
02:42through the valleys. It's a lovely spot where time seems to slow and the roads are decidedly rural.
02:52But Sapa's not just about the views. Here is home to a patchwork of local cultures,
02:59each with their own language, dress, and traditions. So over the next few days,
03:04I'll be trekking in these hills, staying in homestays, tasting the local food,
03:09trying to get a sense of what life is really like here in this remote, stunning quarter of Vietnam.
03:17While trying to avoid the potholes.
03:24If I was to say to you that I was lured to Vietnam's idyllic north with the promise of the
03:30best bath a person can have, would you believe me? You would. All right. Great.
03:35Hello. Hi, I'm Bill. Nice to meet you. I'm Mei Chan. Mei Chan. Yes.
03:39Nice to meet you. Mei Chan is of the Red Tsao hill tribe. They originated from China,
03:46coming here from the 13th century. And what's quite amazing, given the turbulent history and rapid
03:52development of Vietnam, is that hill tribes still exist at all. So I went to see a priest
04:00in Hanoi, and he said, I need to take care of myself better. Ah, I see. So I'm interested in
04:07the fact that you collect herbs and plants for medicine and for remedies. Yeah. We use a plant
04:16around our village for our health problem. I show you the room. Yeah. So you can put the bag in
04:22the
04:22room. Great. Come in, please. Mei has generously opened her house to me as a homestay. For the next few
04:29days, I will live as they do in the mountains. No fancy room service or air con for me. And
04:35I'm happy
04:35as a lark. Mei and her mother-in-law are taking me foraging for herbs, bath herbs to be exact,
04:441500 meters above sea level. So now we are going to the forest to pick some plant. And then we
04:52come
04:52back and I show you how it's worked with the herbal bath for you to heal a little bit your
04:56body,
04:56get better, no flu, no coos anymore. That sounds great. All right. So you wear this one like us.
05:02Like a backpack. Yes. All right. Local backpack. Yeah. Oh, there we go. It's okay for you? I think
05:09so. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Now we go this way. Okay. The operative word when talking about hill
05:16tribes is hill. Everything is a climb. It's not quite mountain goat territory, but for a flat-footed
05:23Englishman like me, every step is fraught. Oh, you okay? Hold on. What's going on? Some challenge.
05:37Okay. Okay. It's a bit slippery. Yeah. I nearly went. Yeah, we need to be careful. You saved me.
05:45Thanks. High five. I thought I'd worn the right shoes, but clearly not. Okay. I'm normally very
05:53sure-footed. I'm actually a Capricorn. You know, I'm a goat. That's my star sign. The goat is normally
06:02very sure-footed, but I don't know what happened there. I slipped in a quite alarming and undignified
06:09way. How far is it to the forest? We need to walk maybe three kilometers more. Okay. Okay. All right.
06:22Okay. I'm up for it. Let's go. Be careful. Three kilometers. I've never worked so hard for a bath
06:29in my life, but May assures me it's well worth the effort. So, lead on, I say. Your mother-in
06:36-law
06:36spotted something that we might collect. Ah, yes. She sees some plant here that we can collect
06:43for the bath. Right. We call red-dow herbal bath because only our people, we have the knowledge
06:48about the plant, and we have been using this one for many, many generations. You know, what was the
06:56use for? Is it for health reasons? The hobo bath is special for healing our body, for relaxing our
07:04muscle, relaxing our skin, relaxing our mind. So, we learn from mother, the knowledge passed from the
07:10mother to daughter. She know, like, around more than 200 different plants. Right. And she knows the
07:15recipe to combine the plant together. But to me, I know only even, not even 100. So, we need to
07:21learn
07:22a lot from the old generation. All right. So, what's, what is this she's picked up here? This is
07:27having a snack. Snack in the forest. Yes. All right. What is that? Shoot of something? You can eat.
07:35The young one like this, we can cook or we can eat like this. Yeah. So, when we go to
07:39forest,
07:40we're hungry or something, we know what we can eat. So, just cook. It tastes like ginger. It's nice.
07:48It's quite a little bit sweet. Lovely. You like it? Yeah. Okay. Great. Here we are, high in the remote
07:55mountains of North Vietnam, plucking leaves from the forest, prepping for a bath. This could be the
08:01best day ever. You try. Slowly. Perfect. Travel's a funny thing. We can go to extraordinary places and
08:09take a million selfies. But the simple wonder of eating a fresh ginger root in the forest will stay
08:15with me for a long time. As will the aftertaste. You have this life here. You're in the mountains and
08:27growing your food and being in this beautiful spot. You know, some people might envy you. You know,
08:32some people might think this is a lovely lifestyle. This is a lovely way to live. Yeah. But it's,
08:38it's hard though. It's hard work. Yes. Yes. I think the people living around here, we have good health
08:45and we work a lot. People are more happy than compared to a lot of people who live in the
08:51city.
08:51Maybe when you work with the computer or something in the city for the company, you're always
08:56stressful. You need to find the solution for a lot of things. Yeah. We have no money, but we are
09:03more
09:03happy, I think. I think. May voice is something that in Western society we often aspire to but struggle
09:10to achieve. The idea of being surrounded by simple stuff like mountains and fresh air, creating a kind
09:17of contentment, a yearning that material wealth can't fulfill. I'm just taking a moment to take in this
09:26view actually. Yeah. It's just quite beautiful.
09:47Look, I know what you're thinking. What herbs and leaves were collected, Bill? What makes the perfect
09:53bath bomb? Yes. May wouldn't reveal her secrets, so neither will I. Whoops! No, no, no, no. Sorry.
10:08So, I'm quite excited about this. A couple of new experiences for me, which I'm always up for. First time
10:15having a bath in a barrel.
10:18And also just first time in a barrel. And I've got to say, I've never got into a bath made
10:25from herbs that I've just collected in a forest.
10:29That is another. So, it's three firsts. Brilliant. A trifecta of new experiences. But for now, if you'd like to
10:39give me a modicum of privacy,
10:41and I will immerse myself in holistic herbs.
10:47Thank you. See you in a bit.
10:52Those of you of a sensitive disposition might wish to look away now.
11:01So, this barrel-aged Bill Bailey, this is how you make a single malt Bill Bailey, put one in a
11:11barrel, leave him there for 12 years.
11:15It's absolutely vintage.
11:19And it is actually lovely. It's very lovely. I've got to say.
11:25I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
11:30But that's not my concern at the moment. I've got to be here for 20 minutes.
11:34I could be just carried in a barrel everywhere. Oh, that would be so great.
11:38Yeah, Bill Bailey's coming, but he insists on being carted in a barrel.
11:42I see.
11:43And I just hold court somewhere.
11:45Yes?
11:46Approach the barrel.
11:49Do you have a question for me?
11:51Right.
11:52Okay.
11:53And then I'd answer questions, sign photographs, and then I'd go,
11:58Leave me.
11:59I tire of your company.
12:01Leave me to the barrel.
12:03Leave me and to my barrel.
12:07It's barrel time.
12:09I want some me time in my barrel.
12:12I honestly thought this barrel would be a little bit bigger.
12:23Bathed, refreshed, and thankfully dressed.
12:26And there on the breeze I can hear music.
12:29The soundtrack for the simple life.
12:36People have been seeking enlightenment here for thousands of years.
12:41And the go-to for any modern guru is Mount Fancy Park.
12:44The tallest peak in Indochina, a place of reverence, and one that I must climb.
12:51But it's a three-day trek to the top.
12:54Well, it was, because in 2016 they installed a cable car for lazy pilgrims like me.
13:01It's pretty wild, isn't it?
13:03I mean, it's amazing.
13:05Rice terraces all up and down the valley.
13:07Forests, ridges, mountains disappearing up into the clouds.
13:13It's absolutely spectacular.
13:20But there it is again.
13:22The music on the breeze.
13:28That's nice.
13:29Is that coming out of the speakers?
13:34Well, in case you get bored of the view.
13:38Welcome to the Sun World Cable Car Disco.
13:45I love this one.
13:55Alright.
13:57Is there any way of turning it on?
14:00No, apparently not.
14:03Well, would you?
14:08The yoga retreat section of the ride.
14:14Be at one with the cable car.
14:17Embrace the altitude.
14:19Let go of earthly thoughts.
14:22Elevate your mind to a higher plane of consciousness.
14:33It's out.
14:38Oh.
14:41It's chilly up here.
14:43I suppose we are over 3,000 metres up.
14:46Top of the tallest mountain in Indochina.
14:48So, yeah.
14:51Amazing.
14:52Feet of engineering, this thing.
14:54It's in the Guinness Book of Records.
14:56It's the longest three-cable car anywhere in the world.
15:01It's a bit of fun fact.
15:04So, here's the sign here.
15:06That's the total of metres.
15:083,143 metres.
15:10So, Fanzipan Summit, this way.
15:15Down the stairs.
15:21As it happens, the down part of the climb was a cruel trick.
15:25There's still a few hundred steps to go.
15:27And a carefully worded message from the Surgeon General.
15:30Visitors with a history of purview of astral diseases.
15:34High blood pressure.
15:35What?
15:35High eaves.
15:36For reason, help may experience bitterness.
15:39All right, so it's just warning you that you might experience altitude sickness, shortness of breath, because the oxygen levels
15:48are quite thin.
15:50Yeah.
15:51I'm getting a bit of that.
15:53Let's go.
15:57Vietnam, for many visitors, could be remembered for a variety of extraordinary things.
16:02But for me, ice cream seems to be a recurring theme.
16:08Summit.
16:09Ice cream.
16:12Oh, it's a lot smaller inside.
16:17Here we go.
16:19On the summit, there's a steel pyramid, which was installed by Soviet engineers in 1985.
16:25And this is a pretty accurate scale model of it in ice cream form.
16:31Cheers.
16:36Oh.
16:38It's good.
16:43It clears your head.
16:45Gets your lungs working.
16:49Not quite there yet, but I'm sure there'll be another ice cream shop before the summit.
16:57More stairs, more music.
17:00I'm sure I've heard that in every spa I've ever been in.
17:03Well, I've been in that many spas.
17:06I've been in many, many spas.
17:13This kind of music, you hear it everywhere, makes you feel like sleeping.
17:27But when you hear it, up a mountain top, it makes the spirit start weeping.
17:46Oh, I wish I had a cheesy ice cream.
17:53Right. Not far now.
17:59What's that?
18:00It's up here, I think.
18:03It's just up there.
18:05Yeah, just through there.
18:07I must look like a guide.
18:11Honestly.
18:12It's one of the great benefits of getting older.
18:14People just defer to you like you seem to know what you're on about.
18:18I reckon I could stand in most public buildings in the world
18:20and just go, yes, through there,
18:22and people just think I was stuff.
18:25Through here, just my party.
18:29Meters from the summit and barely discernible in the clouds,
18:32a lovely treat.
18:34Not more ice cream, but a temple.
18:36And what a temple it is.
18:38I do feel a little closer to God up here in the heavens,
18:42though my thoughts go out to the monks who built this place.
18:45I'm guessing they didn't have the advantage of a cable car.
18:48In the swirling mist,
18:50with limited oxygen pumping to my brain,
18:53it's truly spiritual.
19:06I did not expect this at the top of the mountain.
19:09Oh, this is extraordinary.
19:13Oh, this is extraordinary.
19:21Final push, one step after another,
19:24knowing at the top,
19:25otherworldly riches will surely be gained.
19:36There's an ice cream shot.
19:39Yes.
19:43Oh, what?
19:45Finish.
19:47Oh.
19:49F***.
19:50But there is also this.
20:00Oh.
20:05That is pretty spectacular.
20:09The rooftop of Indochina.
20:16It's an extraordinary view.
20:19Amazing sight of peaks,
20:22mountains disappearing off into the clouds.
20:25And that temple was quite something.
20:27I mean, I just did not expect that.
20:31And I guess that's a reminder of also what this place is.
20:34It's not just tourist attraction and natural wonder.
20:39It's actually a place of prayer.
20:42A place of worship.
20:44So it kind of lends it another spiritual element to it,
20:47which is very lovely.
20:51For every spiritual Mount Fancypan,
20:53there is an accompanying,
20:55not-so-spiritual tourist hub at the base.
20:58In this case, the mountain city of Sapa.
21:08This city has a history that needs to be appreciated.
21:12So sit back while I bring you the abridged Bill's Notes version.
21:18Sapa's a buzzing, energetic, regional town.
21:23Skateboarders, young couples taking Instagram-ready snaps at sunset.
21:29Restaurants and bars opening up for business.
21:33It's got real energy to it.
21:38But it wasn't always like this.
21:40In the 19th century,
21:41this place was subject to a lot of armed raiders
21:44coming over the border from China,
21:46trying to control the trade on the Red River.
21:48And that was extremely valuable.
21:51Sea salt from Vietnam,
21:52opium from Yunnan province in China,
21:54fabrics, manufactured goods,
21:57all highly profitable.
21:58So it was of huge strategic importance
22:02and thus fought over many times.
22:05The place was sacked,
22:07burnt down, rebuilt,
22:09attacked again, rebuilt.
22:11And this went on for years
22:13until the end of the 19th century
22:16when the French started to take over control.
22:20And from that point on,
22:22it was hugely popular as a cool mountain retreat.
22:25Then all this changed after the Second World War.
22:29The Viet Minh invaded.
22:31The French were driven out.
22:33And as a kind of a parting shot,
22:37in 1952,
22:38French headquarters ordered the aerial bombardment of Sapa.
22:41And the place was absolutely battered.
22:45The government's mansion was destroyed,
22:47the villas, even the sanatorium,
22:48it was all gone.
22:51People abandoned the city
22:52and it was left empty for about a decade.
22:58In the 60s, people started to venture back.
23:02Still, it wasn't really a tourist destination.
23:04That only started in the 1990s.
23:07People started to come here,
23:09became a very popular centre to go.
23:11Trekking, there's some fantastic mountain trails,
23:13trekking through the rice terraces,
23:15visits to the local villages
23:16of the Hmong and Tsao communities.
23:19But it wasn't until 2016,
23:22with the opening of the cable car up Mount Fanzipan,
23:25that things really took off.
23:28And now, the place is a mecca for tourists.
23:32And this has brought a huge amount of money
23:35into the local economy,
23:36local communities are offering.
23:39trips around the rice terraces,
23:41home stays in the valley.
23:43So, Sapa, in the last 75 years,
23:47has had quite the turnaround,
23:49from bombed-out ruin to what it is today,
23:53an alpine boomtown.
23:56History lesson done,
23:57and now, what I call a postcard moment.
24:00Hi, I just need, um, stamps to go to, uh, England.
24:07Oh, all right, great.
24:12I mean, this has become my traditional thing.
24:16I always send postcards.
24:17I think it's a lovely thing to do.
24:20Yeah.
24:21Increasingly, these days,
24:22I'm looked on as some sort of a relic.
24:24People look at me, like,
24:25why don't you just send an email?
24:27Take a picture.
24:28WhatsApp.
24:29I'm like, no, there's not the...
24:30It's not the same.
24:32There's a certain ritual that you have to go through.
24:34You have to go and choose a postcard.
24:37Then you have to write the postcard.
24:40And it's quite good.
24:42It's a good mental exercise,
24:44trying to write in a succinct way,
24:47pricing what you've done,
24:49put in a couple of funny lines,
24:52and then bring it to a conclusion,
24:54all on a postcard.
24:55That's quite a skill.
24:56Then you've got to find the address.
24:58Then you've got to go somewhere and get a stamp.
25:00You've got to apply the stamp,
25:02then you've got to go and post it.
25:03I mean, it's a bit of a palaver, I'll admit.
25:06But there's something lovely about receiving a postcard,
25:08as opposed to just a bit of data.
25:11There doesn't seem to be much glue on the back of it.
25:13I think it's been licked off.
25:15You've got something to stick it on with.
25:17Blimey, a glue gun.
25:21I did not expect that.
25:23It's becoming increasingly difficult, I have to say.
25:26But, you know.
25:28I'm cussed like that.
25:30But at the moment,
25:31we're finding it quite tricky
25:32to stick this stamp to the postcard,
25:35because it doesn't have any glue on the back of it.
25:37But a glue gun is being procured.
25:43Is this what I mean about a palaver?
25:46It's just a ridiculous palaver.
25:51Oh, what's this?
25:53Ah, perfect.
25:55This is some sort of glue, is this?
25:59Oh, you're right.
26:00To the back of the stamp.
26:02Right, there we go.
26:04OK, come on.
26:07Where do I post this?
26:09Vietnam post.
26:09Vietnam post, up there.
26:11OK.
26:12Come on.
26:14What's that?
26:14Nothing.
26:15It's open in the morning.
26:16Morning.
26:17All right.
26:19It's all right?
26:19Fine.
26:20Perhaps I'll just take a picture of it
26:22and just send them that probably quicker.
26:39I'm starting to think that my purpose,
26:41perhaps my obsession here in these mountains,
26:46could be finding the source of that music.
26:51But first, a crash course in agriculture.
26:55Sapa's rich, fertile land
26:57has sustained these hill tribes for centuries.
27:00In flooded fields and terraces like these,
27:04one of the great agricultural revolutions
27:07of human history took root.
27:10Rice.
27:11A humble grain,
27:13but the founder of whole civilizations.
27:17And none of this would have been achievable
27:19without a unique partnership
27:20between human and water buffalo.
27:23In fact, they're still revered throughout Asia.
27:26Mighty beasts of burden
27:27who helped civilizations tame the land and thrive.
27:31This one, truly representative of his heroic species,
27:35is called Joe.
27:37They've all got personalities, then.
27:39Yeah.
27:40Different ones.
27:41Some of them is, like, very friendly.
27:43They want you to write it down,
27:44trust them.
27:45But some of them,
27:46no, don't trust me.
27:48I wonder, though, how do you know?
27:51You know, when you trust something, like, around here,
27:53they will feel, oh, I feel good.
27:55Around the back of the tail?
27:56He will lay it down for you.
27:58Oh.
27:58At the beginning, you don't know about him.
28:00If you chop the hair,
28:02they come making, like,
28:04what do you want to do to my horn or something?
28:06Yeah, get off.
28:07Yeah, yeah.
28:08When he was grown.
28:10He's tickling his ass with a stick.
28:14No wonder he's so placid.
28:16Hello.
28:19Scratching his ass with a stick.
28:22It's not a bad deal, is it?
28:23I mean, you work my land
28:24and help carve out an agrarian civilisation,
28:27and I'll give you a little
28:29scratch in the nether regions.
28:35You'd have to know
28:36that they were very amenable to that.
28:38Yeah.
28:44I mean, if somebody was doing this to me,
28:46I'd get my undivided attention as well.
28:48Didn't think I'd be scratching
28:49a buffalo's a** today,
28:50but always up for something new.
28:55My new best friend,
28:57buffalo whisperer, Lynn,
28:58has invited me to her village
28:59to learn more about hill tribe lifestyle.
29:03And one of the big industries around here
29:05is indigo dyeing,
29:06turning white things blue
29:08using plant dye.
29:10I read about
29:11that indigo,
29:12the plant,
29:14can be used
29:15as a cure
29:16for baldness.
29:19You know?
29:21Yeah.
29:21You can actually
29:22rub it on your head
29:24and it'll help to grow
29:25your hair,
29:26apparently.
29:27Maybe it's something new
29:28for me to learn.
29:29If you can dry some,
29:30maybe I'll just rub it
29:31on my scalp
29:31and let you know
29:32how I get on.
29:33And natural is organic.
29:34It's totally organic,
29:35it's natural,
29:36yeah.
29:36Yeah, so,
29:37sure.
29:38Perhaps my heart
29:38will go sprouting
29:39a whole head of hair.
29:41But it'd be blue, though.
29:42Yes.
29:43You'd be able to have
29:43a queue of bald men
29:44coming round here
29:45going,
29:45I've heard there's
29:46a cure for baldness.
29:48Yeah.
29:49Yeah.
29:50I should urge you
29:51not to try the indigo
29:52to the noggin trick
29:53at home.
29:54What indigo is good for
29:56is batik,
29:57as Lynn's family
29:58are keen to demonstrate.
29:59The ancient craft
30:01of creating patterns
30:02on fabric
30:03using wax
30:03and then dyeing the fabric.
30:05I saw a butterfly
30:07in your garden.
30:09Yeah.
30:09I took a picture of it
30:11and then I went
30:12and drew it.
30:14Yeah.
30:14Do you think
30:14that would work?
30:15No, I can't do it.
30:17I can't do it.
30:18I can't do it here.
30:18Ah, you've already got one?
30:20Yeah.
30:22All right, okay,
30:23I'm copying you then.
30:24Yeah.
30:27You've been doing this
30:28for a long time ago.
30:30For years and years.
30:31And also,
30:32this is we,
30:33most usually
30:33it's more for
30:34elderly people.
30:35Yeah.
30:36But nowadays,
30:37the younger generation
30:39now,
30:39they don't really
30:40made it.
30:41So,
30:42sometimes,
30:42I still teaching
30:43our children
30:45learning how to make
30:46when they have
30:47a day off.
30:48Yes,
30:48when they're not
30:49at school, yeah.
30:50so I just try
30:50to teach them.
30:51Yeah.
30:52So they will know
30:53that,
30:53yes,
30:54this is our traditional
30:55and we need to keep
30:57it in the future
30:57as well.
30:58Nana,
30:59what do you think
31:00of my design?
31:02I'm so beautiful.
31:04Oh,
31:06thanks.
31:06Is there anything else
31:07I should put on there,
31:08do you think?
31:09What would you put on?
31:10Do I need to change it
31:12or put something else on?
31:14Do I need to change it?
31:15I want a happy night.
31:16Happy night.
31:18You can draw like a flower.
31:20Some more flowers.
31:21Yeah,
31:21that's a good idea.
31:22I thought I was thinking
31:23of that as well.
31:24Okay,
31:25I'll do a bigger flower here.
31:28Oh,
31:29looks nice.
31:30There we go.
31:31Art class.
31:32Batik class.
31:33Show your work.
31:35And now we're going
31:36to bring it to the indigo.
31:38Okay.
31:39To dye.
31:39All right.
31:40And then let's see
31:41how it looks after this.
31:42Great.
31:43There we go.
31:44This is the indigo.
31:46We put a plant
31:47inside here
31:47for three days.
31:49So why do you like
31:50to dye your clothes?
31:52Is it just because
31:52you love the colour?
31:54For our traditional,
31:55we believe that
31:56black is a special colour
31:59because,
32:00I mean,
32:00we work on the farm
32:01every day.
32:02So we choose black
32:04because just in case
32:05something,
32:05you know,
32:06something little dirt in there
32:07then we won't see that.
32:08Right.
32:09So it's kind of
32:09a practical colour, really.
32:11Yeah.
32:11And in the village,
32:12you know,
32:13for people,
32:14when I choose a wife,
32:16they choose the person
32:17that the colour
32:19of the clothes
32:19the most dark.
32:21Really?
32:22Yes.
32:22If you have a nice cloak,
32:24it means you have
32:24a good heart,
32:25you have a patient
32:27to making all your clothes
32:29You're skillful.
32:30Yes.
32:30You're skillful.
32:31And you spend
32:32a lot of time on it.
32:33You care about these things.
32:35Yes.
32:36You've got skills
32:37and you're,
32:38you know,
32:39a very sort of careful
32:40and considerate person.
32:42Yes.
32:47I'm excited
32:48to see what it looks like now.
32:53Very good, huh?
32:57There we go.
32:58It's my first attempt
32:59at indigo dyeing
33:01and I've got to say
33:01I'm pretty chuffed with it.
33:02I think it's come out all right.
33:05So satisfying
33:07seeing a design
33:09just appear
33:09before your eyes.
33:11Such a simple process
33:13that really hasn't changed
33:15in hundreds of years.
33:17And of course,
33:18fewer and fewer people
33:19are doing it.
33:19But what was lovely
33:20to see
33:21were Lynn's daughter
33:22and niece
33:23getting involved,
33:25having fun with it
33:26and
33:27keeping these skills alive
33:30that have been
33:31passed down
33:33through the family
33:34for generations.
33:50My time in the mountains
33:51is coming to an end.
33:53So I've given myself
33:55a quest,
33:56a search
33:56for northern Vietnam's
33:58signature music
33:59here in the mountains
34:00skirting the Chinese border.
34:03They're inhabited
34:04by hill tribes
34:05like the Homong,
34:06Zoha and Tei people,
34:08cultures that have persisted
34:09despite centuries
34:10of colonization and war.
34:13One of the instruments
34:14that the Homong
34:15are famous for
34:16is the kin.
34:18Quite a haunting sound
34:21which I imagine
34:23echoes out
34:24across the hills.
34:25And I'm here
34:26to meet one of the last
34:28four players
34:29of the instrument
34:30in this community.
34:34high above me
34:35is the Sarsang village
34:37where their language
34:38is closer to Cantonese
34:39than Vietnamese
34:40and what better way
34:41to end a quest
34:42than climb another mountain.
34:44But hark!
34:46What is that sound?
34:51Here he is,
34:53the ancient master
34:54of the Ken,
34:55a man who's lived
34:56through wars
34:57and upheaval,
34:58a bridge between
34:59past and present
35:00by keeping this unique
35:01music alive.
35:10That's me.
35:12Ah, thanks.
35:13Hi.
35:17Nice to meet you.
35:18Okay.
35:20Okay.
35:23Okay.
35:34Can I have a look?
35:35Okay, thank you.
35:36Er, well, hello.
35:38So, blow?
35:39Yeah.
35:43Yes?
35:47I love that.
35:48I love that.
35:54How's that?
35:57I'm getting it.
36:00My overextended blow
36:01is my first mistake
36:03when playing the Ken.
36:04It's a bit like a harmonica.
36:05You create the music
36:07by breathing in
36:08and out
36:09so you can play continuously.
36:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:11So you have to breathe in
36:12and then out.
36:18It's a technique
36:19that requires years
36:20of practice
36:20but under the master's
36:22watchful tuition
36:23I reckon I might be able
36:25to get a tune out of it.
36:34It's a beautiful instrument.
36:36Sounds lovely.
36:38It's very sort of evocative.
36:40It's unlike anything
36:42I've ever seen
36:43or played before.
36:44I mean, obviously
36:45I don't speak Vietnamese
36:46so I'm having to relay questions
36:49to his granddaughter
36:50who speaks a little bit of English
36:52but her grandfather
36:54he only speaks Hmong
36:56so I'm able to translate
36:58from English into Vietnamese
36:59and Vietnamese into Hmong
37:00so it's a little difficult
37:05to have a conversation
37:06but he is still able
37:09to demonstrate to me
37:10how to play it
37:11where the fingers go
37:12on the holes
37:13the breathing.
37:17This is just my little piano
37:19on garage band
37:20on my phone.
37:21Yeah, that's not a piano.
37:35It's just, it's wonderful, you know
37:37that's what music will do.
37:39It bypasses not one
37:40but two other languages
37:42and allows us to communicate.
37:47Thank you so much.
37:49I have another quest
37:51a little less highbrow in fact
37:53and that is
37:54how low can a stool go
37:57for an ungainly westerner
37:59with flexibility issues?
38:03And I think I have a winner.
38:05There you go.
38:06I found the smallest stool in Vietnam.
38:09I thought the little red stools
38:11were low.
38:18There you go.
38:19There you go.
38:20But this,
38:21this is,
38:22this is even lower than that.
38:36Right, that's it.
38:37That's it.
38:38That is officially
38:38the lowest stool.
38:42in Vietnam.
38:43And the lowest,
38:44certainly the lowest one
38:44I've ever sat on.
38:46It's not unpleasant.
38:48I can cross my legs under it.
38:51But,
38:52getting up
38:55is going to be a challenge.
38:56That's all I'm going to say.
39:03It's all right.
39:03I'm good.
39:04I see you.
39:10Are you sure about this?
39:11Okay.
39:15Hang on.
39:16Oh, God.
39:17Hey, there we go.
39:19Humble in height,
39:20heroic in spirit,
39:21it seems the further north I venture,
39:23the tinier these thrones become.
39:25This is a dining table
39:27in a doll's house, surely.
39:29This can't be human.
39:33Okay.
39:34Oh, wait a minute.
39:40Just when you think
39:41you've found the smallest doll,
39:43there's one smaller.
39:45Hang on.
39:46I just want to show you
39:47a comparison.
39:50Look at this.
39:51It's positively lofty.
39:57I'm up for it.
39:58I'm up for the stool challenge.
40:05Yeah.
40:07I'm down.
40:15My Vietnam mountain education
40:17is nearly complete.
40:18I've climbed mountains,
40:20I've bathed in barrels,
40:22played ancient instruments,
40:23and sat and contemplated
40:25my very existence.
40:27But what's left of my bingo card,
40:30dance.
40:37So, La,
40:38can you tell me
40:39about this traditional dance?
40:42One, two, three.
40:46One, two, three.
40:48One, two, three.
40:50Okay.
40:50Okay.
40:51You get one step wrong,
40:52your ankles are goners.
40:54One, two, three.
40:56One, two, three.
40:58One, two, three.
41:00All right.
41:01Yeah.
41:01Okay.
41:03That seemed to be
41:05fairly straightforward.
41:07At that pace,
41:10fairly easy.
41:13Yeah.
41:14Intrigued to know
41:15what happens
41:16when it starts
41:17to speed up a bit.
41:18Put on some,
41:19like, you know,
41:19I don't know
41:20what you put on.
41:21Miley Cyrus?
41:22Slipknot?
41:22I don't know.
41:49I'm fully invested.
41:56It's hard.
42:01I reckon I've got
42:02one more speed in me.
42:06That's it.
42:18Yes, come on.
42:19Let's do it.
42:31Yeah, that's it.
42:32Come on.
42:36Whoa, whoa, whoa.
42:38Time to pick up the pace.
42:40The faster the music,
42:41the trickier it gets.
42:44Yeah, that's it.
42:56Come on.
42:57Yeah.
42:57High five.
42:58Ten.
42:58High ten.
42:59Very good.
43:00Well done, guys.
43:02Very good.
43:03Very good.
43:06Oh, you see?
43:08Still got it.
43:21Sapa has left
43:22a deep impression on me.
43:24And that's not just
43:25because of the
43:26spectacular landscapes.
43:28I'm really struck
43:29by the resilience
43:30of the people here.
43:31Many of them
43:32have found a way
43:33to balance
43:33keeping their culture
43:34and traditions alive
43:36while still making a living.
43:38And that could be
43:39taking tourists
43:40for walks
43:41through the rice terraces,
43:42teaching them
43:43about traditional
43:44handicrafts or remedies,
43:47drawing on this
43:48deep well
43:49of accumulated knowledge.
43:51They found a way
43:52to support their families.
43:54And they're incredibly
43:56resourceful
43:57and genius,
43:59hardworking,
44:00creative people.
44:01The people here
44:02are doing what
44:03their families
44:03have done
44:04for generations.
44:05That is
44:07finding a way
44:08to adapt,
44:09finding a way
44:10to survive.
44:21Next time
44:22on Bill Bailey's Vietnam.
44:24This place
44:25is just
44:26stunningly impressive.
44:27What is the altitude?
44:28I'm getting slightly trippy.
44:30It's just like a mirror
44:31here today.
44:31I can twirl it.
44:32Go!
44:33Get!
44:34More!
44:34I!
44:35I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:36I!
44:37I!
44:37I!
44:37I!
44:37I!
44:39I!
44:40I!
44:43I!
44:45I!
44:50I!
44:52I!
44:52I!
44:54I!
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