[ horns honking ] anthony: vietnam. it grabs you and doesn t let you go. once you love it, you love it forever. i ve been coming here since 2000, the first time i d been in this part of the world, and it s held a special place in my heart and my imagination since. i keep coming back, i have to. [ bells ding ] vietnam has changed since last
yo! welcome back. welcome back. cheers. anthony: lin has brought me to a great and proud and uniquely hanoi tradition bia hoi. bia hoi refers to the roadside joints where locals gather to consume keg-dispensed, freshly brewed draft beer. ah, that s good. lin: it s not strong at all, my friend. just like between 3 to 4%. anthony: ah, so we need to drink a lot. lin: yeah. hai: yeah. lin: cheers for hanoi beer. [ horns honking ] it was something luxurious 30 years hai: yeah. lin: ago. anthony: right. lin: and now it s for everyone. hai: yeah. lin: it s not expensive. ten thousand dong. anthony: so, that s hai: 40 cents. lin: 40, 45 cents. anthony: 45 cents a beer. both: yeah. anthony: i ll have another. i can afford that. the country s changed so much. when i first came, bicycles and motorbikes. now lot of cars. lin: more cars. anthony: you know, look, money. lin: yeah. anthony: people are making
anthony: general william westmoreland, who commanded u.s. forces here in the mid- 60s, famously said, the oriental doesn t put the same high price on life as does a westerner. life is plentiful. life is cheap in the orient. it was an extraordinarily grotesque and wrongheaded observation from a guy who, if nothing else, was expected to understand his enemy on the battlefield. he could not, it turned out, do even that. maybe, i hope, we are a little bit smarter now. [ horns honking ] [ horns honking ]
anthony: right. [ thunder crashes ] anthony: just another day in paradise. a tropical downpour in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of hanoi. the lady selling vegetables and gum and cigarettes taking a nap under a piece of corrugated tin has no idea what s about to happen. secret service: can you turn around for me, sir? [ horns honking ] thank you, sir. one, two, get down [ whistles blowing ]
[ horns honking ] anthony: it s a maze of narrow streets and alleyways behind the old french cathedral. vendors set up stools and it s happy hour in hanoi.