An assassination attempt. Now on bbc news, the travel show. All of our lives are defined by the places were connected to and the people we hold close. Speaks vietnamese. My name is william lee adams, and im a Vietnamese American Journalist and an author. I was born six years after the Vietnam War ended. Im here to explore a country thats helped shape me. For me, it all flows from the war that brought my parents together two people, born 12 time zones apart, thrust together to build a life. My family lived in america and my Big Brotherjohn was my best friend. Speaks vietnamese. But two years ago, he passed away. I have a lot of unfinished business. I want to bring him home, essentially. This is where he was born. This is where he was happiest. And this is where so many people who loved him and took care of him still are. Im travelling across the country, starting in the Capital City Hanoi and ending over i,500km away in Ho Chi Minh city. Where my family still lives in banana garden market. Whispering 0h, hes so well hidden its the most incredible journey ive ever taken and i have to confront my familys difficult relationship with vietnam. My father and your grandfather would have been fighting against each other. I lost my grandfather, right . Will putting my brother to rest help me make peace with the past . Im in hanoi, vietnams capital city. And, like other early risers, ive come to lake hoan kiem. Its my first morning back in vietnam a country i last visited nearly 20 years ago and some things seem to have changed. Funky music plays weve got dancers busting that move this is incredible laughs. Theres a real buzz and the city seems more confident. I think the last time i was here, ifelt a bit like a fraud. I didnt think i could claim a vietnamese identity because i was born abroad. I know im of this place and yet, im completely removed from it. I grew up in The Deep South of the us in the 1980s, just years after the Vietnam War had ended. There was a lot of animosity and resentment towards vietnamese people at that time and my father really contributed to that narrative because he told me, youre not mixed race, youre not biracial youre white. My mom did the same thing. She said, oh, youre not vietnamese, youre american. And so, i grew up ostensibly as a white american boy. So, i keep seeing the same people on loop running around. It seems really inclusive. You see people of all ages, you see foreigners. This lake really is the centre of public life. Im optimistic about this journey. I think that, generally speaking, people are so warm and welcoming but i do worry sometimes that maybe some people do remember the past. Archive with Music And News 24 hours a day, this is armed Radio Service vietnam. My parents met in vietnam. In 1968, my father was a nurse. He pulled bullets out of bones. And my mother at that time was a widower who had a young son my brother, john. My dad fell in love with my Mom And Littlejohn and in 1973, he asked my mom to move to the us. And her and herfamily reached the decision that she should go but she needs to leavejohn in vietnam because she doesnt know my dad. Is he a good person or a bad person . So why dont you learn english, test out your husband, and then, well send john . Before immigrating to the us, my mother used to work in the Family Market Stall in saigon, in south vietnam. These marketplaces are still the lifeblood of the country. So, im off to meet lylla. She runs food tours, shes a food influencer. And im not going to struggle to find her, because ive been following her for months. 0h, lylla hi, nice to meet you nice meeting you oh, how are you . Like the women in my family, Lyllas Mother also ran a market stall. So, we are on the side of dong Xuan Market. Dong Xuan Market is one of the largest and also oldest market in hanoi. I think that Vietnamese Food gives me a route into vietnamese culture. Can you smell that . Oh, yeah, ismell that. You recognise the tangy . This dish is one of the most exciting dishes in hanoi. It connects you because you can sit down with any vietnamese around the World And Theyll have an opinion on food. Mmm, i definitely taste the tomato. Yes, the rice vinegar, the dam gao, is so nice and tangy. It wakes you up. Mmm and it seems so communal people are really gathering. Think and food in general is really important to vietnamese culture. I think food is part of the culture. Like, food is that important. I feel like we are related to families and communities, when you really sit down and share a meal with somebody, Loved Ones and friends and getting to know a stranger sitting right next to you, too. Like, look at this youre sharing a space with somebody you meet for the first time. I can tell this is really close to your heart. When you were a kid, did you help your Mom Cook . No, i did not. My mum was selling pho in the market. For my mum or my grandparents generation, they worked so hard like, seven days per week, dont take a day off to put you through the school, so i never realised how hard my mum had to work. Now, you chose this particular Pho Restaurant why was that . The locals Love It here. I think her chicken is delicious. And then, i think she reminds about my mother a lot. She opened this Pho Shop for about 32 years already. Wow well, i cant wait to taste 32 years of broth i know, right . Me too i mean, i come here often but ijust Love It, the scene and everything. It really is a scene. Its funny people are driving by, theyre looking at her. Its like shes a local celebrity. Yes, yes the chicken here is getting so much attention. 0k. Mmm theres something very comforting about that. Yes, it is. Ive never had the Hanoi Pho ga, Chicken Pho, and it tastes fantastic. Yeah to be honest, when i was growing up, i didnt have a lot of Vietnamese Food because my mom was quite isolated culturally. We always had fast Food Or Microwave food it wasnt really home cooked. I understand now why that was. Our mother, they did what they did to raise who we are today and give us a life. Yeah and here we are, eating Chicken Pho in hanoi. I know, on the side of the street. It all worked out pure luxury yeah. And i think the Vietnam War or as we say, american war here divided the country and it led to the part that so many vietnamese people, like your mother, had to leave home and go to a different country where she dont speak the language and literally had to build life on the ground to raising her children. But now, we have so many vietnamese all over the world and who are like you spreading the love for vietnamese culture and food. So because of that, its really more people in the world that know more about our food, our culture, our people. Gong rings. My mother left my brother in vietnam when she immigrated to the us. And then, in the years that followed, john got very ill. Essentially, he had a fever and his brain started to swell, but vietnam didnt have the doctors or the medicine it was still recovering from the war. So, he started to lose control of his legs and his arms and his brain. But my aunts had hope. They said, if he goes to the united states, perhaps he can be treated. Perhaps hell walk again. And so, they told my mother he was unwell. However, they didnt tell her the full extent of his illness. The day she picked john up at the airport, he didnt recognise her. And he was no longer walking or talking. Mom, you dont have to hide, lean back. The doctors in the us couldnt reversejohn� s condition. Caring for him became the focus of our family, especially for my mother. Speaks vietnamese. 0h, mom yeah. Ah, hey one second, sorry im partly doing this trip for my mother. And i know she wants and i know she wants to come back to vietnam, to come back to vietnam, but she wont come. But she wont come. She blames her knees she blames her knees or she has too much to do. Or she has too much to do. But im thinking this is a down but im thinking this is a Down Payment on a future visit. Payment on a future visit. I look like an old 90 i look like an old 90 years old woman years old woman well, arent you an old well, arent you an old 90 year old woman . 90 year old woman . Well, not quite. Well, not quite. Chuckles. Chuckles. The dog show. The dog show. The one with the chihuahua . The one with the chihuahua . Yes. Yes. Good. You take care of him, huh . Good. You take care of him, huh . Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good, good. Chuckles. I think in the past, when i was really young, john came between me and my mother. But on this trip, i feel like john has brought us together. And, mom, how do i say this . Tell him i miss him very, very much and i will see him soon. Speaks vietnamese. I will see him, 0k . And yourfather, too, 0k . Mmm. I miss him a lot, william. Well, you take good care of him, huh . You make sure you put his picture at the temple, 0k . Good. Bye bye, john. Love you, john. Wind chimes ring. John and i, we were really raised together. He came to the united states in 1981 the year that i was born. He was 13 at the time. And so, we were Side By side the whole way. When i was a baby, i would play in his wheelchair. And i would squeeze the back of the seat and pull out we understood each other. We had this deep bond. As an adult, john lived in a Nursing Home in atlanta, in the us. When he passed away in 2022, we held a service for him in a local buddhist temple. Speaks vietnamese. I got really curious about incense after my Brothers Funeral and the monks said that smoke, to many vietnamese people, connects this world with the spirit world. Speaks vietnamese. And i read that in hanoi, they have this Incense Village that ships the Bamboo Stick which is used to make the incense all over vietnam, so i wanted to see the people behind it. The Incense Village is like a rainbow exploded and you see bundles of sticks drying and or displayed on the ground. When i spoke to mr long, he made it clear that this is their art. Are you proud of the work you do and how important it is to people . If i bring these incense, will it help our family . Our local minders interrupt ourfilming. Ah its a reminder of the limited Press Freedoms in a communist country. I came to this village to learn more about how these incense might be useful or helpful to my brother or my family when we take his ashes to the temple in saigon. But local authorities suggested that in some way what i was doing was wrong or that it wasnt culturally acceptable. And itjust stings, to be honest, because im not doing this for any other reason than to make sure my brother is at peace and at rest and sighs to sort of bring closure to myself and to my family, and my mother. Train horn toots. Im adamant to move forward. Its time to leave north vietnam. All right, here we go 31 to 36. For vietnamese people, the Reunification Express is the bloodline of the country. It connects most of the major cities. Right, choosing a bunk. Were going to stay low. During the Vietnam War, this Express Railway was bombed all the time and vietnamese constantly rebuilt it. Just 15 hours to go. Its a symbol of reunification of one nation. Its the end of day four but i feel like ive been here for 2 3 weeks. When i got here, it wasjust a buzz of excitement. Everything was fresh, in yourface, vivid, and now things have gone a bit grey. When i was at the Incense Village, it felt like i had done something bad or wrong and should feel shame. But a few days later, you know, its fair enough. People do have different beliefs. Were motivated to honour the dead, to remember the dead and, in doing so, remind ourselves about life. What do you thinkjohn would make of making a documentary about this . Hed be laughing the whole time. He was always laughing about anything and everything. It was this joy, honestly. Everything made him laugh. Wed Watch Baseball which, honestly, ifound a little boring. You know, the ball� s hit, hes cackling. And i think he would have liked being The Centre Of Attention as well. Ive come to the city of Hoi An. For centuries, it was an important trading port. Since then, its become a travellers favourite. People flock to its atmospheric old town, which rests on a river. When i last visited Hoi An, there were, like, five of us on the main street. It was not a tourist hot spot. And when i came back, i was really worried that maybe it might have lost its soul because everyone all over the world is coming to Hoi An now. But i think there are certain elements to Hoi An that are so strong, theyll never change. The portuguese, the chinese, the japanese were all there. Its this gorgeous amalgamation of so many different cultures and art forms. Ive been reading about people going on the River And Lighting lanterns and sending out wishes and messages to people, so id like to do that for my brother. I think for me, theres a lot of lingering guilt. He was my first friend and my best friend. But as we got older, i became more independent. And eventually, i left home. And in leaving home, i left him. Its high season in Hoi An and on the dock, it was pure chaos. There were so many people, so many boats. It was like a Traffic Jam in the water. But once i got in the boat and once the rower took me a little further down the river, i was really on my own. Its been two years but theres still this well of sadness. I was thinking about what couldve been and what was. My family in vietnam had sent john to the united states with this really sincere hope that doctors could make him better, but it never happened. But also remembering that john had a superpower, which was to always be happy, always laughing. When i lit the lantern and set it off, it sort of flowed and bobbed. Sobs. For a minute, it would be Out Of Sight and another boat would pass and i couldnt see it, but it would just bob up again. And i would see it. And the moment it faded away, i thought of the symmetry about how he died. He went to sleep and he never woke up. He left the world in a sigh. And the Lantern Sort of did the same. It was a release. I felt likejohn was saying, its ok, its ok. Im free. Left or right . I think its right. Theres been this talk for months, 0h, mom, im taking johns ashes back to vietnam. Laughs. This is my cousin and my aunt. Now, its actually time to do it. And Thats Something completely different. Hello. For many of us, friday was a pretty mild day, thanks to the south to Southeasterly Winds. The best of the sunshine was across england and wales. We had a top temperature of 18 degrees around the london area. But for scotland and northern ireland, there was a lot more cloud than there has been, bringing outbreaks of rain over recent houis. Now, on the satellite picture, you can see the Weather Front thats bringing in that zone of cloudier weather to the northwest of the uk. A strong Jet Stream continues to develop this Weather System and its going to be bringing some very Heavy Rain into the republic of ireland, where theres probably going to be some flooding across southern areas. The front itself is very slow moving, so over the next few hours, were going to keep the largely clear skies across england and wales. One or two Fog Patches possible in the east, where temperatures could dip as low as about 3 or 4 degrees in the coldest spots. But across the northwest of the uk, temperatures staying up into double figures because weve got that cloud. Theres a fair breeze around here but we also have a bit of rain to come as well. Now, heading into the first part of saturday, there will be some pulses of Heavy Rain that work into northern ireland. The rain tending to come and go, so there might be some brighter spells for the afternoon here. Rain at times, too, for western and northern areas of scotland but away from that, for eastern and southern scotland, for the bulk of Eastern Wales and all of england, really, it should be a fine and a dry day with plenty of sunshine. Its going to be another mild one top temperatures could hit 18 degrees once again. Now, these Weather Fronts will then push eastwards through saturday night, weakening as they run into our area of high pressure to the east, so just a few patches of light rain. There will be some damp weather, then, for some as we start off Sunday Morning but weve got a more pronounced band of heavier rain that, through the afternoon, will spread into northern ireland, this time wales and south West England getting a bit of a soaking, too. The south to Southeasterly Winds continue to drag up the mild air, so temperatures above average for most looking at around 17 in london and cardiff and about 1k for edinburgh. Then, into next week, this area of low pressure is going to continue to fire showers or some longer spells of rain across the uk. Meanwhile, a low pressure, perhaps to our south, contains the remnants of hurricane kirk. Well, that could bring some very strong winds to parts of western europe. Western france looking vulnerable at the moment. But here in the uk, its an unsettled looking week. Quite windy at times with showers or longer spells of rain next week. Bye bye. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with Charlie Stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur Headlines Today Beirut is hit by another round of blasts overnight as hezbollah says its forces are fighting israeli troops in the south of lebanon. 18,000 pupils in england with Special Educational Needs will be offered nhs eyesight, dental and ear checks in school, from next year. We meet the campaigners raising awareness of living with a stoma as charities warn many still face stigma after surgery. It is how people managejobs it is how people manage jobs and families because that