Do you smell that . Motorbike exhaust, fish sauce, incense, the faraway smell of something . Is that Pork Grilling over charcoal . Vietnam. It could be no place else. Listen to me. Listen to me. There is no other way to see this city, hanoi, than from a motorbike or a scooter. To do otherwise would be to miss it all. It is one of the great pleasures of my life to join the river of people rushing through the streets. Vietnam. It grabs you and doesnt let you go. Once you love it, you love it forever. Ive been coming here since 2000, the first time id been in this part of the world, and its held a special place in my heart and my imagination since. I keep coming back, i have to. Vietnam has changed since last time i was here. Its changing every minute. But some things, for now, anyway, remain the same. Important things, like this stuff. Thats going to be good bun oc, first meal in hanoi, and its something they do here better than anywhere else. Okay. Im officially in hanoi now. Mm. Magic. A spicy, wonderful broth with tomatoes and herb and noodles and fresh snails. Plump and delicious. Look at those beauties. Come to me, plump little love muscle. Mm. Hanoi, capital city of vietnam. Seven and a half Million People live here. In the winter, its chilly and damp. In the summer, hot, humid, subtropical. The boulevards and many of the buildings are french, but its Heart And Soul is always, always vietnamese. Americans coming here as tourists for the first time, especially veterans of the war, are shocked by how friendly the place is. People are genuinely happy to see you. This is hanois old quarter, but its looking less and less old these days. Man, this areas changed, though. The irish czech themed pub next door. Vietnam is a Young Country. Almost half of vietnamese are under the age of thirty. Fewer every year even remember what they call here The American War. Those years were a defining time for just about everyone, vietnamese or american, who lived through them. And though there are still a lot of conflicted feelings back home, for most vietnamese these days, the war has become an abstraction, not even a memory. Vietnam is still a poor nation, but the standard of living has improved a lot with the relaxing of hardline communist economic policies. More and more Foreign Tourists every year, western chains inevitably, are everywhere, and president obama is visiting for the first time, taking another step on the long path toward normalizing relations between the two countries. That is good. Ooh, hot ooh, i hit that chili hard. Nice to meet you. Yes. Its such a pleasure. Oh, and we have a beer ready to go, great. Yes. So, we are doing by bottle, or we are going to pour it in a glass . How would you do it if i wasnt here . I would pour it in the glass. Okay. In vietnam, in particular in the north, it would be very improper for a woman to drink straight from the bottle. Oh, really . Oh, really . Yeah. Okay, well, im glad i know this now. Cheers. Tao is an Eisenhower Fellow and a fulbright scholar. Shes devoted her career to help strengthen the bonds between vietnam and the u. S. Today we drove to the outskirts of hanoi. Cranes, tall buildings, people moving from the country to the city, marc jacobs, prada, i mean, this is a very Young Country now . Oh, very much a young nation. They like to eat, uh, kentucky fried chicken. They like to spend a lot of the time on the internet. The history of our country is a history of a war. We had a thousand years under the chinese, and then we had eighty years under the french, and then the japanese came in, and when The Americans left, finally, in 1975 we got involved with, uh, cambodia. So, we only have peace since 1989. Just in the matter of a few decades, the entire population will be those without any war experience, and thats a great thing. And what are we eating today . Well, we are going to have a banh cuon. And that means . Rice roll. Very thin. Like a crepe. Yes, its like a crepe. And inside, Ground Minced pork and wood ear mushroom. Ah you dip it in, and there you go. Mm. Oh, thats very good. Everything we do internationally, someone refers back to the vietnam experience. Mmhmm. You know . Lets not do that again. Lets not repeat vietnam. But i find it interesting that the people who had, perhaps, the most painful experience were among the first to reach out. I think the john mccain story yes. Is particularly interesting because heres a guy who had an atrocious experience here in prison and, yet, he has been among the most vocal supporters of normalizing relations. It took several trips to vietnam, and so he could see vietnam in a different light. Its no longer a war. Its a country with people. Have you been out with returning veterans from oh, yes all the time. Did they often want to go to the area that they served . Oh, yes. Did they often even meet with the people they fought . Yes. B52 pilots come to the areas they unloaded their bombs. Yes. What is that experience like . What do you see when they come . Extremely emotional. Extremely emotional. People burst into tears. The memory i kept of you 45 years ago was an enemy. I did anything and everything to protect my life and to protect the people in my platoon. But, today, when i see you again, not as an enemy, as a person, everything just disappears, all the bad feelings disappear and now you actually get to know how, oh, are you married . You know . How many children do you have . You know . What are you up to . The life turned into a new chapter, and this chapter is a good chapter. Plus apple watch se, ipad and beats fit pro. All on us. Dont miss out. Verizon. Vicks vapostick. Strong soothing. Vapors. Help comfort your loved ones. For chest, neck, and back. It goes on clear. No mess. Just soothing comfort. Try vicks vapostick. Subject 1 on christmas day, we were in the hospital. It was her first christmas. It was our first christmas being parents. I didnt know a lot about brain tumors, and what i had heard wasnt good. I certainly never dreamed that i would be fighting for her life. Narrator families never receive a bill from st. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. You can make a difference. Please become a st jude partner in hope right now. Subject 1 my dreams are to watch her grow up. Subject 2 you going to do that one all by yourself . Good job. Subject 1 go if we didnt come to st jude, i really feel that felicity wouldnt be with us. Narrator please go online right now and become a st jude partner in hope today. This rental car is so boring to drive. Lets be honest. The rentacar industry is the definition of boring. And the reason can be found in the name itself. Rent a car. You dont want a friend. You want the friend. You dont want a job. You want the job. The is always over a. Thats why we dont offer a car. We offer the car. Sixt. Rent the car. How many rooms are in there . Should we go check it out . Yeah. We get to stay here all weekend when you stay at a vrbo. I call doing the door code . The host doesnt stay with you. It looks exactly like the picture. Because without privacy in your vacation home. Its a full log cabin guys. It isnt really a vacation. We can snuggle up by the fire. Is it . Wow, oh my [birds chirping] hanoi in the morning. The usual highpitched whine of thousands of motorbikes. People, and the things they carry, coming out to work, to set up shop, the sound of commerce, of a wildly Free Market Economy in a system thats decidedly not. When i first came here, it was tai chi at dawn, and thats still here, but theres also this. Good to see you its nice to see you, too. This is anh, my friend. Nice to meet you. Shes also my zumba instructor. Ah no zumba for me. Breakfast, though, sounds good. How often a week do you think the average person cooks, and how often do they eat out . Mostly we just cook at home for dinner because thats the only meal in the day that everybody can be together, but for other meals, normally we eat out. I meet my old friend, ha, in the edge of the old quarter, a place known as cussing noodles. This is my favorite, favorite restaurant. This place . Yes. The name comes from the owner, this lady, known for the free and frank way she communicates with her customers. I hear she yells at people. Yes. What are you standing there for . If youre going to order, hurry up i want the vermicelli with tongue and ground pork. I dont have that. If you like ground pork go to the market, theyve got lots of it. If you go to her counter and order something, and then if youre indecisive, like, uh, can i have this . Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No, maybe i have this instead. Shes like, i dont have a lot of time for you. So, just get out of here. Really . Yeah. Its best if you just go home and eat. And whats the specialty of the house here . Bun gio heo. Gio heo means pig knuckles. Pig knuckles. We know thats going to be good. You put up with the abuse for this glorious, steaming bowl of rice noodles with spicy chilies, a rich, hearty, porky broth, with pigs knuckle and snout. Its the only item on the menu, and its good. You know taro . Yes. Ah so, this is the stem of the taro plant, and to prepare this, you have to be very careful because if you dont do it right, then you get itchy mouth. Toxic. No, no, no, not toxic. You wont die from it. Right. But it makes your mouth really itchy. Interesting. Mm. Wow, thats delicious. When people talk about vietnam, they always say about spring rolls or, uh, pho, but i think this should be in the list. In the mix. Yeah. Im easy. Give me some spicy noodles, some pork, im happy every time. Get out of here. Its a maze of narrow streets and alleyways behind the old french cathedral. Vendors set up stools in the street, and its happy hour in hanoi. Every doorway, every window, a little slice of life. A story all its own, lives lived, being lived, caught for a second, a moment, then gone. In vietnam, sometimes, to be truly friend, to be friendly yeah. We have to drink until we are drunk. Oh, well, okay. Yeah. We must, we must. Cheers for friendship. Lin din, my oldest friend in vietnam from the very beginning. Many happy memories, my friend. Weve been to saigon, can tho, nha trang. He was my original minder for vietnams ministry of foreign affairs. We became, in spite of his official responsibilities, fast friends. One, two, three. Ba, yo welcome back. Welcome back. Cheers. Mot, hai, ba, yo. Thank you. 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 kegdispensed, freshlybrewed draft beer. Ah, thats good its not strong at all, my friend. Just like between three to four percent. Ah, so we need to drink a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Cheers for hanoi beer. It was something luxurious 30 years ago. Yeah. Right. And now its for everyone. Yeah. Its not expensive, 10,000 dong. Right. So, thats 40 cents. 40, 45 cents. 45 cents a beer. Yeah. Ill have another i can afford that. The countrys changed so much. When i first came, bicycles and motorbikes. Now lot of cars. More cars. You know, look, money. Yeah. People are making money. Business is good in vietnam, right . Yeah. Yeah. Right, i mean, much, much, much more tourism every year, yes . Yes. Yes. People also enjoy life more. When other guys were charging four to fivehundred bucks. He just didnt wanna do that. He was proud of the price he was charging. My dad instilled in me, always put the people before the money. Be proud of offering a good product at a fair price. I think hed be extremely proud of me, yeah. Announcer type 2 diabetes . Discover the power of 3 in the ozempic® trizone. In my ozempic® trizone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. Announcer ozempic® provides powerful a1c reduction. 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Join the millions already taking ozempic®. Ask your Health Care Provider about the ozempic® trizone. Announcer you may pay as little as 25 for a 3month prescription. With a little help. And to support my familys immune health, i choose airborne. Unlike some others, airborne gives you vitamin c and so much more. Its an 8 in 1 immune support formula. Airborne. Do more. Search the globe, and you will find no other place that looks remotely like this. Ha long means where the dragon descends into the sea and legend says that this is where a great dragon charged, protecting vietnam from foreign invaders. War is a constant theme in Vietnamese Mythology and history. The chinese, the french, the japanese, The Americans, the cambodians, again the chinese. Ha long bay has become, for better or worse, one of vietnams most visited destinations. Fortunately, this time of year, anyway, you dont have to go too far to lose yourself in the past, find a quiet place where you can still imagine the great dragons tail thrashing and churning and kicking up these great karsts of rock. Chosen mode of transportation the emeraude, an old frenchera Steamer Refitted for more currentday needs. A big freakin boat and its all mine along with friends and crew, of course. I like this boat. Were living a little larger than last. Last time, the boat was not this nice. All the modern conveniences, but the charms of the past. It fits perfectly with my overromantic delusions and, in general, it does not suck. Hello, gentlemen. Hi, tony. How are you doing . Were having some gin and tonic. Gin and tonic, traditional vietnamese drink. Well, not really, but all right. This is my first time trying this. Yeah . Yeah. His first time. How old are you, anyway . Wait a minute. You were five years old last time i was in, uh, ha long bay. Yeah. Its fine, hes 20 now. Wow. Lin and i came here for another show what feels like a lifetime ago. Back then, i got to meet his son min, whos apparently grown up. These are Pictures Of You and him. Whoa 15 years ago. 14 years ago. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Look at my hair. Its changed a little bit. Like, over eight Million People are coming to ha long bay now . Yeah, every year. Tourists. All of this is protected, right . You cant do anything on these rocks . No. No. No. No. And how many of these islands . Its like 1,900 of these rocks out there . 1,969. And this is a good number, you know . Its a lucky number . Six is for fortune, and nine is for forever, so fortune forever. A drink or two on the top deck, check. Now for the rest of the day try to do a little as possible. A nap, sunset, maybe some more drinks. And what about dinner . One for you. Oh, thank you, sir. Cheers, my friend. Cheers. So, were eating some squid. Tons of squid. Tons of squid. We tried to get as many tons as possible. Cue the majesty of the squid. At night this time of year, the Bright Lights of ha long bays Fishing Boats are unmistakable. They can only caught the squid in the evening. The light attracts the squid so they can catch them. Right. They say that because of Global Warming all the fish are dying, but that the squid and cuttlefish populations are increasing. So, soon the whole sea will be filled with plenty of squid. Well be eating it every day. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah those are cute little squid. Oh, those are going to be tender. Whoo. Mm. Oh, yeah. The tentacles are the best. To catch the squid is a very hard job. They work all the night. All the night. They work all the night. The light it turn on all the night. Right, and then sleep all day . Yeah. Its got to be hot out there, man. Yeah. Sleeping in the day. Cheers for the day. Cheers for the day. Holiday music after a night like this. Crest has you covered. Crest. As the official toothpaste of santa. We asked for his help in closing americas smile gap this Holiday Season. When youre through with powering through, its time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. Powerful relief so you can restore and recover. Theraflu hot beats cold. A morning swim, a bowl of spicy noodles, and a view. Perfect. How many in the family . Six. A young couple and their three kids, and then the grandma is living with them. The oldest kids go and she was sent into the [indistinct] with some relatives, eh, to go to school because they have no school in here. Right. Floating Fishing Villages like this used to be found in nearly every sheltered cove or corner of ha long bay, but as vietnam becomes a more popular tourist destination, authentic Fishing Villages are starting to disappear. The government has been relocating fishing families inland, hoping to minimize their ecological impact. The people that are living on floating villages, theyre just generally nice and willing to open their home to others and they basically farm oysters. Yeah, yeah. A lot of pearls for sale in ha long bay and in vietnam. They come from places like this. It takes over a year to grow each pearl, and theres no guarantee an oyster will even yield one. Water spinach, i think thats called, right . Water spinach. Thats the most common vegetable for vietnamese people in summer time. Yes. Mmhmm. Yeah. What kind of fish are these . Little fish. Yeah. Ha long fish. Ha long fish. Yeah. Its delicious. [bleep] good fish. This is a pretty prime piece of real estate. Theyve lived here how long . For many generations. This old grandma is 78 years old and, uh, she said that her grandparents lived here before this all became, like, a big tourist attraction. Is their situation protected by the state . Theyre allowed to live here by special because theyve been here