- 6/4/2025
Vietnam’s railways, established under French colonial rule and completed in 1936, have faced a century of poor maintenance, conflict, and accidents. Accounting for 2% of the country’s annual deaths, railway safety remains a major concern. During the Vietnam War, the network became a vital supply route but also a prime target for US bombing, with engineers working tirelessly to keep it operational despite repeated destruction.
Stretching from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, the railway reflects the country’s turbulent history. It remains essential today, supporting industries, transporting market goods, and serving as a critical north-south connection, though still in need of upgrades. Amidst the challenges, these resilient trains continue to play a vital role in both Vietnam’s economy and daily life.
Stretching from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, the railway reflects the country’s turbulent history. It remains essential today, supporting industries, transporting market goods, and serving as a critical north-south connection, though still in need of upgrades. Amidst the challenges, these resilient trains continue to play a vital role in both Vietnam’s economy and daily life.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01Oh man, this is on the verge of tortures.
00:04These train journeys are among the most epic and hardcore on the planet.
00:08There's like ice picks stabbing at my stomach wall.
00:13Taking people through the world's harshest environments.
00:16No train has ever gone further north than this one right here.
00:21Overcoming huge technical challenges.
00:24Thank God the train's here. I don't know how you'd do this without it.
00:27These trains are a vital link to remote communities.
00:30People live along the tracks, so this is their only means home.
00:34Sustaining a region's economy.
00:36I've never seen so many cucumbers in one place in my life.
00:39And even changing the course of history.
00:42It's because of this line that the country feels united.
00:46These are the world's tough trains.
00:57This is tough trains Vietnam.
01:02Throughout history, Vietnam's railway system has provided a vital link between the north and the south.
01:07Transporting both people and cargo.
01:09But this is repeatedly made as a target for attack.
01:13During the Indochina and Vietnam wars, the entire railway network was decimated many times over.
01:19As people sought to destroy key supply lines.
01:24These are the world's most bombed railways.
01:27Still in recovery after years of war and underinvestment.
01:30Traveling on Vietnam's aging rail networks would be quite a challenge even today.
01:36In fact, per capita, the percentage of deaths caused by trains here is the highest in the world.
01:43But in spite of all this, the rail network has become a real symbol of Vietnam's fight for survival.
01:49Since its construction, this railway has helped unify the country.
01:54It is the backbone of the Vietnamese nation.
01:57My first journey takes me from Dom Dang to the coastal town of Halom.
02:02I travel across its famous bay to reach the port of Haiphong.
02:06From where I catch a train to the country's capital, Hanoi.
02:10From Hanoi, I join the Reunification Express Line for 15 hours across the demilitarized zone to reach Hue.
02:18From Hue, I travel to Ho Chi Minh City, where I end my journey.
02:27Trains run the length of its 2,600-kilometer railway.
02:32And I'm starting my journey here at Dom Dang, at the border with China.
02:35It is the most important crossing between the two countries.
02:38This is the gateway to the Friendship Pass, the traditional border between China and Vietnam.
02:43Over the years, the name has always changed to reflect the relationship between the two countries.
02:48Originally, it was the South Suppressing Pass, and then it was the South Watching Pass.
02:53And since the Vietnam War, it's remained the Friendship Pass.
02:58The history of Vietnam in the 20th century has been shaped by war, and China had a big part to play.
03:08When the Communist North began to fight the French-controlled South in the 1940s,
03:12it kicked off 30 years of conflict, which didn't end until 1975,
03:17when the Communists finally took Saigon to reunify the country.
03:22China was one of the biggest allies of the Communist coalition party called the Viet Minh,
03:27led by the revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
03:30Formed in 1941, over the next 30 years, the Viet Minh waged war against the French, the Americans,
03:36and even their own fellow Vietnamese.
03:40But the story of the relationship between Vietnam and China is best told through the railway line.
03:47Tim Dahling is a British historian living here, who specializes in Vietnam railway history.
03:54It's the oldest railway line in northern Vietnam, and it's also special because over the years,
03:59since it was built originally in 1890, it's gone through a series of changes.
04:03So it's reinvented itself three or four different times.
04:07By the start of the Vietnam War, this line became an essential military supply line from Vietnam's Communist allies.
04:14But there was a problem. The gauge between China and Vietnam didn't match.
04:19For about ten years, there was a flow of shipments, military and other supplies, down to the border.
04:25And then, of course, they had to change trains loaded onto a one-meter gauge train to get into Vietnam.
04:30Of course, this was an issue they really needed to resolve.
04:33This was when a joint Chinese-Vietnamese project was launched to re-gauge the entire network.
04:39And so what you have here is the old French one-meter gauge plus the standard gauge,
04:45which is consistent with the Chinese side of the border.
04:47That meant that trains coming from China carrying military and other supplies could go straight through the border,
04:53very essential supplies during wartime.
04:56Basically, this was the main communication line into northern Vietnam.
05:00Of course, the rest of the country was cordoned off by seaborne attacks,
05:05airborne attacks by America.
05:07So it's a very special line in the history of the development of Vietnam.
05:11Well, let's not miss our training, huh?
05:13The train now runs on the standard gauge all the way to Keph.
05:33The Americans knew that war supplies were being brought in from China by train,
05:42and that the only way to defeat the Vietnamese communists was to destroy their supply line.
05:47Railways in northern Vietnam became the main target for air raids.
05:52Yeah, they're spicy.
05:54These graded cages on both sides, are those for safety?
05:58Yeah, it's a sad fact of traveling on trains that anywhere in the world,
06:02stupid people throw stones, and so it's for the safety of the passengers.
06:06A lot of tunnels. I see another one coming up.
06:09Yeah, the tanks were really important on this ride because, of course,
06:13during the American war it was crucially important that they kept the trains running,
06:17supplying the military and other supplies through to Hanoi.
06:21And, obviously, when the American bombing was this high,
06:24sometimes the trains were already running along the lines.
06:27So they devised a unique system whereby they would go from tunnel to tunnel
06:32and keep the train in the tunnel until the bottom of the park.
06:35Simply, they stored them there because, of course,
06:37the aircraft couldn't see what was going on clearly from above.
06:40So, to all intents and purposes, there were no trains on the line.
06:44The trains were still operating, even though they were...
06:48Oh, now we're on a bridge. Now we're on a bridge.
06:50The Americans did target a lot of bridges here.
06:53But once the bridges were out, as far as the Americans were concerned,
06:56that was it. The line was not operational.
06:59They devised what they called ghost bridges, which were pontoons that float on the river.
07:05So they laid track on top of the pontoon.
07:08And then they'd need some track down from the railway line to the riverbank.
07:13So the train would roll down onto the pontoon, and then they'd float the train across the river,
07:17back onto the track again. And, of course, this was done at night.
07:21So in the morning, at first light, these pontoons would be floated away.
07:26The bombers came over. They could just see that the bridges were out.
07:29So as far as they were concerned, it wasn't operating.
07:32No idea what that was.
07:35This is the station here.
07:48I say goodbye to Tim here in Kep.
07:50He's continuing down to Hanoi, but I've decided to take a quick detour to Tainguin,
07:55the place that headed America's list of locations to flatten during the war.
08:06Kep used to be a major rail crossroads, but today you have to drive the 60 kilometers west to Tainguin.
08:26Nowadays, steam engines are almost whispers of legend.
08:30Where they used to abound, now they're replaced with diesel or electric locomotives.
08:35But I'm told they still exist, and this is the place to see them.
08:42In 1959, Tainguin became the site for the country's first steel mill,
08:47promoting Vietnam's industrial activities to one of Asia's forerunners,
08:51making it an important economic stronghold.
08:55Trains were vital to shift the molten metal around the factory.
08:58The steel works of Tainguin formed the last stand of steam in Vietnam.
09:05Around two and a half tons of charcoal are needed for a single steam train to run five or six hours.
09:11Due to the high cost and the slow speed compared to diesel trains,
09:14this steel factory only brings out these beauties when it's extra busy.
09:19Wow, look at this one. A monster. So sturdy.
09:25Steam trains run at just 35% efficiency of the newer diesel trains,
09:29and sadly, today isn't busy, so all the steam trains are on downtime.
09:38Instead, I'm jumping on this Russian locomotive with Mr. Vinh,
09:41who's doing the rounds of the factory.
09:43So what are we doing right now? Where are we going?
09:51We're using the steel mills, but we don't use it anymore.
09:55We're using the steel mills.
09:56We're using the steel mills.
09:57We're using the steel mills.
09:58We're using the steel mills.
09:59We're using the steel mills.
10:00We're using the steel mills.
10:02Working in the steel factory is dirty and dangerous.
10:05It is in this blast furnace that the raw materials of sandstone, coal and iron ore are loaded,
10:11only to erupt.
10:16Wow, here we go.
10:18Let it flow, look at that.
10:20So what's happening here? What's the step of the process?
10:35The liquid iron is channeled so it flows directly into the smelting pots on the train.
10:40What do we do with this iron liquid?
10:50To turn the liquid iron into steel, oxygen needs to be blown through the molten liquid.
11:07Wow, look at that. That's spectacular.
11:11Beautiful. Magnificent. That is like the best fireworks show ever.
11:16From this oven, it is poured into different shaped molds, later left to cool down to become the final product of construction materials.
11:27Wow, look how dramatic that is. All this smoke and water. That was cool. Exciting, huh?
11:46Back in Kep, the morning's train is being loaded up.
12:01Alright, well this is different.
12:04I was expecting to be on a passenger train, but that doesn't appear to be the case at all.
12:08This is a proper train ride right here.
12:13I'm taking the train to the coastal town of Ha Lom.
12:18I then head across Ha Lom Bay to the major port of Hai Phong.
12:21Selling fresh produce is vital for the farmers in Vietnam's rural communities.
12:37And the best way to get their produce to market is by train.
12:40Golly, they must really have been here hours ago preparing for this.
12:52Only had a couple of minutes to get all this on.
12:55In order to reduce journey times, stops at stations have been cut to just two or three minutes, rather than upgrading the lines.
13:01I've never seen so many cucumbers in one place in my life.
13:09Goodness.
13:11This is hard work.
13:14This is heavy.
13:18Alright, let the cucumber party begin.
13:22Oh, you need help?
13:24Okay.
13:25Ready?
13:27Wow.
13:28You lift this.
13:31Back breaking.
13:33Show me how you lift this.
13:35Show me.
13:37Oh my gosh.
13:39Wow.
13:41Wow.
13:43That's crazy.
13:45Bye.
13:47Thanks for all the cucumbers.
13:52As much of a lifeline as this railway is for the people around here,
13:55this rail line and its carriages have not been renewed for decades, but the locomotive has.
14:03Previously a reconfigured shunter, these days it's a bonafide railroad locomotive.
14:09But there's one more area that's in desperate need of an upgrade.
14:13With no radios in sight, communications is one of the most outstanding issues.
14:18Everything is manual.
14:19What is this?
14:20What is the ring for?
14:22It's an old school.
14:24If the train driver needs to know anything, the station master will replace this ring with a different one.
14:26One that has a handwritten note on it.
14:27The entire Vietnamese railway network is single track, which means that when another train is coming in the opposite direction,
14:35one train needs to pull off into a bypass.
14:38Without any communication, these two trains would just hurtle into each other.
14:41Albeit at just 30 miles an hour.
14:42It's not just other trains that are in danger of being hit, though.
14:44Hardly a week goes by without a train colliding with a person or road vehicle somewhere on the network.
14:47The entire Vietnamese railway network is single track, which means that when another train is coming in the opposite direction,
14:51one train needs to pull off into a bypass.
14:53Without any communication, these two trains would just hurtle into each other.
14:57Albeit at just 30 miles an hour.
14:59It's not just other trains that are in danger of being hit, though.
15:04Hardly a week goes by without a train colliding with a person or road vehicle somewhere on the network.
15:12Last year, there were 471 accidents, killing 224 people.
15:18One of Vietnam Railway's biggest problems is with their railway crossings.
15:23There are 7,000 across the whole network, but only 1,000 were built legally,
15:28and only a third of them have proper barriers separating the track and the road.
15:35If this station is anything to go by, this railway line is about to get a full-on overhaul.
15:41Maybe it will finally be brought into the modern age.
15:47Woo! A lot of people.
15:52Let the madness begin.
15:53It may seem like a strange place to hold a market, but actually, it's the perfect place.
16:09Because the train leaves in the morning, brings everybody and all the produce here,
16:14waits for it all day, and then takes everybody back home.
16:17It's awesome.
16:18With the market drawing to a close, it's time for me to find a ride across the famous Halam Bay to the port city of Haiphong on the other side.
16:38Halam Bay was heavily mined by the Americans during the Vietnam War to prevent ammunition arriving from other communist countries.
16:48The Vietnamese have always been fighting off invaders here, and according to legend, this started as early as the foundation of the country.
16:55In the 19th century, the enemy was the French.
17:02The main port of Haiphong here made its way into history books in November 1946, when a dispute over customs controls erupted between the French troops and soldiers of the newly formed Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
17:15Shots were exchanged over a Chinese junk suspected of smuggling, and the French replied with a naval bombardment of Haiphong's Vietnamese quarter, killing over 6,000 people.
17:30The two nations were now set for the Indochina War.
17:34It was a war the French were destined to lose.
17:37Vietnam had seen a glimpse of independence, and the fight was theirs to win.
17:41Mmm. Smells good. What do we got?
17:46I don't forget. Yes, I'll take one of those, please.
17:55Looks like vegetables in the tempura, guys.
17:59Sweet chili.
18:02A little barbecue.
18:10Come on.
18:12Okay. Come on.
18:14Come on.
18:19Mmm.
18:24Mmm. That's good.
18:26Still don't know what it is, but I like it.
18:31There is something else beyond the baguettes and the impressive colonial architecture that the French left the Vietnamese,
18:37that would transform their country forever, the railway system.
18:41In fact, everybody wanted to become part of the railway and working for the railway is a lucrative job, and all the ladies even had a saying amongst themselves,
18:50that if you want to be buried in Ham Rong, which was this posh cemetery with great feng shui, you better find yourself a railway man for us.
18:57The colonial era was great for Vietnam's railways. From when the first line was inaugurated in 1881 to the defeat of the French in 1954, rail travel grew steadily.
19:13After the French lost, the Geneva Conference divided Vietnam into the Communist North and the Anti-Communist South.
19:26This had a major effect on the railways, and they fell into disrepair.
19:30This train is going to take me all the way to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi.
19:37This line is the most recently upgraded of all Vietnam's railways, and it was about time.
19:45It was annihilated in the Vietnam War.
19:47Retired train driver Mr. Trinh risked his life to keep the Northern Railway lines operational during these hostile years.
19:58What was it like driving trains in the war?
20:03The war was in the war.
20:04The war was to fight and have to fight.
20:05Then the planes were to fight.
20:06The planes were to fight for the war.
20:07They were to fight.
20:09So they couldn't be left.
20:12The planes were to fight.
20:14But they were to fight for their army.
20:15The planes were to fight for their army to get back to the war.
20:28Were you in any close calls or big explosions?
20:31The B-52 was shot by 5km, 10km and 10km.
20:41On the 23rd, 12th, 1972, at the 21.49, the B-52 started to shoot.
20:50My teammates with me, I was able to check the device.
20:55My teammates went to the airport and went to the airport.
21:00I was injured.
21:01I was just hit by the bomb.
21:03I was hurt.
21:04But with my teammates, I was happy.
21:07I was still alive today.
21:09Sounds horrific.
21:11Weren't you scared?
21:13In the war, I went to the airport.
21:19It was the most important thing.
21:22Even if there was a problem,
21:25we still have to go to the airport.
21:28And we used to carry a bomb.
21:32We still had to go to the airport.
21:37I went to the airport to go to the airport.
21:40Wow, you're a warrior.
21:42Well, that puts my train journeys into perspective.
21:56Long Bien is one of the poorest areas of Hanoi.
21:59Yet this bridge is a famous monument of the city.
22:02Designed by Eiffel, it was once the longest in Indochina.
22:07Hanoi icon in all senses.
22:09Long Bien Bridge was one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of the French colonial period in Vietnam.
22:15And in the Vietnam War, it became a symbol of the Vietnamese resistance.
22:21As the controversial war against communism grew increasingly fierce,
22:25America focused on destroying the country's infrastructure.
22:28This bridge was repeatedly bombed by America and then repaired by the Vietnam.
22:35Long Bien Bridge isn't just an icon of the past defiance of Hanoi.
22:39It's also a symbol of the resilience of its people today.
22:42The section of rail track leading from Long Bien Station to the main station in the city center passes through the old quarter, a dense residential area.
22:54Houses here are so close to the track, the residents run a real risk of getting hit if they so much as pop their heads out at the wrong time.
23:02I guess I'd get to know the schedule pretty well, though.
23:09Wow, that was exciting. I think if I was a baby, I'd be changing my nappies right about now.
23:25And now it's back to life as normal.
23:30One person that does know the schedule well is Colm Pearce.
23:34He runs photography tours relating to the railway tracks and the life alongside them.
23:41This is a brilliant idea to do a tour along the tracks.
23:44Who started that? How did you come up with that?
23:46Well, you know, this is kind of an obvious kind of thing to do.
23:49It's a slice of life, you know.
23:51As we walked through the tracks, you'd see the houses are right beside the tracks.
23:56So lots of life happens along the tracks.
23:58Yeah, exactly.
23:59It's probably one of the quietest parts, believe it or not, of Hanoi.
24:02No cars go down here.
24:04Walking along here, it's easy to forget that this track is actually in use.
24:09They do the trains very early in the morning or very late at night
24:12because, as you can see, it's very busy.
24:15It'll block the whole of Hanoi up here.
24:17You'll have just thousands of cars.
24:19The train works around the city schedule.
24:21Yeah.
24:22When the trains get blocked up here, you can see the smoke.
24:24It just becomes a nightmare for everybody.
24:27Even at night, this street will be chock-a-block.
24:30You'll see when they pull down the barriers, there's motorbikes trying to get around.
24:34Trying to get through it.
24:35I know.
24:36It's pretty crazy, yeah.
24:37It's a real hassle, you know, because they tried to stop them and people still want to cry.
24:41No respect.
24:42No respect at all.
24:43These trains get no respect anymore, right?
24:45Right.
24:48As you can see, like, there's a lot of people working on the tracks.
24:52People have gardens.
24:53Look at this guy.
24:54This is very, very Vietnamese.
24:56In the middle of a city, our own private garden.
24:58Yeah.
24:59You'd never think that living right along the tracks, you would have access to fresh garden food.
25:04Yeah, I mean…
25:05But here it is.
25:06This is normal for life on a track.
25:07Okay.
25:08People work along here, not only for the peace in this frenetic city, but also to use the
25:13track to help contain their prized recycling.
25:16You can see a lot of workers coming up here who are recycling.
25:20And it keeps, like, the city clean.
25:22And there's a lot of people employed in that, you know?
25:24Official or unofficial?
25:25No, it's official.
25:26They'll be doing all the metal and spray down cans and tin.
25:30And a lot of people come up here recycling newspaper.
25:33Sold by the kilo.
25:35Makes people money.
25:36It's good for the city.
25:37Yeah, it's great for the city.
25:38Okay.
25:39Nice.
25:40Yeah, so…
25:41There's no better way to end the day here in Hanoi than with a beer, as a train rumbles
25:51overhead.
25:52We're good.
25:53Come back to it.
25:54Come back to it.
25:55Come on.
25:56We're good.
25:57Okay, so together.
25:58Bye.
25:59Bye.
26:00Bye.
26:01Bye.
26:06And I'm just going to take a quick look around in here.
26:11This is the biggest train workshop in the country.
26:16Wow, look at this old steam engine, it is a beautiful work of art.
26:33Actually this is a really special train because it was built here in Vietnam in 1965 and when
26:38I say built here, it's actually assembled here, all the parts and components were imported.
26:44This is the last surviving decommissioned train in Vietnam.
26:49All the other disused trains, including the French imports from the 19th century, have
26:53all been destroyed because that's what they do around here.
26:56But not this one, this one has been saved.
27:01This workshop, Za Lam, was built in 1905 to maintain rail carriages and locomotives.
27:07Basically these guys have gutted this whole train car and you can see here what it did
27:12look like.
27:13We're covering it up with these boards and cutting a little hole for the vent and we're
27:18going to hammer it up with his little nail.
27:21Pretty basic stuff.
27:23It's very basic.
27:25This overhaul takes a full month to complete, but the repairs only last five years before
27:29the process needs to be repeated.
27:33This carriage is already about 40 years old.
27:35Man, these poor trains never get a break.
27:39No matter how old, how decrepit, how many miles they've gone back and forth all their lifetime,
27:44they get sat on the bench, reworked with an overhaul, and then put right back out into
27:49the field.
27:50Pretty good I got to help contribute a little bit.
27:51I'm riding these things all the time, aren't I?
27:56I'm heading to the station.
27:57It's time for me to leave Hanoi.
28:00All right, this is going to be interesting.
28:03Here is the place to get the immediate train to.
28:07Perfect.
28:08Hello.
28:09Hello.
28:10I need a ticket from here to Hue.
28:13Where?
28:14Where?
28:15Yeah.
28:16Oh.
28:17It's full.
28:18Is it possible to...
28:19Ah, the ticket office.
28:23I don't know why I didn't think of that before.
28:26Hey, do you have any more tickets to Hue?
28:31Number three.
28:32Number three.
28:33Okay.
28:34Oh, so frustrating.
28:35I just want to buy a ticket to Hue.
28:37It shouldn't be that difficult.
28:39I need a ticket today to go to Hue.
28:43Hue?
28:44Yeah.
28:45Now?
28:46Yeah.
28:47Only standing room?
28:48Standing room only.
28:49That is 15 hours to stand.
28:52But you know what?
28:53Yeah, I'll do it.
28:58It's time to board the train.
29:00I wonder how close this one is to needing an overhaul.
29:03Uh-uh.
29:04Sorry.
29:05I leave Hanoi and join the main north-south railway for a 15-hour journey to Hue.
29:16This is it.
29:17The famous Reunification Express Line.
29:20Which did just that, actually.
29:21It connected Hanoi in the north to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
29:26The very first Reunification Express train ran in December 1976 to celebrate the win over the Americans in the Vietnam War.
29:34That's pretty awesome.
29:35It's still running, and I'm on it right now.
29:39The 1,072 miles line was established during the French colonial rule, and was completed over a period of nearly 40 years.
29:47Originally, the journey took 60 hours, although it was quickly brought down to 40.
29:5270 years later, it still takes around 40 hours to do the entire journey.
29:57All right.
29:58This is going to be interesting.
29:59I guess I'll just grab an area.
30:00This kid's cute.
30:01Hello.
30:02Anybody sitting here?
30:03You got an extra seat?
30:04Yeah?
30:05Oh, wow.
30:06Really?
30:07You okay with that?
30:08Oh, I'm so excited I don't have to stand the whole time.
30:10Nice to meet you.
30:11It's been five hours, and people are set in for sleep, but my stomach's ready for a feed.
30:17Well, you work up an appetite getting here, that's for sure.
30:42Oh, it's summertime.
30:43This is very festive in here.
30:44Yeah.
30:45Look at that.
30:46Beautiful.
30:47Wow.
30:48Chicken and rice.
30:49Chili sauce.
30:50Vegetables.
30:51Hard boiled egg.
30:52Yeah.
30:53Yeah.
30:54Yeah.
30:55Yeah.
30:56Yeah.
30:57Yeah.
30:58Yeah.
30:59Yeah.
31:00Yeah.
31:01Yeah.
31:02Yeah.
31:03Yeah.
31:04Yeah.
31:05Yeah.
31:06Yeah.
31:07Yeah.
31:08Yeah.
31:09Yeah.
31:10Yeah.
31:11Yeah.
31:12And so we took soup.
31:13Okay.
31:14Looks good.
31:17It's pretty good actually.
31:23The heck this egg is beating?
31:37This is a half-hatched egg.
31:39It's famous here in Vietnam.
31:40Look at this.
31:42Ugh!
31:43This thing was ready to come out and see the world
31:48instead of seeing the inside of my mouth.
31:54Oh, come on.
31:55Seriously?
31:56I could unravel it and you'll see a full duck.
32:01Oh, God.
32:02I thought I'd just do it all in one go.
32:04It's the bones.
32:05I thought those are feathers.
32:07Here we go.
32:10Hey!
32:11Thank you, thank you, thank you.
32:13Good time.
32:18Now I guess it's time to join the sleeping masses.
32:22The seat I was in wasn't really mine,
32:25and this guy got in.
32:27So I guess I'll sit here.
32:31You have the rice whiskey?
32:34Yeah.
32:35Smell it.
32:36What is that?
32:37Look at this.
32:39Let me show.
32:40Let me show them.
32:41Show the camera.
32:42Oh!
32:43He's got a dress on, and the cop is pulling in.
32:47Clearly a drunk episode.
32:49Okay, I'm going to go sleep over there, yeah?
32:51Is it opened up?
32:52Thank you for showing me those pictures.
32:53I feel closer to you.
32:55I've still got seven more hours on this thing.
32:58That's the way to do it when you're this tall.
33:02That's much better.
33:03Yeah, now we're talking.
33:04Oh.
33:05Who am I kidding?
33:072 AM.
33:08The light is still on, and everyone else appears to be asleep.
33:10I'm still struggling.
33:11Oh man, this is on the verge of tortures.
33:14Oh man, this is on the verge of tortures.
33:21It's 4 AM, and I've had next to no sleep.
33:48Luckily, it's my stop, Hue.
33:51I made it.
33:54I'm officially south of the DMZ.
33:57So, I had this idealized vision that the southern tracks were going to be nice and smooth,
34:03you know, because they weren't being bombed by the Americans like they were in the north.
34:07But down here, the Viet Cong was sabotaging these tracks.
34:13This sabotage was commonly caused by high-explosive mines planted under the tracks in the jungle.
34:19The line was always a major military supply link and was a main target of the Viet Cong.
34:25Over the course of just three years, hundreds of trains were mined with a staggering casualty rate.
34:31Yet, despite this sabotage, the Vietnamese government continued operating the line, at any cost.
34:38Today, this French-built railway is still constantly under repair.
34:46With just a single rail track, the only time the workers have to complete their maintenance is between trains,
34:52which can run up to 30 times a day.
34:55How does any work get done?
34:59This tunnel is in the process of being repaired.
35:02The team are on standby in the nearest station and have invited me to join them on their next work stint.
35:09All the workers live on site during this project.
35:12They have to be ready at all times.
35:14Mr. Chao?
35:15Mr. Chao is the engineer in charge.
35:18So, what kind of work are we doing here today?
35:21Let's go. You guys are ready.
35:35Yeah.
35:36The Sof!
35:37He's actually looking out the window, driving the thing.
35:42I can't even see the front of this thing.
35:43So, if anything is at front of us.
35:45Sorry.
35:46Mr. Chao I opened the stairs, but
35:47It sweats more Poway fondo,
36:01the West Coast.
36:02This is amazing, so you actually bring the train here and stand on it, all your tools
36:13and materials are here, so you don't have to haul them in and out, you say, because
36:16there's no room in the tunnel.
36:20Over a hundred years old, this tunnel has been repaired countless times, and it doesn't
36:25get any easier.
36:27We're drilling into the earth, so that we can put these pegs in and hold up these iron
36:34nets, they call it, and these all overlap so that it just really reinforces it.
36:39Okay, let's get ready for some dust.
36:46Taste it.
36:48You're the supervisor, you stand here and watch it all, you're smart.
36:54Wow, it's really hot and sweaty and dusty and dark, it's a lot of work maintaining
36:58this tunnel.
36:59Thank God the train's here, I don't know how you'd do this without it.
37:06Here in central Vietnam, Hue is a blend of old and new.
37:18It's a popular place to break up a long train journey, as it provides a perfect base to
37:25explore the history of the region.
37:27It doesn't take a genius to work out that two-wheeled vehicles are the most popular mode
37:33of transport around here, and I'm going to join the crowd today.
37:37I'm interested in the recent history of Vietnam, so Mr. Tu is taking me on a ride into the
37:44DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone.
37:47How far are we going today?
37:52About 230 kilometers.
37:55Oh wow, that's going to be a few hours, huh?
37:58No, no.
37:59No?
38:00Wow, six or seven hours.
38:02The DMZ was a war-free zone that made up the former border between North and South Vietnam.
38:09We travel along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Khe San combat base, and then east to end the
38:15day at Chuang Song Cemetery.
38:17So is this the Ho Chi Minh Trail we're on right now?
38:22Yeah.
38:23This now is the 8th Ho Chi Minh Trail.
38:26They turned it into a road.
38:27I would have thought it was much more covered, you know, because it was very hidden in the
38:32war.
38:33Yeah.
38:34We have to open from 1959.
38:36Uh-huh.
38:37With the railway continuously under attack, the trail quickly became the main supply route for
38:42the Viet Cong in the south.
38:44Americans deployed the chemical, Agent Orange, to clear the forest around the suspected Ho Chi Minh
38:49Trail.
38:50It also severely affected the people who were based in the area.
38:54Some people, he had to work in the war.
38:57He kept married.
38:58Then he born the kids.
38:59Every kid gets sick, you know?
39:01Oh, the kids got sick in there?
39:02Yeah, and they get sick now also.
39:05So people are still getting sick from the Agent Orange?
39:08Yeah.
39:09That was dropped during the war?
39:10Yeah.
39:11Really?
39:12Yeah.
39:13Yeah.
39:14Communities south of Hue are still giving birth to children with severe defects, both physical
39:19and mental.
39:20Professionals think that this will continue for generations to come.
39:25This is Khe Sanh.
39:28This is where the U.S. set up a combat base because it was close to the Ho Chi Minh Trail
39:32and they thought they could patrol it nicely from here.
39:35So by 1968, they moved in almost 7,000 U.S. Marine troops.
39:40The Northern Vietnamese saw this as an obvious target and decided to attack.
39:45But what they didn't account for was that the U.S. had access to the air.
39:49And so they dropped over 100,000 tons of bombs within the next few months in the surrounding areas.
39:57And still the Vietnamese kept coming.
40:01This is where the bloodiest attack in the history of the Vietnam War took place.
40:06Eventually, the U.S. decided to close down the base, considering it in the way of further progression against the Communists.
40:14The Vietnamese saw this as a major win.
40:18Look at all these flags.
40:19Is this for reunification day?
40:20Yeah, reunification day.
40:21Yeah, reunification day.
40:22Big celebration.
40:23Banners.
40:24You see this all along the countryside on the road.
40:29But you're happy that the Vietnam United...
40:32Yeah, I'm happy.
40:33I like it.
40:34I don't like it in the world, you know?
40:36Nobody likes war.
40:37And I say now, in the world, no people win.
40:41Nobody wins with war.
40:42Nobody wins.
40:43They die.
40:44They die.
40:48The Vietnam War costs an estimated 200 billion U.S. dollars and around 5 million people's lives.
40:55It's not a win to be celebrated.
40:58Instead, the Vietnamese focus on their liberation.
41:03We've come to Vietnam's National War Cemetery to pay our respects to the fallen, alongside many of their relatives.
41:10The cemetery houses the remains of 10,000 North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong fighters, as well as civilians who were killed during the war.
41:23Each of the tombstones here has the words of Ho Chi Minh inscribed.
41:26There is nothing compared to freedom and independence.
41:40It's four in the morning and I'm back at the station.
41:45This time I really lucked out.
41:47Got myself a sleeper.
41:48And I'm going straight to bed as soon as I get on that thing.
41:53As this gets tired.
41:54This is the last leg of my journey, taking me through the night to reach Ho Chi Minh City.
42:17Tired or not, sleep is definitely easier said than done on this train.
42:21They have this thing here in their culture where if you want to show how good food is, smack your mouth as you eat.
42:30A couple down here and have a wonderful breakfast.
42:34And from the sound of it, it was lovely.
42:37Really, really delicious.
42:42With sleep out of the question, I'm going to need to find other ways to entertain myself for the next 15 hours.
42:48Hello.
42:49Hello.
42:50Ticket.
42:51Ticket.
42:52Yes.
42:53This is good actually because you see a lot of people playing musical chairs throughout the journey.
43:09Conductors play an important role in keeping the peace here on the train.
43:12A role reflected by their reunification express itself.
43:15It's because of this line that the country feels united, isn't it?
43:19Yeah, right.
43:20The path to the Pacific is to connect between the Pacific and the Nam.
43:23The path to the Pacific is to connect between the Pacific and the Nam.
43:28The path to the Pacific is to connect between the Pacific and the Nam as the last one.
43:31Turns out, there's really not much you can do in these sleepers apart from keep yourself amused and pray sleep will eventually come.
43:39Night, night.
43:40Ho Chi Minh City exudes French colonial charm at every corner and is still locally known as Saigon.
43:59It's Vietnam's second most important city after Hanoi and its busy streets certainly show that with a population of over 7 million people, it is definitely the country's biggest city.
44:11Ho Chi Minh City is closely tied to the struggle for the independence and freedom of Vietnam.
44:16Formerly Saigon, the capital of the anti-communist American-supported South Vietnam, this is where the Americans were finally defeated by Ho Chi Minh's army.
44:25And the city renamed in honor of their revolutionary leader, Uncle Ho.
44:29I'm honored to have the company of General Thay, a leader of the Vietnam army in charge of the troops who came and captured Saigon on the 30th of April, 1975.
44:48You were here on the day that the North took over the South, right here behind us.
44:55What was your role exactly?
44:57So you gave the order to attack?
45:13So you gave the order to attack.
45:14And like that, it was about 15 troops.
45:17We did a long time in the region.
45:22This program was able to attack.
45:24After that, we were actually going to attack the war.
45:27At 9 hour until 11 to 30, we managed to attack the war against NAP.
45:31They are also going to attack the war against the top of the NAP.
45:34And we had a lot of attack.
45:36We managed to attack.
45:37We managed to attack the battle of the Vietnam and we managed to attack the war against New York.
45:40This day, April 30th, 1975, became one of the most historic days of the 20th century.
45:55After the palace was taken, panicked Vietnamese connected to the old regime
45:59stormed the gates of the American Embassy, hoping to find sanctuary.
46:05The lucky ones were airlifted from the rooftop by helicopters,
46:08who were later dramatically dumped overboard
46:10when they landed on aircraft carriers waiting off the coast.
46:21What did the victory mean to you personally?
46:38What did the victory mean to you?
46:40The second thing is that I will be sure to meet your family,
46:42and I will be sure to meet your family.
46:44It's been 10 years already.
46:46The country of Vietnam has been united to the whole country,
46:50including the sea, the sea, the sea, the sea and the sea.
46:56The people of Vietnam, from the North to the North, all were devastated.
47:01Because all Vietnam, all the people of Vietnam,
47:03young, young, young people,
47:05all participated in the fight to protect the army
47:08and the people of the United States.
47:10But now we are able to do it.
47:12So everyone is devastated in the North and the North,
47:15and all the Vietnam.
47:17Ho Chi Minh and his supporters fought hard for the unification of this country.
47:27And after years of bitter conflict and division,
47:30the rail network here remains the real symbol of its reunification.
47:34And just as Ho Chi Minh City marked the end of war in Vietnam,
47:38so too does it mark the end of my journey here.
47:42I'm Viet, Vietnam.
Recommended
1:49
|
Up next
59:11
22:56
42:23
46:10
6:23
51:40