Wedding at Ba Be Lake

The piercing squeal of the pig sparked my interest so I went to investigate. The next house along from our guesthouse had the attention of many of the local villagers, as well as mine, as a group of young men were at the initial stage of preparing a feast. That feast was to celebrate a wedding the following day and pork was on the menu.

As I approached the men had the pig upside down with his legs tied balancing on a long chair. One man cut the pigs throat while another caught the blood in a large bowl. The blood would be left to congeal and eaten as part of the celebration. The pig was then taken down to the nearby river to clean. That was not the only pig that we heard killed over our four days in Ba Be Lake which is normal considering many live off their own produce. There is a market nearby where many of the villagers travel too as well.

None of the animals are confined to cages or tied with chains. As we walk around the village pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, goats and even buffalo’s wander around freely, most quite oblivious to our presence. It is a peaceful and welcoming environment and you can’t help feeling relaxed almost at once………………..that is only of course, if you are not the pig.