2014/15 Biking Southeast Asia Daily Snippet

13 December, Ba Be to Na Phac, 44km
Diep Van Guest House 200,000VND

Do not read this if you can’t bear the thought of dog for dinner. I find it very hard to get my head around supping on puppy, but millions of Asians worldwide eat dog as a matter of course, as does a small Swiss community tucked away in the Alps, and others. Today we saw a dog and two chickens in a basket on the back of a scooter, clearly en route the market / slaughterhouse. A day or so ago we saw two men getting onto a scooter. As they did so, a pink sack fell off the footplate and began to squirm, yelping coming from within. Not a pet, but a meal. A clear distinction seems to be made between pets and dinner-dog. Apparently, as the Chinese, for example, grow wealthier and begin to own and value dogs as pets, a debate is developing, not so much about whether it is OK to eat dog or not, but about how they are reared and killed. (Seriously, don’t read more if you don’t want to know more...) In Vietnam, we believe, clubbing is the preferred slaughter method. This sounds considerably more distressing than the reality which under ideal circumstances involves securing the dog’s head and delivering one quick killing blow. But still... Today I saw a dog get knocked over by a car. He was tumbled about, but OK enough to get up and run into his home where two women were standing in the doorway. Neither they, nor the driver responded at all to the incident which had me off the bike and crying out. We had an excellent, hilly ride arriving in Na Phac in time to have a pavement lunch of deep fried sweet potato and sausage and to both get a haircut from a young man with orange hair. Strange but true – the fitter you get, the more good rides you have!