You can't buy fresher!

About two weeks ago we went to a Thai market (next to the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai) as part of a cookery course and thought we had seen it all when it comes to fresh meat. We took great delight in watching a Canadian girl squirm as flapping fish were taken off the display, had their heads chopped off and then gutted. Apparently, Thai people like their fish really fresh, so the fishmonger keeps them half alive on the ice by spraying water over them occasionally. However, on our our Trek in Laos we were not prepared for our evening meal in a remote Hilltribe village. (That should be a long enough build-up for veggies to stop reading now.)
After a hard day walking through the jungle in very muddy conditions, we returned from the Well/bathroom to find a young pig tied up at the feet and mouth, squealing and trying to escape. When we asked why it was there, we were told it was our dinner. We couldn’t really believe it until one of the villagers came out with a machette and stabbed its throat, wiggled it about a bit and drained the blood. (Of course we had to watch!) It was then skinned using boiling water (this bit did concern us and a Dutch guy called Kijn, as the pig moved a lot during this process-but we were assured it was dead). It was then gutted, chopped up,barbequed and on our plates within two hours. Now that’s what you call FRESH MEAT!
Again, we thought we had seen it all, but on the bus home we were given a little more insight into Animal Welfare-Laos style. No blood this time, but a man stopped the bus, ran off to woman selling tied up Moles (yes, the little furry things that live under ground), bought two, stuffed them in a plastic bag and sat back down behind Martine (who was sitting on a bag of rice, because there were no seats left) with the two creatures wriggling centimetres from her back. I (Stuart) was amazed at how Martine did not seem fazed by sitting so close to two suffocating animals, but as the gentleman assured us ‘It’s ok, they are used to living underground.’ He then told us that they were a present for his parents, as you just can’t get them in the cities nowadays. Needless to say, we have not eaten any local food in two days and our first meal when arriving in Luang Prubang (UNESCO Protected City) was Pizza and Spagetti Carbonara. You just need a little break now and then.