South East Asia

I have traveled to many countries and am very grateful for my experiences. I truly believe that it is not only "extremely beneficial" for a person to leave the comforts of their own culture and society; but also that by opening one's self up to and experiencing other cultures and social environments, we enrich who we are on a fundamental level and grow as a person. I often think that "if" a person were limited to accomplishing only one thing in life, it should be to travel. I say this because there are few (if any) greater ways to discover more about yourself and how you fit into the world around you, than by fully immersing yourself Into different cultures/societies from completely different walks of life. Traveling is a truly humbling and life changing experience and only grows exponentially with the more places a person visits. Now onto why i am posting here; first I wish to say that I do thoroughly enjoy watching your shows and find them to be exciting, educational, and valuable because you offer people a chance to see things that they wouldn't likely see unless given a chance and even then possibly not. This however does not apply particularly to this episode in South East Asia. At first, I thought that it was very impressive that either you or one of your crew members were thoughtful enough to donate a pig to the family. However you then went on to act out in a very disrespectful and dishonorable manner on multiple occasions towards Andarias and Yusef's family. It was appaling to watch mate. I mean the poor old man tried multiple times to explain to you (with his limited knowledge of English It seemed) that this was a very fundamental part of their culture. Not only is it part of their customs, but it is part of the very economy of the area. These people have a whole different view upon death than most of the Western world, though it stirs up similar feelings within me of "Día de los Muertos" or the Day of the Dead and how it is celebrated in Mexico; in the sense that they both believe that their loved ones are still with them or amoung them. This only further fortified the reasoning for why I found your words, facial expressions, and continuous asking or jokingly trying to persuade Andarias, the villagers and or family members to let the pigs live appalling. You know the best way I can try to explain what it is equivalent too in our society would be like if you offered a Christmas gift of a filled photo album to an elderly person here in North America while they were laying on their death bed in the hospital. All their family and friends are gathered around and get to see this album filled with pictures that bring back great memories that remind them of what a great life they had together. This fills the elderly persons heart with pride and happiness because they have had a good life and they are surrounded by loved ones... but then you shout out " wait wait... no no no... you know what I really don't want you to have that album please give it back" as you reach down and try to take it from their arms! Yes, it is similar to that, because in their culture they believe that these are some of the most important days of the departeds life. That durring the surrounding days of celebration, the deceased will make his pilmagrage onward towards heaven. Many of these people also live within a social caste, while others choose to venture out to gain wealth and then return later to build a family with status above their birth rights...but regardless of caste or class these funerals are extremely taxing on the families and communities financially thus they have allowed more tourism to be inclusive in their affairs, but this does not give people the right to still be neither ignorant or just disrespectful of their ancient customs and culture as a whole. I believe you mentioned they slaughtered around 50 Buffalo! The amount of Buffalo killed is in dirrect correlation to the status of the departed. The higher their status, the more Buffalo are sacrificed... and this cost alot of money. Part of the beauty of traveling is getting to see and be a part of the diversity that the world and our species has to offer without imposing our own belief structures upon our fellow man... I just felt very strongly that I had a chance to respond here just incase you didn't realize how you came across in the footage (so I can only assume likely worse footage didn't make the cut) and by doing so I could possibly open other travelers eyes to just how important it is to remember that when we travel, we are a GUEST in their society and home!