Two weeks back, together with some of my flat mates and friends, I went to a magical place called Snake Village. The purpose of Snake Village? To eat snakes of course! Now, as some of you may know, I'm not that big on food. I see it as fuel, to keep me going, and if I like something, why change? But on the other hand, I do try new things and though the idea of eating bugs, spiders or other creepy crawlers didn't really excite me, indulging myself on a snake did have a certain manly appeal.
So off we went, to Snake Village, on the outskirts of Hanoi. It's not really a village, more a neighborhood where you can find a large variety of restaurants specializing in cooking snakes. Like everywhere else in Vietnam, shops specializing in certain goods or services tend to concentrate in one area or street. Their thinking: if your shop is not on “the street” it's not good enough.
This concept is taken to the extreme though; say for instance you want to buy a alarm clock, you go to alarm clock street, you want to buy toys, go to toy street. The school where I'm teaching is located in the small water pump and generator street. You've got scrap metal alley, 24-hour food road, bamboo furniture avenue and second hand leather jacket street. This also means that sometimes you have drive for at least an hour in a heavily congested city to acquire something.
Anyway, back to Snake Village. There all the restaurants serving tasty snakes are conveniently located in a very small area. When you enter the restaurant the owner will offer you and your group a choice of several different snakes. The bigger, or more dangerous (and more endangered), the more expensive. Then, after selecting one, the owner / cook will beat the snake senseless on the ground, take a knife, cut open the snake along the belly, drain the blood and take the (beating) heart out together with some other vital organs.
Two things happen next. The blood, mixed with rice wine, is offered as a drink, the (still beating) heart and other organs such as lungs or bile have to be eaten (or drunk, in my case) raw. Different organs will bestow different powers or strengths. The rest of the snake is used in a large variety of dishes, from soup, to meatballs, a kind of fried rice dish with snake meat and spring rolls. It's amazing that they use every part of the body, nothing goes to waste. Even the scales and spine are used. Snake meat tastes a bit like chicken or beef, but a lot more “chewy”.
After Snake Village I took a couple of days off. With a slightly upset stomach I took my motorbike and drove two and half hours south to a town called Ninh Bihn. I never realized that I actually didn't venture out of Hanoi for the last least three months. Being in the countryside was a great change from the chaotic, noisy and polluted streets of Hanoi. No more sunglasses or face mask to protect my eyes and senstive lungs against exhaust fumes, dirt and other toxins.
Close by to Nihn Bihn is Tam Coc and famous for it's karst mountains. In appearance Tam Coc is very similar to Halong Bay of UNESCO Heritage fame, but instead of the mountains rising out of the sea, the sometimes bizarre formations jut out of endless fields of rice paddies. The motorbike is great to get off the beaten track and you've got a couple of great little roads snaking through the countryside. The scenery is amazing. I met a couple of cool backpackers and I spent a blissful Sunday driving around, climbing mountain tops and taking pictures.
That was two weeks ago. But, rest assured, I haven't only been a slave to my students. I also had a great time with friends and flatmates. Sadly enough a couple of friends had to leave, but not before we had a good send off.
I've got one month left of work. Afterwards I'll travel a bit through northern Vietnam before heading of to my next destination: China! That was all for today. Good luck, take care and have a great weekend!
