"Snake Village" is situated just outside of Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam. I visited with a group of people from Hanoi Backpackers back in May 2009, during a weekend break from the volunteer project I was doing there. I don't recall exactly how much I paid for the trip, but it was around US$30 - 40 which included transport there and back, a guide to show us around, all the snake you could eat and all the "happy water" you could drink. I thought it was good value, and signed up.
Snake is a delicacy in Vietnam, and they're farmed for their meat. Snake Village gives you the chance to hold some snakes and see them in the farm, before enjoying a feast of snake delicacies! We even watched as the staff killed the snakes we would be eating... gruesome, but as a meat eater I couldn't complain - if you're going to eat something that was once alive, you need to understand that it had to be killed first!
I'd decided that I would at least try everything that was served up, and I was true to my word. The snake spring rolls were delicious, as was the dried skin and crushed bone combination (nothing goes to waste!) but I couldn't stomach more than a small taste of rolled skin or seasoned liver, and washed that down quickly with a beer! We were also offered a shot of snake bile and a shot of snake blood with a still beating snake heart in it. I downed the bile (disgusting) but turned down the blood and heart, as I had images of choking on the heart and having to explain the associated doctors bill to my travel insurance company!
All in all, I enjoyed Snake Village and thought it was a fun way to spend an afternoon with other travellers. For the non squeamish (and non vegetarian!) I would recommend it for anyone going to Hanoi. My trip was a pretty boozy affair but I'm sure there are tour options run by less "backpacker-y" companies if that's not your thing. Personally though, I think the beer helped me pluck up the courage to eat a lot of the snake, and Hanoi beer IS delicious, so...
Down the hatch!
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