More on that in a moment. Today's itinerary was planned out by Chad - one of the dad's here with us. We rented a bus, driver and tour guide and hit the road a little after 8 this morning. The first stop was a furniture village. We stopped on the main street in this town about 30 minutes outside of Hanoi. Here they hand make an amazing type of furniture. The stuff is made out of different woods brought in mainly from Malaysia and Laos. It takes 3 months to make a small table, a year or longer for some of the big pieces. The craftsmanship is absolutely outstanding.
Next stop - the Snake Village. The village itself wasn't that cool except for the fact that it was a small, sleepy little village with narrow streets. It is nice to get away from all the sounds of the city once in awhile. We walked around a bit and stopped by the Snake Garden. For a few bucks he pulled out his live snakes - a few cobras and a few other ugly, slimy things. I watched from a distance, no need to get any closer, Trey stayed with me. Then we walked back to where we started. It was a restaurant but the main floor was all snakes (and a few other animals but again, I didn't get too close). A few of the guys wanted to try snake for lunch so they pulled out a live one and killed it in front of us. They literally cut his heart out (and some other organ) and then squeezed the blood into a glass. Lunch was served upstairs. There were a bunch of options for different kinds of snake wine (did you think I was kidding yesterday?). They took the "other organ" and squeezed some green bile out of it. They took this and mixed it with some rice wine. Some weird delicacy. Yep, I actually tried it. It was pretty nasty but tasted mostly like rubbing alcohol. They did the same with the blood - yes, that is what is in the picture. Tried that too (not as bad but the thought if it made me very queasy). I also tried the cooked snake (it was ok - pretty chewy) and snake soup (surprisingly very tasty!). We had a few other non-snake related items for lunch as well. One of the more memorable meals I think I will ever have.
Last stop was the Citadel - a Presidential area from the 13th century. Beautiful temples built on the grounds of an old citadel. Pretty interesting.
That was our day, hope you have a good Monday!
6 comments:
Glad to hear you are experiencing all that you can while you are there. Although, I would have skipped the snake meal...you are a brave girl! Perhaps you have an idea for some State Fair food.
With our weather, I was wondering why you wanted to get back here so quickly - enjoy where you are. Although, it was warm enough Sun. to make GREAT snowmen. I'm sure March will be just as good - hope you get back before then. :o)
Miss you.
Meg
EEEK! Cindy -- I hadn't logged onto the blog in a few days and look at all I missed!!!! I was hoping desperately to log on and find your entry saying: "HEADING HOME...." However, then you would have missed the snake adventure!!!! Acchhh!!!! You are WAY more adventurous than I am!!! ICK! :-) Well, sounds like your spirits are great and you are handling all of this like the true champ you are! I can't believe you've even experienced your first "Trey being sick" issue while still in Vietnam! WOW -- you're my hero (what else is new? :-) ))-- it is NOT easy having a sick kid in a hotel room...I know that for a fact!!! Well, keep posting -- it's SO cool! And that "Mr. Trey"...I know I keep saying this, but I really don't think he can get any cuter and then you post a picture where he IS cuter!!! :-)
Love, LIZZY
I was eating lunch when I logged on to see what was new in your world....I must say eating snake and drinking snake blood would have not been my first guess.....
Gross. You will not pick the restaurant the next time we are all together! Glad Trey is well and back to normal! Great pictures too.
Wishing you home soon.
Birdie
Thanks for ruining my appetite right before dinner. I can't believe you tried it!! Wow. I'm proud of you .. so brave!!
Glad to hear Trey is feeling better. I'm glad you guys find ways to keep busy while waiting to get home.
I'm praying for you two and have my fingers crossed that you get home before I have to head back to Colorado so I can meet my new little cousin!!
Stay safe! I love you and can't wait to see you two!
~Amanda
Do they also sell this kind of bottle?
http://www.snake-wine-cobra.com/
Thanks.
Hey Cindy: I can't wait to trade stories on snake and snake blood wine. It's amazing what you'll eat when traveling! How come we never ate Guinea Pig when we were in Peru? Had I know you were such an adventurous eater I would have ordered it one night. Glad Trey is feeling better. Candace
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