AN INTERESTING DAY

What an interesting day, to say the least. It was tough getting up early. I didn't go back to sleep so as Sofie would say I pulled an all nighter (go me!)

First up this morning we visited the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.















Learning about the 54 different ethnic groups was fascinating and also a good call by Dave before we go to Sapa.

Couldn't resist posting this pic (haha).

Photos here.

From the museum we drove 40 minutes to Nha Hang Ran Gia Truyen. To anyone who wasn't aware the sign out the front looks like it's a zoo or animal park.

When in fact it was....................wait for it....................a restaurant specializing in snakes. Dave picked his and Jason's snake. Warning - the following content may be offensive or just plain gross (stomach turning) to some viewers.

Then it was time for the main event. The snake was cut and bled into a glass of Vietnamese whisky, the heart then removed into a shot glass, and lastly the bile bled into another glass of whiskey. See Movie 1 here. Movie 2 here.

Then it was time for the taste test. Movie 3 here. Movie 4 here. The heart, still beating, was cut in half and topped up with the blood/whiskey mixture and taken like a shot. See movie here. (Stick with the movies. It looks like it's repeated a little of one each time but there is different after the first bit).

The snake was taken away and cooked into delicacies.

Snake bone soup, barbecued snake, deep fried skin, fried snake rice paper rolls and Jason's favourite marinated snake. Even Sofie had a little taste.

Down the hatch goes more blood and bile - bluergh!

As a bonus, just as we were about to leave, an elderly gentlemen wearing an army uniform approached us and asked where we were from. Translated by Thuy (pronounced twee) it turns out he was a soldier in the North Vietnamese army who was decorated for shooting down 5 aircraft including an Australian aircraft.

Such a lovely man who was proud to show Dave his memorabilia. A surprising experience to treasure. See snake restaurant photos here.

Lastly our day consisted of a different kind from our usual open tour. A cyclo (pronounced see-clo) tour through the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

We sat back and relaxed and witnessed the hustle and bustle of Vietnamese life including seeing the Ha Noi Opera House (one for Katie).

Cyclo tour photos here.

Busy day hey? And it's not finished. We're just about to go out for traditional Vietnamese cuisine (no snakes again!)

So what do ya think? How bout leaving us a comment slackos!