Andy Travels

Cobra Kai

Snake Village in Hanoi, Vietnam

Been hearing rumors of it since arriving in Asia, but I wasn’t sure it would actually go down. Some say the blood will cause kidney failure; some simply can’t stomach the idea; while others insist it’s but a myth. All the same, we decided on our last night in Vietnam we should definitely experience the sacrifice and immediate consumption of the deadly cobra. The mood of the room drastically changes when your man pulls out the feared serpent.  We all take a step back as the snake smoothly whips across the floor – but it’s not until he rises up staring down his spectators and exposes his dreadful hood that you can’t help but shudder. The beast proceeds to intimidate its viewers for a few moments before the slaying begins. First the heart is cut out and the blood drained into a glass, followed by a similar display with the stomach and its bile. With the heart still pumping a shot of blood mixed with rice wine is poured over the vital organ. My counterparts want nothing to do with this particular part of the endeavor, so I take the glass and sip the

Cobra Dinner

blood stained alcohol. Our guide instructs me to take the whole thing down, heart and all. What am I to do, it would be a sign of disrespect to not follow his wishes so in one swift motion I take back the shot: rice wine, blood, and heart. The heart is believed to give you the vitality and power of the cobra, improving your overall life force. We proceeded to have a snake feast eating about every part of the delectable animal prepared in various wonderful ways. I now have the spirit of the cobra running through my veins rendering me utterly unstoppable.