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Nervously I had another look at my shotglass, once empty but now filled with a thick cloudy red liquid and the shadow of something small and solid at its bottom. I knew what it was, but I was in denial. I couldn't help but doubt my infamous audacity. I quickly glanced around at my 3 comrades - daring men and women who had joined me in this quest to the shady outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam. Their faces told the same story. But in those same hesitant faces I also saw a steely resolve - we had not come here for nothing, nor already paid just to quiver away at the last moment. So with shifty eyes all around we hastily clinked our glasses together and - to your good health.

Yes, I had just taken a shot of fresh snake's blood, and downed the raw and almost-beating heart that accompanied it in the glass!

I can gauge your reaction now: "He's crazy!" "He's got to be joking." "That surely can't be real!" So how do I know that it was all real, and that I'm not simply dramatising the drinking of a milky red cordial and a fake rubbery blob? To those amazed, to those interested, and to those disgusted, read on - here is a tale to tell!

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In Hanoi's outskirts there is a region over the Red River (red because of snake's blood, I don't know...) colloquially called Snake Village. Snake is a speciality in Vietnam - not a staple of its diet but at least a rare delicacy. Always interested in immersing myself in the local culture, I was only too eager to "give it a shot". I was also attracted to having snake's blood after seeing Leonardo Di Caprio do it in "The Beach". See, movies are not always lies!

At my hostel I was lucky to find 3 others as weird and wonderful as I am, and off we went to the snake restaurant our hostel thought was best.

Upon our arrival we realised that we were the only people there, despite it being a good snake restaurant, and despite it being a very large place. I don't know why I was expecting it to be busy, but it finally clicked in my slow and dim-witted mind that snake wasn't an everyday option. For a few minutes we hung out at the front waiting to be seated, when all of a sudden this guy came bursting from around the corner holding something long, scaley and moving. He then put it on the ground, and held its tail. The snake slithered around on the floor, and then suddenly its head arched back and flaps spread at its back. It was a cobra!

I froze in disbelief. I am very fond of animals, but my number one, most feared animal is the snake. In particular, very deadly snakes. I can't bring myself to hold non-venomous and "safe" snakes at animal parks (unlike my 5 other friends when we went to Turtle Island in Bali), and I shrink whenever I even see footage of them. Slithering and hissing... ugh.

But that was precisely the reason I was here - to conquer my fear! To look that snake in the eye, and say "I'm going to eat you! Yes, you!"

Now I started to question my impulsive boldness - there was a cobra, alive, deadly, dangling 2m away from me. The guy then bent over it, pinned its head to the ground and then grabbed its head from behind. He then proceeded to smash the snake's head on the concrete, mercilessly and unforgivingly, as if he were hitting a TV remote control to get it working again. I realised it was to break the fangs off. Then he got a knife, and with the snake's mouth open he began to flick stuff out - this was the poison. This guy was mental.

The snake was dead by now, those hits to the head were rather hard. He then (and this just shows how Offices of Public Health and Safety in SE Asia either don't exist or are overwhelmingly ineffective) whimsically wiped the deadly poison off the blade on the snakes skin, while another guy poured water over it. Then with this same knife (now obviously clean!) he then cut a short but penetrating gash along the underside of the snake's body, while holding it above an empty glass. But it was not empty for long, as almost immediately this red fluid oozed out of the snake and started filling the glass relatively quickly. This was the blood I was about to drink! It would not be boiled, nor warmed, nothing - it would just be mixed with a little bit of alcohol, and then voila! Mmm, fresh blood. I just sat there in my chair (we were seated by now) staring in absolute disbelief, yet again.

Then, step number two. I didn't see all of this (I was pretty edgy and looking around everywhere nervously), but turned around at the right moment to see something small, about the half size of a ping pong ball, fall from the snake itself into an empty shotglass, which was then placed in front of me. I looked in to see a slimy heart just sitting there. It was mostly red, but about 1/4 of it was of a milky blue colour. I thought to myself, "let's see Di Caprio try and do this, yeah!"

But there was not enough time to reflect. Then one of the attendants grabbed the glass of that straight-from-the-source snake's blood and poured some into my shotglass. This is crazy, I thought to myself.

In my queasiness I turned around to the snake guy to see what new unorthodox ritual was now taking place, only to see him make another much longer gash further down the snake's body. I then saw him take out a white tube (its stomach), slit open the stomach, and see this green liquid slowly oozing into yet another glass. Snake stomach bile. Pardon me? Snake. Stomach. Bile.

This was then also mixed with a little bit of alcohol, but was otherwise as fresh snake's stomach bile as you can possibly get! Some of it was poured in a second shotglass, and then placed next to my first shotglass of blood. I knew I'd be having snakes blood, but not this fresh, and certainly not with an almost-beating snake's heart, and also certainly not with oozing green stomach bile! Then almost magically 2 more shotglasses with hearts appeared for the other 2 guys (the girl with us declined, quite understandably; she just had the blood and bile). They must have killed 2 other snakes back in the kitchen at the same time.

Finally, it was all ready! I was almost in shock, I didn't know what to do. Was I really going to drink this? And after all this mayhem, I looked at my 3 friends to see them in equal disbelief. Their faces told the same story. But in those same hesitant faces I also saw a steely resolve - we had not come here for nothing, nor already paid just to quiver away at the last moment. So with shifty eyes all around we hastily clinked our glasses together and - to your good health!

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It all happened so fast. Maybe snake's blood does have a strong taste, but I would not know, because when I drank it all I could think about was the fresh snake's heart that I saw being cut out of the snake. The snake's heart I had just swallowed. And swallow it I did, there was no way I was going to keep it in my mouth, savour the taste, and possibly even chew it! My throat seemed to go down forever, and that heart seemed to fall forever, and it almost felt like it was still beating, all the way down. And then it just seemed to sit there in my stomach, ever-present in my mind for the rest of the evening.

After the snake blood came the snake bile, which actually tasted better than the snake blood, a bit stronger. My accompanying beer and glass of snake wine (a pre-made concotion of which I don't know the contents, but going with the evening's theme I'd assume it involved snake blood) was already half empty. I chased those 2 shots like there was no tomorrow. And given what I'd just done, in my irrationality I thought there easily could not be a tomorrow for me!

So with the formalities out of the way, we awaited our meal. They cooked the rest of the snake (and possibly the others killed in the kitchen) in about 4 different ways. Snake is delicious! No part of the snake was spared; its head was served (not all of it, but the back part with the flaps on it, which was all cartilage anyway so you can't really eat it) and even its spine was grounded and sprinkled on our sticky rice. Mmmm!

I was incredibly satisfied by the end, and I reflected on what I'd just did. After looking the snake straight in the eye, then drinking its blood, swallowing its heart and eating it for dinner, I had conquered my fear!

And to my dismay I was told there would be no snake for dessert.

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Anyway I think that's enough crazy adventures for one blog. There will be more to come! It's a shame I don't have much more room (otherwise it will be too long), because I would love to talk about motorbiking in Saigon (see Facebook), the Killing Fields and S-21 Prison in Phnom Penh, the Angkor Temples, and Laos.

Ah, Laos! My favourite country in SE Asia. It's difficult to understand why from the outside - there's not so much to see and do there. But Laos' relaxed vibe, carefree atmosphere, innocent children and friendly people make it a captivating destination. It's almost like one big fishing village, still stuck in the 1930's, but with TV. One of my fondest memories of Laos is the children, some of the cutest I've seen, always yelling out "sabaidee!" (hello) to you as ride along dirt roads on your decrepit bicycle.

Plus Laos is where you can do tubing! Imagine this - a river with lush green hills one side, the quaint town of Vang Vieng on the other. You float down the river on this sunny day on a rubber tube and then stop off at shanty-like bars reminiscient of Pirates of the Caribbean. From these bars come flying foxes and swings (some 7m high!) from which you can propel yourself into the water below. It is the definition of fun! But can also be embarrassing, with my ego laced with a bit of alcohol I attempted a somersault from the flying fox, only to do a half-sault, and land on my bum in the water 7m below, and split my bathers!

And finally, I'd also have to thank Joel for some truly enjoyable travels over these past 5 or 6 weeks. It was great to see him again after almost a year, and we had many a Pulp-Fictionesque escapade and conversation. Good times. But now it's just me. Onward and upward!

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