While at the Mekong River, I finally got close to the experience you see in the picture at the top of our blog page. The scenery wasn't there, but the boat and the hats were. We also had the opportunity to feed alligators (Mitchell's aunt had a great time teasing them) and watch people make coconut candy from scratch.
When we left the Mekong River, we traveled to a snake farm. They must have had close to 100 snakes here, They also had a few other animals: ostriches, monkeys, bears, snake-eating birds, and other little animals that I am sure are feed to the snakes at a later time. Now, this snake farm is not like one you would find in the US. They let you get up close and personal here in Vietnam. Below is a picture of one the snake exhibits. They were not all like this, but a few were. There is no type of cage around these snakes. They are just on a little island about 3 feet from the short wall you are standing behind to view them.
(Can you spy the snakes? There were about 10-15 little cobras in these trees.)
Now take the following into account and tell me how you would feel. You are in a snake farm filled with pythons and cobras. You see old snake skins OUTSIDE of the snake cages. The cages themselves do not look of the highest quality, and they have snake-eating birds at the farm. Let's just say I was ALWAYS aware of my surroundings.
Tomorrow morning I am going to try to upload some of the short videos we have taken while here. We will see if our internet connection can handle it. Some of the videos to look for: A Walk to Grandmother's House, Making Coconut Candy, Cleaning Out a Coconut, Feeding the Alligators, and Loc, the Snake Charmer.
More pics of the day: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy
