When in Vietnam, don’t drink snake blood. Here is why

From The Star

Drinking snake blood, eating its heart is the trendy thing to do for Western tourists in Vietnam. Animals Asia is now running a campaign against it, calling it “barbaric”

Drinking snake blood in Vietnam. Photo from Viet Sights.

Step 1: Insert a knife under a snake’s head and kill it.

Step 2: Squeeze its blood into a tiny glass.

Step 3: Scoop the heart out, eat it.

Sounds gross, doesn’t it? It is. It is also a ‘trendy’ thing to do if you are a Westerner vacationing in Vietnam, according to Animals Asia, an organization dedicated to improving welfare of animals in China and Vietnam.

The agency says that The Beach , the Leonardo Di Caprio movie from 2000, helped popularize the drinking of snake blood and the eating of its “still beating heart” as a backpacker rite of passage. Since then, for an increasing numbers of tourists, a vital part of a trip to the north of Vietnam includes a visit to the notorious Snake Village.

There, young backpackers drink snake blood and swallow hearts of snakes killed and gutted in front of them by their waiter, said Animals Asia. The activity is so popular that many of Hanoi’s backpacker hostels offer excursions for customers with snake blood; it is said to enhance virility.

Read the full article from the Star.