Last day in Vietnam

I had two goals for my time in Hanoi. The first was to eat snake. The second was to have rice ice cream every day. I did not quite accomplish my second goal, but I had quite a lot of it. My first goal was going to be accomplished on Monday the 29, but it ended up falling through. I resigned myself to a snakeless fate, but destiny is not so easily lost. One of the Malaysian ETAs, Janice, really wanted to eat snake. So, the day we got back from Sa Pa, she, Violet, Taylor (Vietnam ETA), and I went out for snake. Eating snake usually involves drinking a lot of vodka, but we had a low-key, relaxing lunch in a hut over the water.

We arrived and a snake was pulled from it's cage for us to approve of as our meal. We were startled when the snake snapped at the handler's face, coming within just a few inches of him. After petting the snake, we were lead to a table. The snake was brought out and we watched as it was slit open, the heart was removed, and it's blood was drained into a glass. Then, another slit was made and unnaturally green bile was drained into another glass. Both were mixed with vodka and we all received a Christmas-colored set of shots. Additionally, the heart was placed in another shot. One guess as to who got the honor of tossing that one back. It was went down easier than I expected, though I imagined that I could feel the heart softly beating it's way down my esophagus. The blood shot was surprisingly sweet, and left just a hint of that iron-y blood aftertaste. The bile shot, meanwhile, seemed to exacerbate the worst qualities of cheap Vietnamese vodka. The meal itself was ten small dishes of snake prepared in different ways. Ground meat, fried ribs, intestines, spring rolls, soup, snake meatballs, snake eggs, and more. Videos not for the faint of heart. 

Blood and bile

To Fulbright!

Assorted snake dishes

My last meal was my van than, which took me too long to realize is the northern spelling of my hoan thanh, which is the Vietnamese transliteration of wonton. In contrast to my opinions on almost any Vietnamese dish, in this case I much prefer the northern version, and it was a satisfactory conclusion to my near-year of Vietnamese cuisine.

The next morning I left bright and early for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am staying with a friend and former boss, and it's such a nice setup I'd be tempted to stay for the month if I hadn't already bought flights around Asia. 

View from my bedroom window