I left the group to take a photo of the colourful bottles on the other side of the room...cobra and scorpions in a bottle!

There is a cobra and scorpion and the cobra is biting the scorpion so that means there is venom in the bottle, but they are calling it wine.  I thought our guide would explain how it is made and why they drink it, wrong... he opened a bottle and gave us all a small shot glass of venomous snake and scorpion drink.  I think for the people in the shops it is worth opening a bottle just to see our faces as we swallow the drink.  We were very happy to hear the alcohol they are steeped in for six months naturalizes the venom!  The snake drink did not taste like chicken...very strong alcohol with a strange after taste.  You have more trouble with your head  than the taste, just the thought eeeeechcch – apparently it is a cure for arthritis, back pain and for the men with small problems, it is supposed to be a natural aphrodisiac!

This large container had more than one snake in it along with some grasses and maybe peppers, hard to tell.  John tried this one as well.

I passed on this one.

  We were off now to see how they make perfect popped rice using a rice kernel rather than a corn kernel.  Thank goodness we didn’t have to see how they make the snake liquor.

You take some rice, add it to a wok and then cook it over a high fire and presto, popped rice, but you also need black sand!

He he is heating the black sand in the wok.

Next you add the rice, and cook it very fast over high heat.

The kernels are starting pop.

The rice starts to pop and when it is finished they sift the rice and sand so they are separated and you are left with a very tasty healthy snack.  It was good and you didn’t get the corn stuck in your teeth.