LISTING PHOTOS Click photo to enlarge Page Views: 413 Date Added: 04/01/2007 Last Updated: 04/01/2007 Price: 10 usd/ person Description: Le Mat Village belongs to the Viet Hung Commune, Gia Lam District, Hanoi. Le Mat ancient village is a purely agricultural one but it has been famous for a long-standing trade: snake catching and breeding, snake wine and tonics and snake dishes.   Old people in the hamlet said that snake catching and breeding in Le Mat has been practiced for almost 900 years. It is handed down from generation to generation among the villagers who consider it a valuable asset of their ancestors. Visitors from inside and outside the country visiting Le Mat nowadays want to know more about the traditional craft, on the other hand they enjoy special dishes and tonics made from snakes.    Old people in the hamlet said that snake catching and breeding in Le Mat has been practiced for almost 900 years. It is a secret handed down from father to son as a treasure of knowledge and experience. Together with catching and breeding, few families in the village make patent medicines for injury bitten by venomous snake. May be, Le Mat is the place where there are number of people who work at catching snake more crowded than anyplace in all over the North delta.     About the history of the village, according to the elders, till the end of Nguyen court, this region still had plenty of snakes. Snakes usually lived in stagnant pools of water, in marshes around Le Mat villages and in the neighborhood. But the tradition of catching snakes in Le Mat has been partially lost in oblivion gradually since the second half of the 20th century due to the change of eating and drinking activities of people and the gradual lost of this vocation. Thus the number of people living on this work has been reducing. However, along village paths or big roads in Le Mat, you still see quite a lot of restaurants of snake specialities, which is a good outlook for this land   Le Mat Festival  The Le Mat Village Festival is held annually on the 23rd of the third month of the lunar calendar. People of Le Mat hold a festival to show their gratitude to their Patron Saint, who was said to be the man who reclaimed the land and established the present-day villages, including Le Mat hamlet. Visitors also have an opportunity to hear legends and funny stories of snakes when coming here. In the early morning, representatives of the 13 camps at the west of the Ancient Capital of Thang Long carry 13 trays of food over their heads from capital to the Le Mat Village.   The festival starts with a water procession. The villagers fetch water from the village pond, pour it into a big porcelain jar and put the jar on a palanquin and bring it to the Temple. The villagers also catch a big fish from the pond, put it on a tray and cover it with a red cloth, and bring it to the Temple as an offering to the Patron Saint. After finishing all ceremonial prayers, the villagers gather at the temple yard to see the performance of the young man killing the snake and saving the princess as the legend in the music of this act is an octet and the sound of the drummer`s double rhythm The Le Mat Village Festival is the chance for children in the village, and the others who have reclaimed this ancient wasteland in the city, to meet and retell the history of the establishment of the village. The challenge and difficulty that was encountered in the establishment of the village is expressed in the sincere homage of the ancestors of the village. While attending the Le Mat Village Festival, guests can be offered a cup of snake wine with 3 or 5 snakes inside.   Itinerary:   Pick up at the hotel at 08:00 after your breakfast, the car and tour guide will transfer you to Le Mat Village, which is famous for snakes. The locals catch or raise snakes for upmarket restaurants in Hanoi, and for producing medical spirits. Fresh snake cuisine and snake elixir are available at this village with reasonable price. Then you will visit Anh Khanh studio, a great escape from Hanoi with romantic and beautiful atmosphere of art. You will have chance to contemplate beautiful paintings or can order one for your home decoration with reasonable price. Return to Hanoi around 18:00, end the tour.      Included in Tour: * Air conditioned transportation from/ to Hanoi. * Admission fees, tax and service charges         * Tour guide for the duration of the tour   Not Included in Tour Program: * Optional Excursions * All personal expenditures * Tips & Gratuities * Meals (As your own option)   Destination Covered: Snake Village (Le Mat village) & Anh Khanh Studio.. Duration:                    1 Day Commences:               Hotel in Hanoi Time:                           Friday, Saturday & Sunday City: Hanoi County:   Vietnam Country:   Viet Nam Contact person:   Albert Nguyen Phone: 8447672815 Web-site: http://www.vinasunrisetravel.com/About_us.asp?mnz=130&mno=0&Languageid=0 View Map: Click Here to view E-mail: Reply to Ad

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