Laos: Ban Xang Hai Whiskey Village
0km up Mekong River from Luang Prabang lies the village of Ban Xang Hai also known as Snake Whiskey Village. The small settlement has a few temples and monuments but it’s much more famous for producing rice alcohol that they call whiskey. The alcohol is crudely produced by fermenting rice into wine and then distilling in home made distilleries. The kicker is that this alcohol, rough and crude in taste, is then infused with all sorts of snakes, scorpions, beetles, and lizards. And you can taste and buy all of it – some not for the faint hearted, especially cobra whiskey.
