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I stepped off the escalator at Longshan Station and was almost overwhelmed by the combination of people and heat. It was Saturday night and everyone was out on the town despite the 28degree C+ temperatures. The signs that had guided me thus far on my search for the night market which held the infamous ‘Snake Alley’ had suddenly disappeared leaving on my own. You would think I could have just followed the crowd but strangely enough people dispersed equally in each direction.
I soon found myself walking down a dark alley populated with what I would describe as suspicious characters (no I didn’t take any pictures). The atmosphere around me was smeared with a certain taint that I just couldn’t put my finger on. No one looked at me sideways or made any aggressive moves but I felt that I shouldn’t be there. It suddenly dawned on me where I was as a young but well worn looking woman in a short skirt approached me. A subtle shake of my head ended the interaction before it began and I made a beeline for brighter streets at the next junction.
People pushed by, flowed around and walked into me as I stepped into the river of people. A constant stream of chatter seemed to come from all around me as the carnival of humanity went about its business. The smell of cooking meat, freshly deep fried pastries and some unknown but very bad odor assaulted my nose. I had finally found the night market.
Harsh light flooded the street from bulbs strung along carts crowding the center. Both sides of the lane were packed with stores selling everything from kitchen knives to adult toys. I had reached the first checkpoint in my quest for ‘Snake Alley’ but where to next?
I moved forward with the crowd, jostled both on my left and right by impatient natives on their way to somewhere. Occasionally a mopeds driven by people with frustrated yet determined looks worked their way through the avalanche of human bodies. Why they decided to go through rather then around I have no idea…
Moving off onto a side road in search of food my eye suddenly caught sight of something. Not exactly sure what it was I followed another dark alley (I know, not the smartest idea but, well, you just have to be there to understand why I knew it was safe) which abruptly let out into a small courtyard. To my left a small group of older people sat at tables in front of what appeared to be a karaoke restaurant cracking nuts and talking. To my right another small alley leading off into nowhere. In front of me, that’s where the real gem lie.
A scrawny looking white bird was perched on a large cage, its soft flesh visible through thinning feathers, dancing to the beat of some strange chant which was being held just behind it. It must have been a temple of some sort as it had offerings in front as well as religious looking decorations. Inside 3, or maybe four people were kneeling before an alter with bells and drums saying prayers in singsong voices. I felt as if I had stepped out of reality and onto the set of some strange Sci-fi or fantasy movie. These were things that you saw happen to characters in a story. They take a wrong turn and find themselves in a whole other world. This didn’t happen in reality, did it?
After a bit of watching I decided it was time to back out and return to more familiar surroundings, if you can call a night market in Taiwan that…
It took me a while and I actually passed it, twice, before finally taking a walk down the right street. At first glance you never would have thought that this place was the home of the infamous ‘Snake Alley.’ It wasn’t an alley at all. It was a wide, well lit (in garish purple and orange), and somewhat busy street. There was nothing mysterious or daunting about it at all.
Overall, I was actually a bit disappointed by the place. Here I had expected to find some den of evil but instead it was like being inside an over lit carnival show. There were a few shopkeepers out in front with snakes (actually 2) but it really wasn’t anything to write home about (and here I am blogging about it…). It was impressive that they were working with the snakes with no safety precautions and that as the audience we could get as close as we wanted (or rather dared to) but the overall affect was pretty lackluster. These guys have been doing this for the tourists for years, some even decades, so you would think that their showmanship would be masterful but it wasn’t. They droned on and on about daring the snake, talking about how dangerous it was, and whatnot but it lacked any sort of inflection or emotion.
Oh, and they don’t ‘permit’ photography but anyone with half a brain can shoot from the hip and get some decent shots, flash is not recommended though, heh.
Rather then fear pity was the emotion that I felt. Behind the man who droned on was a video of what appeared to be some sort of television star teasing snakes, gutting them, then drinking their venom. In front of me the shopkeeper endlessly harassed the cobra into lunging at him and rearing up, great for a show but crappy for the animal.
I decided to put off trying snake meat until I had figured out my moral stance on this issue. It sounds a bit deep for just eating a little piece of meat but…well…it’s hard to describe all the feelings I was having. It might have been due to the fact that I had had a really, really full day but…we’ll see what happens next time when I’m back there in a little over a week.
So, quest complete, mostly.
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