Snake temple

Many years ago there was a Chinese Buddhist monk named Chor Soo Kong who came to live in Penang. Like the Buddha he cared for all living creatures—even poisonous snakes. It is said that he gave shelter to snakes from the jungle.

A temple was built in his memory. It was finished about 1850. After it was completed vipers, poisonous snakes, came to stay in the temple. Vipers are still living in the temple today. Although their venom is deadly to humans, they have never been known to attack anyone. The correct name of the temple is Hock Kin Keong, sometimes it's also called the Temple of the Azure Cloud but most people call it the snake temple.


I visited the snake temple recently. There is a room in the temple where there are quite a few snakes. There are some big pythons. You can have your picture taken with them if you wish. There are also a few little guys like this.


Actually, when I got there these snakes were not moving at all. I thought they must be fakes. I asked someone and he said 'No, they like to rest in the daytime. They move around more at night.' Most of them were on a tall stand but this one was on a stand about one metre high. The man prodded it and it started to move. So I took a few photos.


The man explained that all the snakes on the high stand are venomous. They have poison that can kill a man. This one has had the venom removed. They put a red mark on its forehead so they know which one is safe.

I went out the back of the temple where there are some gardens. In trees in the gardens you can see more snakes sleeping.


When I came back inside I took this closeup shot of the snake without any venom.


Some of the others were moving around a little too. So I got on a chair and took this pic of one of them.

Fun with snakes

When we went to the zoo restaurant we didn't only see the lorises. We also got to meet some snakes. Do you like snakes? Some snakes are dangerous so you shouldn't pick up snakes unless you know what they are and have an adult with you. At the zoo they had some cobras. They are very dangerous. We didn't feel like dying so we left them alone. But this one was quite friendly and doesn't bite people. It is called a corn snake. Grandpa got to play with this snake for quite a while. Do you remember the python that kissed me? This one kissed me on the nose with its tongue.



love from Grandpa John

Snake man

I went to Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, for eight days recently. One day I was walking through the streets of Kuala Lumpur and saw a crowd. I stopped to see what they were looking at. This man was there. He had a cobra rising up right in front of him. A cobra is a deadly snake. If it bites you, you could die. Many people would be very frightened of a cobra. I don't think I'd like to get too close to one. But the man was closer than me. If it was going to bight someone it would bite him first. So I got my camera out and took some photos. He had some other snakes too and showed them after he put the cobra away. He was talking about the snakes but I couldn't understand him because he was speaking in a language I don't know.

Love from your Grandpa John