Of the thousands of photos I’ve taken in Sri Lanka over the years, this grouping remains among my favorites.
Snake charmers are surprisingly common at popular tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. In my experience, they’re all men, often colorfully dressed, and usually have one cobra and one python on display. The cobra has been de-venomated (at least one would hope so) by removing the poison-producing (modified salivary) glands from their neck.
This fellow, whom we came across in the ancient city of Anuradhapura, broke with the tradition a little in that he had 3 cobras, one monkey and no python. The cobras hated the monkey and if they could, would have killed him. But their handler was oblivious to this. He was a showman performing to the crowd of several dozen people who had gathered to enjoy his craft. He was a man in full, doing what he loves, and provided me with a memorable travel moment.
For a list of DrFumblefingers blog posts on Sri Lanka, please click on this link.
