During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

“Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (August 30 1863 Russian Empire – September 27, 1944 Paris, France) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in color photography of early 20th-century Russia”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Dinner during haying. Russian Empire, Novgorod province, county Cherepovets, 1909. (Photos by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky via US Library of Congress and Prokudin-Gorsky.org)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews). Enjoy.

A man wear a phallic-shaped hat during Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) on April 1, 2018 in Kawasaki, Japan. The Kanamara Festival is held annually on the first Sunday of April. The pen*s is the central theme of the festival, focused at the local pen*s-venerating shrine which was once frequented by prostitutes who came to pray for business prosperity and protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Today the festival has become a popular tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV awareness and research. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Yan Mengjie sits on a boat as she poses for photos near Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China on June 16, 2019. Erhai is one of China's biggest freshwater lakes and a backdrop to the city of Dali, which drew 47 million visitors last year, more than triple the number in 2010. Hotels and homestays have sprung up along a 31-mile (50-km) stretch of lakeside road to accommodate tourists. But officials ordered some hotels demolished after President Xi Jinping during a 2015 visit called for the lake to be protected. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Migle Politike (left) with son Aaron and friend Goda Zubkaityte on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 stop to look at the Singing Ringing Tree, a musical sculpture designed to look like a windswept tree, at Crown Point overlooking Burnley, Lancashire, UK. The wind-powered musical sculpture emits a low, tuneful song when the wind blows. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

A car made from parts taken from used vehicles is shown in street Hefei, Anhui Province in China, on Oktober 21, 2013. The machine, which reaches 60 km/h, is the brainchild of self-taught inventor Zhu Runqiang. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

An Indonesian man displays his collection of rings with various gemstones at an exhibition and competition of the best gemstone at a mall in Jakarta on August 6, 2015. The recent fad of collecting rings with precious gemstone or polished gemstone locally called “batu akik” is sweeping across Indonesia, with collectors going for the very rare stones and it's possession many believe will give the owner supernatural power. (Photo by Bay Ismoyo/AFP Photo)

Two carnival revellers masquerade as Leonardo da Vinci's painting “Mona Lisa” pose in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, Sunday, January 31, 2016. Carnival-goers in Venice are being asked by police to momentarily lift their masks as part of new anti-terrorism measures for the annual festivities. (Photo by Domenico Stinellis/AP Photo)