Day 3
After breakfast, we were transported to the jetty. It was a nice boat. The weather is cloudy but no rain. The wind was cooling. Just exactly the kind of weather to enjoy the scenery. The rock formations are fascinating and human imagination is amazing.
The dog rock
The cat rock
The incense burning islet
The kissing chickens islet
The head islet
The thumb islet
The toad islet
The fish islet
Lunch was served on board.
We stopped at Ti Top Island for hill climbing. It was said to about 80 m high but the journey is like you can never make it to the top.
Ti Top island from seen our boat.
The sheer beauty of the view of Halong bay from the top of Ti Top island worth all the sweat and breath.
The gazebo on top of the hill.
The beach of Ti Top Island
You can see the statue of Titop.
The name Ti Top is named by the most
respectful hero of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh, after the Russian astronaut
German Titop on the occasion of his first visit to Halong Bay in 1962.
Leaving Ti Top island, we sailed to Luon cave.
Passing through Luan Cave,we reached a lake formed by
enclosed group of limestone mountains.
The lake seemed like a stadium surrounded by high podium. It was a brackish lake with calm green sea
water. The size of the lake was about
one square kilometre. It was highlighted with pristine setting of ferns,
orchids and wild golden monkeys.
Entering
Exiting
The lake
After came out from the cave and reached the jetty again, we moved over to the other side of the pier into a speed boat. The speed boat speeded us to another cave, the Sung Sot Cave a.k.a the Amazing Cave.
Ascending to the grotto, the way was covered
by trees and foliage, and consisted of great paved stone blocks. Inside it was portioned into two chambers;
the first one resembled a wide theatre hall.
Many strangely shaped stalactites hanging from the high ceiling. A
narrow passage led to the second room, where a flow of light met us. The chamber was so huge that it could easily
contain thousands of people at one time.
There were two
partitions in Sung Sot cave. The first one was similar to a theater hall
with many stalactites hanging from the high ceiling. A narrow passage led to
the second chamber, where a flow of natural light bathes the surfaces. The
light was filtering in from above, through a large opening creating a natural
skylight, this opening also served as the exit from the cave.
At the deepest part of the grotto. A “royal garden”
appeared with a clear pond and seemingly fascinating landscape of
mountains. Many birds and plants lived
here.
Sung Sot Cave means Amazing Cave. It situated on the Bo Hon Island and it is
one of the most spectacular caves in Halong Bay. The mouth of the grotto can be reached by
ascending about a hundred stone steps.
Sung Sot cave covers
some 10,000 m2. There were thousands of stalactites and stalagmites along the
500-meter paved passage. Light posts line the passage and illuminate the
amazing scenery. Spotlights of varied colors were placed in such a way to be
unobtrusive and add to the enchantment of the grotto.
Sung Sot cave was
about 30 metres high, the walls and innumerable cracks and crevices were
evidence of millions of years of spectacular natural creation. Closed to the
exit a mammoth formation stretched from floor to ceiling, tapering at the
center to form a concave pillar that appeared to be keeping the ceiling in
place. Walking through the cave ones imagination can run wild conjuring up all
kinds of fantastic creatures and fanciful creations.
Came out from the cave back to the pier, we had a fantastic ride in the speed boat back to the boat which would took us back to the jetty.
Backed to land, we were taken to the Royal Casino which is inside the Royal Halong Hotel. Just a small casino, nothing to shout about.
Dinner
After dinner, we went to the night market to hunt for souvenir and backed to hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment