On the way back to cruise

Hundreds of stalactites falling down from the roof of the grotto look like a waterfall. The grotto is divided into three main parts. The exterior is a room with a vault full of natural light. Many forms may be seen in the rock formations of the chamber, depending on the imagination of the visitor of course. In the first chamber, in the very middle of the grotto, is a colossal pillar supporting the large vault. On the top of the pillar, there appears to be a monk draped in a long, dark cloak, with his right hand clasping a cane.

Crossing the first chamber, one enters the second chamber through a narrow passage. The light here is mysterious, and new images appear in the stone. It makes us having a fear and be inquisitive. The second chamber is narrow. Here, the stalactites look smaller but more graceful. One feels like going to a pagoda with a monk in meditation so that one steps more gently.

Inside Dau Go grotto

The third chamber of the grotto is widely opened. The third chamber features high stone columns out of which nature has carved images of a large kingdom, of heroes and soldiers holding swords and spears rushing up, of war elephants and horses or lions, etc. All of them suddenly was petrified and remained there for good. At the end of the grotto is a well of clear water. Looking up in the dim light we recognize that surrounded is the image of an ancient citadel and a scuffle of elephants, horses, man with bristly sword and spear. All are making a rush and be petrified suddenly.

The name Driftwood Grotto came from a popular story of the resistance war against the Yuan – Mongolian aggressors. In a decisive battle, Tran Hung Dao was given the order to prepare many ironwood stakes here, to be planted on the riverbed of Bach Dang River. The remaining wooden pieces found in the grotto have given it its present name. And the name Giau Go is associated with the legend that General Tran Hung Dao (1226-1300) hid ironwood stakes in preparation for the Bach Dang battle against the Yuan-Mongolian invaders.

If the Thien Cung Grotto is monumental and modern (in its natural form) then Driftwood Grotto is solemn, but also grandiose. In “Marvels of the World,” published in France in 1938, the author called the grotto “Grotte des merveilles” (a site of many marvels). In 1917, Emperor Khai Dinh came to visit the grotto and amazed by the beauty of the place, ordered the erection of an engraved stone stele singing the praises of Halong Bay and the grotto. Today it remains to the right-hand side of the entrance.

(Source: Vietnamtourism)

Bai Tho Mountain

In 1468, during his inspection tour to the eastern region, King Le Thanh Tong stopped here. Inspired by the stunning beauty of Halong, the King wrote a poem and had it carved into the southern side of the mountain, hence its name Bai Tho (Poem). In 1729, Lord Trinh Cuong composed a poem in response to that of King Le Thanh Tong and also had it carved near the former. The mountain features other poems by Nguyen Can and some other poets.

Atop Bai Tho Mountain, you feel surprised at the magnificent landscape of Halong Bay.

In the background of immense emerald waters,

At top of mountain

of rock bobbing, of high sky, of surrounding flowers and trees, you can figure out the tiny images of boats.

Bai Tho makes up one of the beauty spots of Halong.

(Source: Vietnamtourism)

Bai Tu Long Junk - deluxe cruise

We booked an overnight trip to Halong Bay, one of the top 10 attractions in Vietnam and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were surprised to discover that we were the only guests on our boat, the Bai Tu Long Junk.s  The boat can hold up to 16 passengers and normally our guide said that there are 10-14 people.  So our Junk departed short with 2 passengers outnumbered by the 6 crew members, which was pretty funny.

It was nice having the boat to ourselves – there was a lot of room for sure!

Sundesk on boat

Halong Bay had some awesome scenery, check out the pics.  However what distracted from the experience was the sheer number of junks and other boats in the bay – it was a parking lot of junks.  Also the experience seemed very commercialized overall as masses of people board hundreds of junks each day at the same time, tour around the same area of Halong Bay, and also drop anchor in the same area again for the night.  There is an infrastructure in the bay to support the hundreds of tourist boats – there were docks where the crew could buy seafood for meals, docks to rent kayaks from, and many boats that patrolled the area to transport various supplies. The most interesting boat we saw was one made out of concrete that supplied fresh water to the junks.   Other smaller rowboats circled the junks trying to sell goods to tourists.   There was the lady that sold shells, or a snack lady that sold Oreos, Pringles, and bottles of wine.  Seeing all this organized activity around us made it seem that we were watching TV, and a little detached from the experience.

Big cabin

Aside from the awesome scenery, couple other things we did like on the tour were the food and the kayak trip.  The crew cooked us some fabulous seafood. The crabs were beautiful deep red in color with white speckles, and very sweet.  The steamed shrimp and fish were also excellent.  There was enough food to feed 3 times the amount of people!  The kayak ride the next day was fun in that we got to explore the karst scenery.  We went through a natural tunnel in one of the limestone mountains which led to a hidden bay.

(Sfrtw)

(Source: TravelPod)

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