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Trinh
Nu Grotto |
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 The
Trinh Nữ Grotto or
Virgin Grotto is
situated on the
island range of Bồ
Hòn in the system
comprising the Sửng
Sôt Grotto, Ðộng
Tiên Lake and Luồn
Grotto. It is 15 km
south of Bãi Cháy
Beach. For
fishermen, the
Virgin Grotto is
their house, but for
young lovers, it is
considered as the
symbol of truly
love, and is the
romantic place for
taking oath of love.
Entering Trinh Nữ
Grotto, one finds in
the middle of the
grotto a stone
statue of a
lying-girl with her
long hair hanging
down who is looking
to the sea in a vain
hope.
Situated opposite to
Trinh Nữ Grotto,
Trống (or Male)
Grotto has a stone
statue of a boy who
turns his face to
Trinh Nữ Grotto. One
still hears his vain
scream in tune with
the wind blowing
into the cliff
somewhere.
Legend has it, there
once was a beautiful
fisherman's
daughter, whose
family was so poor
that it was in the
service of the rich
administrator of the
fishing zone. He
forced the family to
give him the girl as
a concubine. She
already had a lover
who at that time was
on the high seas
catching fish to
prepare for their
wedding. The
administrator,
angered by her
refusal, exiled her
to a wild island
where she suffered
from hunger and
exhaustion. On one
frightening night,
amidst terrible rain
and winds, she
turned to stone.
It was also the
night that her lover
knew of her danger,
and he rowed his
boat in search of
her. On the terrible
night, the tempest
destroyed his boat
and he floated to
one of the islands.
In a lighting flash
he saw his mate in
the distance, but
his calls were
driven away by the
wind. He used a
stone block to
hammer down on the
mountain cliffs to
announce to her he
was nearby. He
struck until blood
flowed from his
hands, and in his
final exhaustion,
turned to stone
(today’s Trống
Grotto).
Tourists also find
Trinh Nữ Grotto
attractive partly
because of its
association with a
fanciful love
legend: “Once upon a
time, there lived a
boy and a girl who
deeply loved each
other. However, they
were so poor that
they could not be
able to get married.
The boy decided to
go offshore fishing
with a hope that he
could get enough
money for his
marriage. And the
girl painfully
waited in vain for
her fiancé. She
finally took a small
boat and rowed to
the sea to look for
him. So immense is
the sea, and so many
are the islands, the
boy, therefore could
not hear her doleful
call, though he was
just several canals
away. Exhausted, the
girl lied in a
grotto, looking to
the sea and got
petrified after the
last call. The boy
got lost in a grotto
nearby, shouting to
call the girl in
vain. The echo of
their call through
the cliff was so
moving. At last, the
boy became exhausted
and petrified in the
grotto - present-day
Trống Grotto.”
Today, whenever
passing this place,
tourists can still
hear his faint call.
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Halong Bay
Beauty of
Nature |
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Halong Bay
Userful
Information |
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 Ha
Long Bay is located in the
northeastern part of Vietnam and
constitutes part of the western bank
of Bac Bo Gulf, including the sea
area of
Ha Long Bay City and Cam Pha
Town and part of Vân Don island
district. It abuts Cat Ba Island in
the southwest. Toward the west is
the shore with a 120 km-long
coastline. It is located within
106o58’-107o22’ east longitude and
within 20o45’- 20o50’ north
latitude. The site is 1553 sq. km
with 1969 islands of various sizes,
of which 989 have been named.
The islands in
Ha Long Bay are mainly limestone
and schist islands most lying in the
two main areas: the southeastern
part of Bái Tu Long Bay and
southwestern part of
Ha Long Bay . These islands
represent the most ancient images of
a geographical site having a
tectonic age of from 250 million to
280 million years. They are the
result of many times of rising and
lowering processes of the continent
to form a karst. The process of
nearly full erosion and weathering
of the karst created the unique
Ha Long Bay in the world. In a
not very large area, thousands of
islands with different forms look
like glittering emeralds attached to
the blue scarf of a virgin. The area
where many stone islands concentrate
has spectacular scenes and
world-famous caves and is the center
of
Ha Long Bay Natural Heritage,
including HaLong Bay and a part of
Bái Tu Long Bay.
The area is recognized as the World
Natural Heritage that is the area of
434 sq. km with 775 islands. It
looks like a giant triangle with Ðầu
Go Island (in the west), Ba Hom Lake
(in the south) and Cong Tây Island
(in the east) as its three angle
points. The nearby area is the
buffer area and areas classified as
national beauty spots in 1962 by the
Ministry of Culture and Information.
 Viewed
from above,
Ha Long Bay looks like an
extremely vivid huge drawing. This
is a wonderful and skilful
masterpiece of the Creation and of
nature that turns thousands of dumb
soulless stone islands into
fantastic sculptural and artistic
works of various graceful shapes,
both familiar and strange to human
beings. Thousands of islands
emerging uneven in the fanciful
waves look strong and magnificent
but also mild and vivid. Amidst
these islands we feel as if we were
astray in a petrified legendary
world. There are many names given to
islands according to their shapes
and forms. This one looks like
somebody heading toward the shore:
Hòn Ðuu Nguoi (Human Head Island);
that one looks like a dragon
hovering above the sea surface: Hòn
Rông (Dragon Island); another looks
like an old man sitting fishing: Hòn
Lã Vong; some look like big sails
struggling amidst the wind to set
off for the sea: Hòn Cánh Buom (Sail
Island); then two islands look like
a pair of chicken lovingly playing
with each other above the sea: Hòn
Trong Mái (Male and Female Chicken
Island); and amid the vast sea
stands an island like a big incense
burner like a ritual offering to
Heaven: Hòn Lo Huong (Incense Burner
Island). All are so real that people
are taken aback by them. Those stone
islands have experienced
unpredictable changes over time and
they take different shapes from
different angles of view. Here, we
come to realize that they are not
dumb inanimate things but are vivid
and soulful.
Inside the stone islands are various
breath-taking caves, such as Thiên
Cung, Ðau Go, Sung Sot, Trinh Nu,
Tam Cung and others. These are
really magnificent palaces of the
Creation on earth. Long ago,
Ha Long Bay has been called by
the great national poet Nguyễn Trãi:
“a wonder of the earth erected
towards the high sky”. Many men of
letters from all over the world have
been taken aback at the grandiose
scenery of Hạ Long. They seem to get
puzzled and incompetent as their
treasure of vocabulary is not rich
enough to depict the splendor of
this place.
 Ha
Long Bay is also attached to
glorious pages of Vietnamese
history, with famous sites such as
Vân Ðồn, a bustling trade port in
the 12th century, charming Bài Thơ
Mountain, and not very far away from
here is the Bạch Đằng River which
witnessed two famous naval battles
of the Viêt’s ancestors against
invaders. Also, Hạ Long is one of
the cradles of human kind with the
glorious Hạ Long culture in the late
Neolithic age, discovered at such
archeological sites as Ðộng Mang,
Xích Thổ, Soi Nhụ and Thoi Giếng.
Ha Long Bay is also home to
great biodiversity with typical
eco-systems like mangrove forest,
coral and tropical forest. It is
also home to thousands of plants and
animals of numerous species, for
example shrimp, fish and squid. Some
species are particularly rare and
can be found no where else.
With such special values, at the
18th Session of UNESCO’s Council of
World Heritage held on 17 December
1994 in Thailand, Hạ Long Bay was
officially placed on the list of the
World Natural Heritage. In 2000,
UNESCO recognized it as the World
Heritage for the second time for its
geographical and geomorphologic
values. This confirms the global
premier value of
Ha Long Bay .
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