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FireFlyz | 23
It collected fresh water fromHalong
City for drinking and cooking.
A feature of limestone karsts is
caves and we visited Sung Sot or
Surprise Grotto, which is really a
series of linked caves. Stalactites
hung from the roof everywhere
and it took little imagination to
make out the form of, for example,
a kissing couple and a happy Bud-
dha. Stalagmites on the floor made
recognisable sculptures too. A turtle
with its head up was particularly
popular with the local people as
turtles are known to be lucky.
And some of that luck must
have rubbed off onto us. It was well
into the rainy season, and we did
have a little rain, but no trips were
cancelled and nothing dampened
our enjoyment of the two days we
spent at Halong Bay.
Amazing
view from
outside Sung
Sot Cave
Sung Sot Cave, also known as Suprise Grotto
admire the view. As you gaze around, you can see why this is a UNESCO
site and why its beauty should be protected. There are dozens and dozens
of green clad limestone karsts. Their size and shape vary greatly: some
look like spent volcanoes, others have pointed tops, yet more have several
‘tops’. Between each, little inlets lead into forests or open out revealing
small villages, with the city of Halong way off in the far distance.
A swim was needed after and the water was buoyant and, better still,
warm. Even the two prophets of doom paddling around in their life jackets
inside two pumped up tires could think of no death-inducing possibilities.
After the swim, we were rowed around a floating village: there are seven
in Halong Bay. Villages are often termed floating if the houses are up
on stilts, but here they really are floating - on oil drums. The village we
visited – Cua Van Lang Chai - has 130 houses floating on huge blocks of
polystyrene, covered by tarpaulins. “Those belong to rich people,” the guide
said to my surprise. “Look, inside their house, they have a television and
a dvd player!” They did not have electricity but they did have a generator.
I saw the owner’s fishing boat pulled alongside the house. The spars on
which the nets would hang that evening stuck out almost at right angles
and added hugely to the size of the boat. A row of glass lamps strung out
in the rigging. By night, the fishermen would sail for two or three hours
to a promising spot and light the lamps to attract fish, particularly squid.
As well as the floating houses, there was a floating primary school (free)
and a floating clinic (powered by solar energy). And there were fish farms
growing elephant clams, mussels and oysters for food or for pearls. An
ugly, but useful, boat was made of concrete. To my surprise it could move.
Wodden junks at Halong Bay
There are
6,000.000 or
more people
riding 1,000,000
or more
motorbikes