DAY 6
HA LONG BAY ~ HANG SUNG SOT (Vietnam)
Monday April 11th, 2011
TODAYS MILEAGE – 92 miles or 148 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 6210 miles or 9994 kilometres
Checking out Ha Long Bay's "Cave of Surprises" 
Hang Sung Sot is a massive cave located on Bo Hon island, one of the 1,969 limestone monolithic islands that dot Ha Long Bay. It was discovered by the French in 1901, named in 1938 by the French (Cave of Surprises) and welcomed its first visitors in 1993. In 1994, Ha Long Bay, where the cave is located, was designates as a UNESCO World Heritage area.
The cave sits 25 meters (82 feet) above sea level and is immense. The cave's ceiling is approximately 30 metres (98 feet) high and the paved passage inside is around 500 meters (1640 feet) in length.
The uniqueness of this cave is that it holds many different shapes of stalagmites and stalactites. The formations inside seemingly come alive when light is reflected from several water pools inside the cave.
There are several water pools in the Sung Sot grotto, so when light reflected from the moving water, the formations take on whole different feeling.
There are two chambers open ot the public, with the first chamber being square in shape, or similar to wide theatre hall and is often referred to as the "Waiting Room". The second and far larger chamber is known as the "Serene Castle".
In the far larger second chamber, our guide pointed out several formations that were shaped like a Buddha, an angel and a large tortoise, but the most well-known is a massive phallus, which is lit by a pink spotlight.
Not sure why any tourist attraction outside of a red light district would be so proud of highlighting a phallus, but there you go – different strokes for different folks.