Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave @ UNESCO World Heritage Site Halong Bay in Vietnam

After cruising for quite a while within the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Halong Bay, everywhere just looked about the same and as always; boredom had set in until something, far ahead of us, caught my attention.

A group of people congregating and peering from what appeared to be an observation deck in the middle of the karst mountain known as Bo Hon Island. Now, this is the kind of things that excite me! And thankfully, the Light Cruise was sailing towards that direction!

Don't you think this looked like a shape of a bird? There seemed to be a cave right at the base and only when I was back did I realize I can walk across after disembarkation from the boat! Oh well, we were not given that much of a time anyway.

Last official stop for our day trip to Halong Bay.

Time given for exploration: about an hour.

It's a one way route and the boat shall be docked and waiting for us at this far end. It's a pity that the greatest Kon and Alex decided to stay on the vessel as this stop, in my honest opinion, was the highlight for the day tour! 

This tree with its unique leaves reminded me of a somewhat cute pest situation in Singapore, where red-breasted parakeets, numbering hundreds, can be found roosting on trees.

Queue going up to Hang Sung Sot also known as Surprise / Grotto Cave. Found in 1901. it's actually named by the French as “Grotte des Surprises" given its "surprising beauty". I was thinking if the surprises were in other forms; guess I overthink. 

View from the viewing platform before we went into the cave. I can't deny that Halong Bay is beautiful but it would have been better with a blue or cloudy sky!

Obviously I am too short to touch the ceiling.

My tour guide was about my height and if he can touch, I can too! Whatever the case, while there were steps bringing us down to the cave, there might not be handrails; hence, rule of thumb, please make your way down slowly. 

Quite a small chamber yet filled with many visitors!

There is a name for it though; Waiting Room! 

Tour guide did attempt to share some information but as I am quite poor in hearing and there were too many people; I didn't catch a single word! A lot of information can be found online 

Do you find it discriminatory when some messages are intended for only selected races? The warning message in question here is "please do not step on the rocks". Key thing is enforcement though and I actually don't remember seeing staff of the attractions on patrol.

No fishes in the still pond; by the way, this chamber was about 25 meters above sea level. Given that a 12-floor HDB flat is about 30 meters, this would be at about the 10th floor.

More on the naturally formed stalactites and stalagmites.

Pathway we came down from. Guess it was reaching the end of the day and the boatloads of tourists had started tapering down. 

Hm.... for a former safety coordinator, this would be a horrible fire exit should there be an emergency! But it's a natural site; we can't just bomb a hole to make the passage wider can we?

I didn't expect it to be a one-man passage! 😱😱

Relax, relax, relax, nothing is going to happen. 

A sneak peak of what lied ahead of us. 

Stop and take photographs; never take photographs while you are walking! Common sense knowledge that even I fail to adhere to at times; always good as a reminder given how clumsy I am.

We can all agree that illumination for the cave can't be natural. I noted from past photographs that the lights were multi-colored, quite similar to what I had seen in China but from my visit in April 2023; lights were the boring white or orange. 

Some colored lights might actually make the surroundings more mystical I feel. If not, it would just be plain, old, patterned stone for the majority of the visitors. You may compare with this Silver Cave in Guangxi at China. 

Queuing again; even if I am along the same line as my tour guide, I am doubt I would be within his earshot. And given I spent so much time taking photographs, I bet he was already way ahead of us. 

Another set of random photos. 

As with any caves in Asia, there's always a legend tied to it. The above rocks were said to be in the shape of a horse and sword, said to be left behind thousands of years ago by "Thanh Giong, a three-year-old child, who helped the king to defeat the invaders".

My lack of imagination failed me. 

Another narrow passage; I am so glad to be a shortie and even so, I had to slant a bit to the right to get through the hole! Can't imagine how those huge Caucasians can squeeze through! 

The moment that the sight in front of me aligned with the name of the cave. After two chambers, this humongous cave surprised me! Said to be more than 10,000 square meters, it is the largest cave in the whole of Vietnam! 

Do expect plenty of random photos.

I was absolutely in awe! 

Most caves have smooth ceiling but look at the one for Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave; it had these hollow indentations that made you wonder if a bubble wrap was encased within the cave before it burst! 

More beautiful when there wasn't any humans around, although it can be quite eerie should I be all alone! I used to find caverns fascinating but that all changed when I watched the movie "the descent".

Greenish looking rock formation looked like a lying down alien humanoid. It could be on purpose as the speaker like stuff next to it was surely a modern installation.

I think the operators would prefer to have less damage; hence the fences were merely physical signals not to step beyond, and didn't serve as effective deterrents for rouge visitors. 

What seemed to a realistic walnut shell turned out to be a casing for lighting! On one hand, I felt cheated, although on the other hand; it served its purposes of being a good illuminator while not being noticed at first glance.

Trail of photos along the 800-meter path. As this was indoor, it was actually quite cooling within the cave. As you can see, it's not exactly a straight path and you need to climb up and down, on grounds that might not be even.

Being a curious person (I have tamed down a lot from my younger days), I wondered if there's anything at the side. As a natural cave, it's quite common for smaller caves to be formed, I think.

To have so many paper notes, I presume there must be some folklore about people who managed to have their wishes fulfilled after throwing some money here! 

I bet this was the flooring before it collapsed to reveal hole underneath. This was kind of a reminder that danger lurks everywhere in caves! How to even confirm, without modern technology, if the ground beneath us is even safe!?

On our way out; with all the lights we are seeing in the cave, the view at the end was more cosmic, like going into another universe with its natural yet blue-tinge wash. 

Walking all the way up! I was telling my dad he should travel more while he can still walk. Sometimes I don't get the older generation; it's not like they are earning a lot but they tend to feel bad about taking leave!

One misstep, and I would be a ghost of Surprise Cave. Now that I am older, I am actually a lot more careful as compared to the past, when I frequently injured myself... 

The end point.

Phallic structure aside, why was there a fire extinguisher? There were hardly any flammable materials; maybe just the fence poles. 

Photographs of the views behind us. It was no doubt an impressive cave, and likely one of the largest chambers I have ever visited. It was mentioned in some blogs that there was a "royal garden", with a large freshwater lake. Did I miss it? 

What the heck is this? A lamp?

Or is it an limestone encrusted alien hand? 

The Tarzan of Halong Bay; no, that's just my friend, Lock! He is a personal trainer and if you are interested to engage him; do let me know! 

That's Light Cruise at the dock! 

Guess we were the last ones! 

Souvenir and drink vendor; anyone can spot something interesting? Hint: the beverage fridge. Another hint: how come all were canned? Answer: Halong Bay doesn't allow plastic water bottles! Yes, I noted the cartons of Alkaline mineral water on the floor; they were in cans too!

Steps down and down.

Beats climbing up for sure.

It was only at this point that it dawned on me that the bird shaped cliff was right next to the dock we disembarked from! I could have used the time to queue, to check out the cave in it!

As you can see, plenty of chances to clock the steps! It's a positive thing for me though as I woke up freaking early and didn't manage to jog. Any opportunities to "exercise" would always be welcome, especially when one is on holiday.

Goodbye Hang Sung Sot / Surprise Cave.

Halong Bay didn't impress, but you did. 

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Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay @ Vietnam