Surprise Cave

Cave on one of the islands in Halong Bay (see another post). It was only discovered by the French in the early 20th century. The story has it that they followed monkeys who turned out to be living in the cave.
The pictures show something of the 3 chambers in the cave. The 3rd and last is by far the largest. There are also a few examples of some of the more interesting formations.
The cave is not well protected. So there is a fair amount of degradation due to the tens of thousands of tourists who troop through every day. The cave is limestone. So the carbon dioxide is breath creates carbonic acid that degrades the stone. And people touching the formations has a similar effect.Lue lisää