Hòn Đầu Gỗ

Candlelit Cave Evening

Our fourth Special ATW Event (the first three were in: Buenos Aires, Cape town and Dubai) is in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam in a CAVE. Ha Long is famous for its 2000 islands and hundreds of small mountains with caves. Some caves you can get to only by water and some by land. The cave was beautiful as the stalactites and stalagmites were lit up with candles throughout the tunnels and open areas.

We got on buses at the dock for a 45-minute drive to the VUNG DUC CAVE. When we arrived, there were dragons dancing and drums drumming and fireworks everywhere greeting us. Greeters lined both sides of the entrance and the cave wearing traditional Ao Dai dresses lined the entrance and welcomed us.

The Vung Duc Cave is located on the beautiful Bai Tu Long Bay surrounded by Ban Co mountain range. This is a unique site of high historic, religious significance made up of 5 caves. There are stone curtains curving, looking like a big stage. Above the ceiling, there are stalactites falling down like the carefully shaped chandeliers, Inside the cave it is divided into two branches. The cave has many interesting rock shapes, often thought of as resembling animals. As you can see from the photos, every turn and everywhere you look is another interesting site to see.

There was soothing music and cocktails in the “first branch of the caves” with high top tables around and appetizers abound. Mai Tai’s, Pina Colada’s, and many other drinks were made up and waiting but there was a full open bar to allow the alcohol and wine to flow all night.

I was told by the manager that this venue had never been used before for sit down formal dinners but you would never know with the grace and beauty of the evening. The dinner was a multi course buffet of seafood, interesting beef, and chicken dishes, stir fried vegetables, sushi, many types of rice and hot pots. Desserts were so intriguing too … looked so nice and many were delicious too. The folk show had many acts that were all traditional Vietnamese celebration of songs and dances. There was music all night and at the end we even got up to dance.

We found the dancing so relaxing and interestingly different from so many cultures. Traditional Vietnamese dancing is rooted in the country’s ancient culture and has been passed down through generations. It is often used to celebrate special occasions and to honor the gods and ancestors. The dances are accompanied by music, with traditional instruments like drums, gongs, and bamboo flutes. One of my favorite dances was the conical hat dance of the Mekong Delta. It is a very peaceful dance with "heroic" melodies, imparting the national spirit and the burning love for the country.

Traditional folk music is very popular in Vietnam and is often played at gatherings and festivals. This type of music typically features instruments such as the dan bau (a one iron string mahogany instrument that can express every level of tone and emotion with extremely rustic sound), the đàn nguyệt (two-stringed), the đàn tranh (14, 17, 22 or 25 stringed zither from the 11th century with movable bridges, performers wear a pick on every finger), sao truc (bamboo flute and a carved oval hole to blow in one head and six other holes along the body to adjust the sound.), and the t’rung instrument (a popular percussion instrument with 16 pipes lined up on the rack, using an awl to knock on the pipes and create a different very special high and low sound depending on the loudness, small, long, and short of the tube). Yes, I was amazed by the instruments and music and although the videos have short clips of the performances, I recorded the entire show!

At the end of the evening, we got to take home a beautify wrapped gift for each person. It was a handmade sculpture made out of coal (their original national resource of this area) of the Kissing Chickens (which we saw in person earlier in the day), a romantic symbol of Ha Long Bay.

Another fabulous and memorable event!!!Read more