Dau Go Grotto

Among the famous sights of Halong bay is a beautiful grotto with a very simple name: Dau Go (Driftwood grotto). It is located on Dau Go Island. The name of Dau Go comes from the popular story that in the third resistance war against the Mongol aggressors in 1288, Tran Hung Dao ordered the preparation of many ironwood stakes to be planted in the riverbed of the Bach Dang river, resulting in a very famous sea battle, ending in our victory. These stakes were hidden in this grotto and afterwards were found in the grotto and, as a result, it was given the name Driftwood. Viewed from afar, the entrance of the grotto. While Thien Cung has a modern, monumental beauty, Dau Go grotto is famous for a majestic and serene beauty. A French book about the world's famous landscapes, Merveiulles de Monde, published in 1938, has called this grotto : Grotto des Merveivelles.
Dau Go grotto is divided into three main parts. The outer chamber is in the form of an arch and full of natural light. Many forms can be seen in the rock and colorful stalactites such as; elephant herds, bewildered giraffes, sleeping lions...Passing the first chamber to the second by a narrow door, visitors can see the mysterious vaporous light and new paintings in the stone. Buches of stone flowers now appear, now disappear and strange images make explorers at once fearful and curious. At the end of the grotto is a well full of faily pure water all year round. Suddenly, when we turn our face upwards in the vaporous light, we can see that we are surrounded by the image of an ancient wall and a scuffle among petrified fighting elephants, hustling people and horses, swords and spears. All of them seem to be caught in mid-action and suddenly turned into stone.
King Khai Dinh once visited Dau Go grotto and was very astonished by the ethereal beauty of the Creation. He reorder a stone stele engraved singing the praises of Halong Bay as well as Dau Go Grotto. Nowadays, it is still standing to the right of the entrance.