Vie
Thien Cung Cave Halong – Towering limestone pillars and beautiful islands rise from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin create a vivid natural picture for the tourists when coming to Halong. Designated the World’s Natural Heritage Site in 1994, Halong Bay is famous for its vision of ethereal beauty with 1,696 islands, islets and rocky karst outcrops. Thien Cung Cave with the priority of the Creator is one of the most outstanding islands that makes the Bay more brilliant and becomes the northern Vietnam’s number one-tourism hub. Let Hai Phong Tours take you to ten-minute review of the cave beauty and value.
Where is Thien Cung located?
Located in the North of Dau Go Cave and 4 kilometers from Halong International Cruise Port, Thien Cung Cave – also known as Heaven Palace Cave, is one of the largest and most beautiful caves in the Bay, which attracts a lot of tourists each day. The cave has a width of 10.000 square meters with complex structure consisting of various stalactites and stalagmites in special forms and shapes. Thien Cung Cave was found quite late, detailed in 1993 by a fisherman. In that year, he found out the beautiful cave by chance when trying to avoid a huge storm.
You may like Thien Canh Son cave
Legend of Thien Cung Cave
The formation of the Cave is based on a mysterious legend about an ancient Dragon King, who had a great contribution to help Vietnamese defeat various invaders and a peaceful life in Halong area. As legend has it, the King fell in love with a little beautiful girl named May. Their wedding was held during 7 days at the heart of the cave with the attendance of many gods, genies, fairies and dragons. The dragons flying in the clouds, baby elephants and lions dancing, huge pythons slithering around an old banyan tree, and giant eagles outstretching their tails, which created a vivid scene inside the cave.
Many years later, they had 100 children in their home of the cave. When the children had grown up, May took a half to discover other lands in Vietnam, creating new pathways and villages. Whereas, the Dragon King and the other half of their children continued to stay in Halong Bay to protect those islands.
Thien Cung structure
The path to Thien Cung cave is covered with green thick forest and the craggy cliffs on both sides. Climbing up a set of challenging stairs and going through a narrow gap in the cave, a spectacular scene opens up. The tourists can feel the cool breeze blowing from the cave like standing in front of the air conditioner, sweat had disappeared to mix with the chilly air in the cave. The more you go inside, the more surprised you are by the gorgeous beauty lit up in mystical lights.
Going through a narrow crack in the doorway, tourists will be impressed by the breathtaking and impressive beauty with various colored lights of stalactites. In the north cliff of the cave, there are special stalactites in shapes of beautiful fairies dancing to congratulate the happy wedding of the Dragon King and his lovely bride.
Located in the center of the cave are four large pillars holding up the roof of Heaven in the Dragon King’s imperial home. From the bottom to the top of those pillars, various imaginational shapes such as flocks of birds, fishes, scenes of human actions, flowers, leaves are shown off. Under the arch of the cave, a group of stalactites hang down generating a natural stone curtain. Looking up the high roof of Thien Cung Cave, visitors can observe green stalactites as they are in Penglai scene.
Inside the cave
In the last area of the cave, a magnificent shot created by the combination of the white, red and blue lights. Wandering along the final chamber, you can see a trio of stunning reflective ponds with clear water, where you might hear the beating sound like a royal drum in Vietnamese festival when the wind flows through small gaps in the rock. According to the legend, that also was the place where May often bathed her 100 children and brought them up. The winding path was a place witnessing May and 50 children left the cave to explore new lands while the rest stayed with their father to continue to protect and develop the homeland.
The scene of Thien Cung leaves tourists feel like having just stepped out of an art museum that was created by the Mother Nature. If you want to explore the amazing beauty of the Heaven, it is one of attractive destinations in Halong to have many incredible picture opportunities.
How to get there?
Opening hours at Thien Cung Cave are from 08:00 to 17:30 every day. Visitors who go with Hai Phong Tours are normally advised to visit the cave early mornings for the best experience at which are the less-crowded time frame. Since the late of 2017, the entrance fee to visit the cave is not sold separately. It is added in the Halong ticket for more convenience that allows you visit many other attractions in Halong within day such as Dau Go Cave and Ba Hang Floating village for kayaking. The ticket are sometimes changed following the regulation of Halong Management Board, however, it is 290,000 VND for 2019 currently.
There is the only way to get to Thien Cung cave that is by cruising. Our package tours are normally included the top-rated attraction when you are in Halong Bay. A wide range of certificated day tours in Halong are provided by Hai Phong Tours with competitive prices and good services. A set of tour guide, lunch and tickets to visit more than a cave are also included. We make it simple for your worry-free journey to the world’s natural heritage site – Halong Bay.
Here is recommended tour: Best Halong bay day tour. If you do not have much time, you may consider the Halong bay shortest day tour 4 hours from Hai Phong.
