Surprised by the enchanting beauty of Ha Tien in the West Coast
With a beautiful landscape, Ha Tien attracts millions of tourists every year, ranking second in Kien Giang
KIEN GIANG – Thach Dong in Ha Tien city has a deep cave, which is said to be the place where the eagle imprisoned Princess Quynh Nga.
Thach Dong attraction is located in My Duc ward, Ha Tien city, Kien Giang province, about 3 km from the city center to the northwest. From afar, the cave is a limestone block about 50 m high, covered with prominent green trees on the edge of National Highway 80, while around the cave are flat border fields, palm trees reaching up to the blue sky. creating an idyllic and poetic rural landscape.
Thach Dong once entered poetry in the work Ha Tien Thap Canh by Mac Thien Tich with the Chinese name Thach Dong hamlet. When Mac Thien Tich wrote poetry about this scene, the author saw that in the morning the clouds often flew over the mouth of Thach Dong, like the scene of a rock cave swallowing clouds, so he named it Thach Dong hamlet.
Inside Thach Dong is the ancient Tien Son pagoda, built in 1790, worshiping Buddha Shakyamuni and Bodhisattva Quan The Am. A special feature of the temple is that the main hall is located in a cave, so this place always has a peaceful and cool atmosphere all year round. The limestone in the cave was determined by geologists to have formed in the Permian period, about 250 million years ago, mainly of chemical sedimentary origin.
Not only is this place one of the 10 scenic spots that once entered the poetry of the ancients in Ha Tien land, but this place is also known by local people about the story of Thach Sanh rescuing Princess Quynh Nga.
The cave has many nooks and crannies, deep passages. Stepping into the cave, visitors will follow the paths paved with polished stone, along the way there are signage and destination information, the cave has steps with handrails, safety railings for visitors to explore the caves. higher position. In the cave there is a place called “the way to the underworld”, but in fact this is a very deep well. From the time of Mac Thien Tich, it is said that he sent people down there to explore the depth of the cave, but the soldier sent to see it was very deep, went forever and could not see the bottom, so he was too afraid to go up. crashing waves.
In addition, the locals here are also curious, wanting to know how deep this cave is, so they engrave words on dried coconuts dropped into the cave. Some time later, some people went to Ha Tien and Phu Quoc beaches to collect that coconut. Because the cave is deep and dangerous, it has been filled in since 1960, today visitors should only see the shape of a well with a high wall.
According to legend, this cave is also the place where Thach Sanh went to meet King Thuy Te after saving Princess Quynh Nga and freeing King Thuy Te’s son.
From the way to hell, visitors weaving along the cliffs to the east of the cave will see a passage through the cave. People call this “the way to heaven” because in the past there was a forest rope pulled straight down from the mouth of the cave. Legend has it that in the past, Thach Sanh, after saving princess Quynh Nga from “the way to hell”, rescued the princess by a straight line up. But now the rope is broken.
On the other hand, visitors to the cave can also witness many stone statues with strange shapes such as the head of an eagle, the face of a girl with her hair… making the ancient legend more magical, attracting curiosity. curiosity of tourists near and far.
From the corner of the cave, visitors can see the Cambodian border in the distance. The ticket price to visit the place is 5,000 VND per person, visitors usually spend from 30 to 40 minutes exploring the cave, then can move to nearby tourist attractions such as Da Dung mountain, Mui Nai, Phu pagoda. Dung… or you can buy a train ticket to go to Phu Quoc island. Follow vnexpress
