Does anyone want to know where the cave of Thach Sanh, who killed the giant eagle to save the princess, was located in the past? Today, about Thach Dong – Ha Tien (Kien Giang), I will continue to tell you the fairy tale story of Thach Sanh – Ly Thong, at the cave where Thach Sanh killed the giant eagle to save Princess Quynh Nga, to find out if this cave is real or just a product of the fairy tale.
Where is Thach Dong located?
Thach Dong is located in My Duc commune, Ha Tien city. It is 3km northwest of Ha Tien city. From Thach Dong, you can see straight across to Cambodia.
From a distance, Thach Dong can be seen as a giant limestone block standing over 50m tall, with a mysterious natural rock face shape on the cliff. Thach Dong is among the top 10 must-see beautiful landscapes in Ha Tien, and has appeared in the famous poem “Ha Tien Thap Canh” by Mac Thien Tich, known in Chinese as Thach Dong Thon Van, meaning the stone cave swallowing clouds.
The reason for its name is because the natural scenery in the morning often has clouds flying in front of the cave’s mouth, resembling a stone cave swallowing each cluster of clouds in the sky.
What’s inside Thach Dong?
Stepping inside Thach Dong, you will find a system of limestone caves with many fascinating shapes, where with your imagination you can see images such as an eagle’s head, Princess Quynh Nga, and Mr. Tien… Inside Thach Dong is also the location of the ancient Tien Son Pagoda, built in 1790 to worship Buddha Shakyamuni and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
The legend of Thach Sanh at Thach Dong
The most special feature of Thach Dong is a path that locals call the road to Hell, which is actually a deep well. Inside the well, there is a very deep cave.
According to local legend, this cave is where the Golden Eagle imprisoned Princess Quynh Nga and Princess Thuy Te. Thach Sanh followed the blood trail of the eagle to reach this place.
Since the time of Mr. Mac Thien Tich, locals have passed down the story that he sent people down to explore the depth of the cave. The soldier sent to explore found the cave to be very deep and did not know where it led to. Scared, he returned and reported that he only heard the sound of waves and could not find a way out. This may explain why in the old days Thach Sanh went down to the sea to meet King Thuy Te. Perhaps the soldier back then could have tried a little harder and reached the underwater palace to meet King Thuy Te, just like Thach Sanh did.
Remaining traces at Thach Dong
The second thing is that locals discovered the cave by carving letters into dried coconuts and dropping them into the cave. Some time later, seafarers in the Ha Tien and Phu Quoc regions found coconuts with inscribed letters.
In the future, some groups of people tried to explore the cave, but one did not return. Due to the curiosity of the people, the depth of the cave, and the many dangers that awaited, the cave entrance was filled and rebuilt into a well mouth in 1960 as we see it today.
From the road down to hell, sneaking along the cliffs to the East, there will be a cave opening to the sky, when the sunlight shines down, the ancients called this place the Path to Heaven.
It is called the Path to Heaven because there used to be a long rope extending straight from the cave mouth down to the bottom. It is said that after rescuing Princess Quynh Nga from the road down to hell, they would tie the princess to the rope and Ly Thong above would pull it straight up, then Ly Thong used stones to seal the cave entrance so Thach Sanh could not come up.
Visit Thach Dong
Today, due to curious visitors, they keep pulling the rope, and over time it dries, rots, and breaks. The consequences of visiting without awareness.
Nature, like a faithful historian, has written vivid fairy tales for the Ha Tien sea area, stories that are closely linked to the childhood of many generations. Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to come to this land to hear these fascinating and authentic stories.
