Son-Doong cave

Overview

Son Doong cave, discovered by a local 18 years ago, is more than 200 meters wide, 150 meters high, and at least 6.5 kilometers long, though the explorers said they were unable to explore it fully. Bristish explorers have recently discovered that So Dong is much larger than the world’s biggest known cave. The biggest section of Son Dong is five kilometers in length, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide, said Howard Limbirt of the British Cave Research Association team searching the area April 10-14, 2009. Son Dong is much larger than Deer Cave in Malaysia, currently considered the world’s largest, an explorer said (Deer is 90 meters wide, 100 meters high and 2 kilometers long). The Son Doong cave has replaced to take pole position as the world’s largest cave. The Son Dong is situated below another cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang, though its entry passage is very difficult to traverse. The exploration team said they had set foot on just 6.5 kilometers along the cave, as there is a large amount of fast flowing water inside Son Dong. It takes explorers six hours of walking through a 10 kilometer long forest path from Truong Son Highway to reach the mouth of Son Dong cave. The explorer added that the Quang Binh cave has beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that are not seen anywhere else. Phong Nha-Ke Bang grotto system belongs to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. It is a limestone region of 2,000 square kilometers in Vietnam and borders another limestone area in Hin Nammo in Laos. When describing the newly-discovered cave, the team’s spokesman, Haward Limbirt, said that it was a thing of overwhelming beauty and grandeur. He added that each grotto has its own beauty, but he is impressed by Ca Xai. This cave is near the Vietnam-Laos border. It is very deep and has a big lake inside. Explorers measured the depth of this lake, but they had only 200m of rope and the end didn’t reach the lake bed. The British team suggested to the local authorities not to develop Son Doong Cave as a tourism site immediately to preserve its natural beauty.

Location

Images Main album (28) Selected images (26) [full view] [Google Images]

© A half-mile block of 40-story buildings could fit inside this lit stretch of Hang Son Doong, which may be the world's biggest subterranean passage. Image by vietlandmarks.com	© Moss-slick boulders and a 30-foot drop test author Mark Jenkins at the forest-shrouded entrance to Hang Son Doong. "Even though these caves are huge,... Image by vietlandmarks.com	© Like a castle on a knoll, a rock formation shines beneath a skylight in Hang Son Doong. A storm had just filled the pool, signaling that exploring season... Image by vietlandmarks.com	© The trickiest challenge for the expedition team was to find a way over the Great Wall of Vietnam, an overhanging mass of flowstone that blocked the way... Image by vietlandmarks.com	© A giant cave column swagged in flowstone towers over explorers swimming through the depths of Hang Ken, one of 20 new caves discovered last year in Vietnam.... Image by vietlandmarks.com
© In the dry season, from November to April, a caver can safely explore Hang Ken, with its shallow pools. Come the monsoon, the underground river swells... Image by vietlandmarks.com	© A climber ascends a shaft of light in Loong Con, where humidity rises into cool air and forms clouds inside the cave. Image by vietlandmarks.com	© A jungle inside a cave? A roof collapse long ago in Hang Son Doong let in light; plants thickly followed. As "Sweeny" Sewell climbs to the surface, hikers... Image by vietlandmarks.com	hang động  © Going underground, expedition members enter Hang En, a cave tunneled out by the Rao Thuong River. Dwindling to a series of ponds during the dry months,... Image by vietlandmarks.com	© Headroom shrinks in the middle of Hang En as cavers pass beneath a ceiling scalloped by eons of floodwater rushing past. The river shortly reemerges onto... Image by vietlandmarks.com
© Like a petrified waterfall, a cascade of fluted limestone, greened by algae, stops awestruck cavers in their tracks. They're near the exit of Hang En. Image by vietlandmarks.com	©  Image by vietlandmarks.com	©  Image by c0.f34.img.vnecdn.net	©  Image by c0.f36.img.vnecdn.net	© Hành trình tới Sơn Đoòng không dành cho những người không khỏe mạnh. Chỉ riêng đường tới cửa hang, người thám hiểm... Image by c0.f33.img.vnecdn.net
©  Image by c0.f33.img.vnecdn.net	© Hang Sơn Đoòng dài 9 km. Trước khi phát hiện ra Sơn Đoòng, hang Deer ở đảo Borneo nắm kỷ lục hang động lớn nhất thế giới... Image by c0.f35.img.vnecdn.net	© Một chiếc Boeing 747 có thể chui vừa vào hang, giữa những bức tường đá bao quanh sông chảy xiết và rừng già trong hang. Image by c0.f33.img.vnecdn.net	©  Image by c0.f35.img.vnecdn.net	© Tiếng gầm gào của dòng sông chảy xiết trong hang đã làm nhiều người dân quanh đây sợ hãi. Image by c0.f34.img.vnecdn.net
© Măng đá khổng lồ trong hang cao tới 70 m. Image by c0.f33.img.vnecdn.net	© Trong hang có nhiều rết độc. Image by c0.f35.img.vnecdn.net	© Những con khỉ vẫn thường mò vào hang để kiếm ốc ăn. Image by c0.f36.img.vnecdn.net	©  Image by c0.f35.img.vnecdn.net	© Người thám hiểm trước cửa hang. Image by c0.f33.img.vnecdn.net
© Hang Sơn Đoòng nằm gần biên giới Việt - Lào, trong công viên quốc gia Phong Nha - Kẻ Bàng. Image by c0.f35.img.vnecdn.net	©  Image by i.telegraph.co.uk	©  Image by i.telegraph.co.uk

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