THE UNDERGROUND WORLD OF HANG SON DOONG

Located at the heart of the Phong Nha ke Bang national park in Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province, the Son Doong cave stretches more than 200 meters wide, 150 meters high and approximately 9 kilometers long with caverns big enough to fit an entire city.

 The Son Doong cave (Vietnamese: Hang Son Doong) was classified as the largest cave in the world and also chosen as one of the most beautiful sites in the globe. The name ‘Son Doong cave’ means ‘mountain river cave’. It was created 2-5 million years ago by river water eroding away the limes underneath the mountain where the limestone was weak, creating huge streams of light. Fossils as old as 300 million years have been found inside the cave.

The cave entrance was discovered by a local in 1991 but it was first explored by British cavers in 2009. The cave is so large that the end is yet to be discovered. It is part of a network of over 150 caves. Because of its surroundings and size, the cave was used in the Vietnam War as a hide out from American attacks.

During the first expedition of the cave, the exploring team got stopped by a 200-foot wall of muddy calcite (a white or colourless mineral consisting of calcium carbonate) after traveling two and a half miles of the cave. The wall was named the Great wall of Vietnam.

An Amazing habitat

The cave is like no other cave on earth. The jungle inside the cave was formed as a result of the collapsing roof of one of the caverns.

 There are two windows that illuminate the cave. The light streams from the windows have given rise to large jungles where the trees grow up to 30metres tall. This vegetation attracted other flora and fauna and now monkeys, hornbills and flying foxes dwell in this habitat. Giant stalagmites  (a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings ) of 80 metres high and large rimstone (stone dam) pools can be found throughout the cave. Rare species of plants and animals has recently been discovered in the cave. And there's a whole river in there, too.

Touring the cave

Oxalis Company Limited an international tour operator has been approved by the government of Quang Binh Province to run pilot tours to son Doong cave from august 2013, February and march 2014. The cave will be officially opened after the tours. This is a chance for tourist to spend days inside the cave camping and exploring the inside and surroundings.