World's largest grotto unveiled in Vietnam

The cave is named Son Doong and was found by a local man named Khanh in 2008. However, it was not explored and assessed by experts until a group of explorers from the UK, led by Howard Limbirt, made a survey in Phong Nha-Ke Bang from April 10-14, 2009.

According to explorers, the way to this cave is very difficult. From the HCM City Highway, they had to walk for six hours and pass 8-10km of forest to reach the cave.

Howard Limbirt said that this cave is five times larger than the current Phong Nha cave, the biggest cave in Vietnam, and even bigger than Malaysia’s Deer, the current greatest cave in the world (2km length, 100m height, and 90m width).

The Son Doong Cave, therefore, has been proclaimed the largest in the world (over 5km length, 200m height, 150m width).

On April 22, the British Royal exploration group reported the exploration results in the western mountainous area of the central province of Quang Binh to the local authorities.

Howard Limbrit said within one month, his group had discovered an additional 20 caves, raising the total number of grottos in Phong Nha-Ke Bang to 150.

He said 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.

Howard Limbirt warned that this cave is not ready for tourism at present. After returning to the UK, the group will finalise the file and release a programme to introduce their discoveries.

The British explorer said that they will return to Quang Binh in 2011 to continue their promising adventure there.

Source : VietNamNet/TP - 04/26/2009