Basic HTML Version
timeout
19
It was found by a local man named Ho Khanh in 1991 and
then discovered in 2009 by British cavers in an expedition led
by Howard and Deb Limbert. During the first expedition, the
team explored two and a half miles of the cave before a 200-
foot wall of muddy calcite stopped them. They named it the
Great Wall of Vietnam.
According to Limbert, the cave is five times larger than
Phong Nha cave, which was previously considered the biggest
cave in Vietnam. The biggest chamber of Son Doong is over five
kilometers in length, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide.
Due to the adventurous nature of the tour, British caving
expert Howard Limbert has set many strict criteria. This tour is
for tourists in good health and with a high level of fitness as
there is a lot of trekking involved each day.
A few years ago I was fortunate to visit this natural won-
der. It took around two days of trekking and climbing in the
tropical forest to reach the Son Doong. Though we were only
allowed to go into a small part of the cave, it was really amaz-
ing for us to have this rare chance.
First we had to walk along soil paths zigzagging up and
down through the thick primary jungle. Though it was the dry
season, sudden jungle rains made us wet and cold while the
path became muddy and slippery with lots of hungry green
leeches. The path lead us to Rao Thuong springs where water
runs smoothly among big pebbles and rocks.
The route along the spring was easier to walk on. We
then stopped at Ban Doong village where there are only 6-7
thatched houses of the Van Kieu tribe. The tribal people are
TRAVEL
Tourists fall into line behind their caving guide
These river systems rise in the wet season making the
passaged impassable