A British caving team announced that they have walked 520 metres further into the passge of Son Doong Cave, the most recently largest cave to be found in Vietnam and the world, during their second expedition at the site. The team advised that this is not a place where any tourist activities should take place.
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| Son Doong Cave is undeniably captivating, but could cause a lot of mishaps for tourists. |
After 10 long days trekking through the cave, the BCRA (British Cave Research Association) team was able to survey the cave further and found it to be longer than what it was originally thought to be. The total passage length of the cave is now listed at 7.2 kilometres.
The 20-man expedition team, which included both BCRA explorers and Hanoi University of Natural Sciences geologists, admitted that Son Doong Cave is by far the largest in the world. The cave has two entrances, a very rare feature in comparison to its neighbour Karst caves, recently discovered in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province. Howard Limbert, head of the exploration team said, that with a chamber 60 metres below the entrance, the underground river inside the cave was measured to be 100 metres deep and the velocity of the water flow estimated to be 2,000 cubic metres per second, the cave is not suitable for tourism development due to safety concerns.
To get to Son Doong Cave from Ho Chi Minh Road, the distance is not far. But as the cave is located among very difficult and complicated terrain, it would be very dangerous for any tourists to come and visit, especially if they are not equipped with any kind of professional equipment.
However, the good news is that Son Doong Cave is currently being filmed and will soon be made into a TV documentary for any explorer who is interested in and would like to admire its beauty when they cannot come and see it with their own eyes.
