Sơn Đoòng Cave
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sơn Đoòng Cave (hang Sơn Đoòng, "Mountain River cave" in Vietnamese) is a solutional cave in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Bố Trạch District, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. Template:As of it is the biggest known cave in the world, and is located near the Laos–Vietnam border. Inside is a large, fast-flowing underground river. It was formed in Carboniferous / Permian limestone.
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Discovery
Sơn Đoòng Cave was found by a local man named Hồ-Khanh in 1991. The whistling sound of wind and roar of a rushing stream in the cave heard through the entrance as well as the steep descent prevented the local people from entering the cave. Only in 2009 did the cave become internationally known after a group of scientists from the British Cave Research Association, led by Howard and Deb Limbert, conducted a survey in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng from 10 to 14 April, 2009. Their progress was stopped by a large, Template:Convert high calcite wall, which was named The Great Wall of Vietnam. It was traversed in 2010 when the group reached the end of cave passage.
Description
According to the Limberts, the cave is five times larger than Phong Nha Cave, a nearby cave previously considered the biggest cave in Vietnam. The biggest chamber of Sơn Đoòng is more than Template:Convert long, Template:Convert high and Template:Convert wide. With these dimensions, Sơn Đoòng overtook Deer Cave in Malaysia in 2009 to take the title of the world's largest cave.
The cave contains some of the tallest known stalagmites in the world, which are up to 70 m tall. Behind the Great Wall of Vietnam were found cave pearls the size of baseballs, an abnormally large size.
Tourist activities
In early August 2013, the first tourist group explored the cave on a guided tour at a cost of US$3,000 each. Future exploration trips are planned.
See also