The latest 13 things of Son Doong after 13 years of discovery

April 14, 2009 is the day Mr. Ho Khanh and the British Royal Cave expedition officially discovered Son Doong cave in Tan Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province, Vietnam.

Dubbed the king of caves, Son Doong contains many interesting and attractive things for all visitors to explore here.

1. The King of Caves in the World

According to the way of determining the size of a cave through the cross-section of the largest cavity, Son Doong cave is considered the largest cave in the world today.

The largest chamber of the cave discovered has a height of up to 200m and a width of 150m; The height of this cave is even greater than the 138 m figure of the great pyramid of Giza in Egypt, if compared to the 45 x 22 x 50 (DxRxC, meters) size of the Arc de Triomphe of France, this cavity will be found. very large in size.

The total announced area of ​​Son Doong cave is 38.5 million m .³. However, after discovering Thung cave, the new area of ​​Son Doong cave increased by 1.6 million m2.³ compared to the original size.

2. The network of underground rivers and lakes in the cave

Near the exit of Son Doong cave, there is a huge lake connected with underground rivers in the cave that appears in winter and spring. This underground lake is both deep and large, so adventurers or tourists coming here are required to use boats to cross this area to continue their journey.

British professional divers, after the expeditions here, said that the more Son Doong dives, the more he can’t see the bottom. Although the majestic mystery of the cave has not been fully discovered, the research team believes that the underground rivers here can reach a depth of up to 120 meters and extend for about 1 km, many mysterious structures, many paragraph with “Z” shaped texture.

3. Light provided by “skylight”

Son Doong has two sinkholes (Doline 1 and Doline 2), which is a special feature compared to many other caves in the world. The dome of the ceiling collapsed due to various natural influences, creating “skylights”.

Thanks to that, natural light shines down on the cave through the skylights, creating a dense vegetation of a tropical forest with special biodiversity that is nowhere to be found. Thanks to these skylights, Son Doong cave has spaces filled with natural light.

4. The forest is completely inside the cave

Light through the skylight creates vegetation in the first sinkhole (called the dinosaur sinkhole) mainly herbaceous plants and ferns, but the number of these plants is not much. The vegetation in the second sinkhole has trees up to 20-30m high, the root diameter can be up to 40cm.

The explorers named this tropical forest the Garden of Edam. The tropical forest in the cave has both tall trees, narrow canopy or thick shade-loving trees, including epiphytes such as orchids.

Due to the different climatic and environmental conditions in the cave than outside, the plants in Son Doong cave have many different characteristics compared to the surrounding environment.

5. Relics from prehistoric times

Many beautiful and magnificent stalagmites and stalactites were formed millions of years ago in the world’s largest cave, Son Doong, with many strange shapes. There are many stalagmites and stalactites with huge sizes like skyscrapers in the cave.

During the expeditions, paleontologists of Vietnam and the world have discovered fossils over 300 million years old in Son Doong cave. This is the only fossil in Vietnam that is still intact in nature. This fossil is located about 150m from the back door of Son Doong cave on a stalactite hill.

6. Campsite “unique”

With the special terrain and the gifts that nature gives, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that the campsite in Son Doong cave is one of the most beautiful and unique campsites in the world that everyone should try. once in your life. The locations in these two areas are located at the edge of the sinkholes, where it is not too dark and convenient for viewing the sky from the cave on cloudy nights.

However, in order to preserve the naturalness and unspoiled beauty of the cave, the number of visitors is limited to 1,000 per year.

7. A rich and diverse animal world resides in the cave

Son Doong Cave is so big that it has its own climate system in the cave, creating a rich and unique ecosystem.

In addition to possessing unique vegetation, Son Doong cave is also home to very small creatures, living in constant darkness, places that are not exposed to light all year round.

Under the light of cave explorers’ flashlights, animals of the wingless or multi-legged subphylum can be seen crawling on the ground. In the layer of soil there is humus due to the flow of water, brought from other places to bring inside the cave.

8. The majestic wall of Vietnam

Son Doong for visitors to visit the cave before parting is the majestic Vietnam Wall. This is the “Wall” made from giant stalactites approximately 100m high and blocking the entire width at the end of the cave. It is separated from the main cave by a lake about 500m long.

The wall of Vietnam in Son Doong cave is part of a fault rock formed during the transformation of the Earth’s crust. Visitors coming here need to use specialized climbing equipment and have the guidance and support of experienced experts to overcome the wall to have a way out behind it.

9. Experience swimming with clean water in the cave

Swimming experience in Son Doong cave is a must for tourists who want to save the exciting experience when visiting this world’s largest cave with the terrain in the cave many underground rivers and lakes.

The water in the cave has a continuous flow, so it is cool and clear; However, there are also some areas with strong and fast currents, so visitors need to have full rescue equipment as well as follow the regulations of the group leader and guide.

10. Hunting clouds and catching the sun with pictures of a lifetime

The followers of virtual life, passionate about discovery and desire to have photos for a lifetime cannot help but notice the brand of sunbeams and mists of Son Doong cave. When visitors come here in the spring, that is also the time when the light from nature floods into the cave through the sinkholes, combined with the fog that is often formed in the large spaces in the cave, thereby creating a magical scene like a fairyland.

It is a great destination for photography activities to capture memorable photos.

11. The world’s largest “Pearl cave” river

A world of cave pearls resides in Son Doong cave. Dynamic jade is the common name for spherical, egg-shaped or flattened stones. They are usually formed in “terraces” compartments composed of water saturated with acidic calcium carbonate, which precipitates around a crystalline nucleus, usually a grain of sand.

Over time, the layers of calcium crystals cling to more and more, causing the stones to grow larger. These stones roll due to the movement of the water, curling into a sphere or almost spherical like pearls. Howard Limbert, a cave expert from the British Royal Family, said that “the cave pearl” in Son Doong is the largest and most numerous of the caves in the world. There are many dynamic gems weighing up to 1kg.

12. Dating is up to 5 million years old

Scientific research documents have determined that Son Doong cave was formed when an underground river flowed between layers of submerged limestone along a geological fault. Over millions of years, the flow of water eroded many rocks and formed a giant tunnel between the mountains below the ground.

At some exploration sites, the ceiling of the cave, due to the influence of chemistry and physics, has fallen, forming large holes that gradually expand. Studies in the world have confirmed that Son Doong cave has reached 5 million years old. And this is also an ideal place for geologists to study.

13. Mystery attracts everyone

With the magnificence, grandeur but no less mysterious, dreamlike as in a fairyland, Son Doong cave has attracted many people to this place, especially famous people around the world.

Jasmina Mala – Czech top model and Prince Ahmed Hamdan from Abu Dhabi, also had an expedition to this natural wonder.

The music video “Alone Pt II” by Alan Walker – the world’s cult musical wizard – by the famous director Kristian Berg was mostly filmed in Son Doong cave. This MV also captures the enchanting scenes of the majestic Quang Binh nature.

Miss H’Hen Niê also confided when she came here to take photos to promote tourism and Vietnam’s ao dai: “At that time, Hen felt very small, like a golden butterfly. Lost in the fairyland”.