Son Doong Cave is now the largest cave in the world. It's over 5.5 miles long, has a jungle and river, and could fit a 40-story skyscraper within its walls.
But nobody knew any of that until four years ago.
This incredible cave was only explored in 2009/2010 by the British Cave Research Association. Situated in the deep jungle, the entrance to the cave was found by a local jungle man Mr Ho Khanh.
The Son Doong was discovered by a local jungle man in the early 1990s,
but the steep drop into the mouth of the cave scared locals away.
According to lore, the jungle men were afraid of the cave because of the
shrill whistling sound made by its fast-flowing underground river.
Son Doong cave is unlike any other
caves on the planet. Inside this giant cave are two huge daylight
windows which allows the light to enter many parts of the cave.
At the
base of these windows are large jungles which use the available light
and so trees up to 30m tall are present.
But Son Doong is not only about
its immense size, the cave has amazing examples of some of the best
speleothems in the world.
Giant stalagmites up to 80m high and enormous
rimstone pools are present throughout the cave.
There are also excellent
examples of giant cave pearls and a newly discovered side passage is
full of large fossils over 300 million years old.
As well as rare
species of plants in the cave a number of new species of animals have
recently been discovered.
Monkeys, hornbills and flying foxes have all
been seen in the jungle section of the caves.
Scientists have discovered never-before-seen plant species around Son Doong's waterfalls.
In early August 2013, the first tourist group explored the cave.
Son Doong is a jackpot of rare cave pearls. The pearls form over hundreds of years as water drips down, dries up and leaves layers of calcite crystals on grains of sand.
It has understandably been the attention of many film companies such as the BBC, National Geographic, Japanese and Brazilian teams. It also featured in National Geographic Magazine in 2011.
Source: Phunutoday, Oxalis
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