Aug 15, 2009: Hang Son Doong

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hang Son Doong is Vietnamese for Mountain River cave.
The opening to this cave was discovered in 1991, but no one ever ventured in because,
"the entrance was small by Vietnamese cave standards and emitted a frightful wind and noise
which was due to a large underground river.”



Last April a 13 man British caving team, and representatives from the Hanoi University of Science,
trekked for six hours through the jungle and had to contend with two underground rivers to reach
the main passage of the cave.

It was worth it though, because it's real and it's spectacular.

Reports say that the Hang Son Doong (Mountain River cave) measures more than 650 ft in height and 500 ft in width.
The Hang Son Doong cave is said to be nearly twice the size of the current largest cave in the world,
the Deer Cave in Sarawak, Malaysia this is over 100 yards high and 90 yards wide.
Sometime later in 2009, the caving team will return to Vietnam for a full survey of the Hang Son Doong cave.
Spillane has said that the Hang Son Doong cave is 6.5km long at present but the end of the main passage still continues
with a calcite wall of over 45m high, which has halted the progress of the expedition.

link