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 If
you like the outdoors and adventure, you’re in luck.
Recently, the world’s largest cave opened to visitors. Located in
a remote part of central Vietnam, the Son
Doong Cave is made up of 150 individual caves. It even has its own
lake, river, and jungle. In fact, the cave is so large that it can
fit a 40-story skyscraper!
The cave was first discovered in 1991 by a local farmer named Ho Khanh.
Mr. Ho found the cave as he was looking for shelter during a storm.
After the storm passed, he left and forgot about the cave until a
group of British spelunkers asked him for
his help in finding it, which they did in 2009.
 The
cave was created 2 to 5 million years ago. Thousands of years ago,
the ceiling collapsed, allowing natural sunlight to enter the cave.
As a result, a lush jungle rainforest grew
inside. Today, many exotic wild animals, such
as bat-like flying foxes, colorfully beaked birds, and monkeys live
within the cave structure.
 Visitors
can also see plenty of fascinating rock formations.
Stalagmites in the Son Doong
Cave rise more than 76 m. (A stalagmite is a rock formation that rises
from a cave floor.) One stalagmite has even been named the Hand of
Dog, because it looks like a dog’s paw.
So what’s it like to explore a cave that is nearly 9 km long, 200
m wide, and 150 m tall? “It’s very hard to comprehend the scale of the cave,” said
Simon Dunne, a British tourist. “Places that seem a 20-minute walk
take two hours to reach.”
 If you’re
interested, tours start at $3,000 and lasts for six days. However,
it’s not for the faint-hearted. The first part of the journey requires
brave adventurers to descend more than 80 meters
by rope to get to the cave’s entrance. However, according
to Howard Limbert, one of the first who explored and documented the
cave in 2009, the trip is well worth it. “Son Doong is unlike any
other cave on the planet,” Mr. Limbert said. “We’re so lucky to have
the chance of being among the first people to see this new wonder
of the world.” |
Staff
reporter Jessica Kim
(jessicakim@timescore.co.kr)
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