The UK’s The Telegraph released recently a list of “Amazing places discovered surprisingly recently” featuring 11 undiscovered places on the planet, including Son Doong Cave.  

“Many miles of underground caverns are yet to be explored. Indeed, the subterranean record books are being rewritten on an almost annual basis and some of the biggest caves on the planet were only discovered relatively recently,” it wrote.

According to the national British daily newspaper, the Krubera Cave, in the republic of Abkhazia in Georgia, is the deepest known cave and one of only two deeper than 2,000 metres.

“Of its eight miles (12.8km) of tunnels, the furthest from the surface (2,191 metres down) was discovered in 2007. It is no place for ordinary travellers.

“But Son Doong in Vietnam, the largest known cave passage in the world by volume, which was found in 1990 and only fully explored in the last few years, can be seen by tourists.”

Alongside being listed as one of “Amazing places discovered surprisingly recently” by The Telegraph, three photos of the cave captured by German photographer Carsten Peter have been selected by the National Geographic as the best cave pictures.

The photos include one featuring an algae-covered maze inside Son Doong Cave with calcium-rich water overflowing from pools, and one depicting a giant column with explorers swimming through the depths of Ken, one of the new caves discovered in 2011 in Vietnam. The last one depicts streams of light from the surface around stalagmites on the floor of Loong Con Cave, which cavers call “Cactus Garden”.

Son Doong Cave is in the heart of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh. The cave was discovered by a local in 1991 and was first explored in 2009 by the British Cave Research Association. It has been open to the public since 2013.

The nine kilometre-long cave system, which extends through a mountain, was named one of the most captivating caves on earth by National Geographic.

Geologists say the cave formed two to five million years ago. It is roughly 200m high and 150m wide. The cave contains some of the tallest known stalagmites in the world, which are up to 70m tall.

VNS