Compared to the vast area of the Earth, we humans are like tiny ants living in it. It has often been quoted that even with the millions and billions of humans living in this planet, there are a lot more places on Earth that we haven’t seen and explored. That’s why people around the globe, especially those who are passionate about explorations, have travelled high, below and wide around the planet to witness the beauty of this wonderful creation. People have climbed the highest mountain, tried to dive in the deepest part of the sea, wandered to ‘lost’ islands and unexplored seas, went down to the deepest part of the Earth through existing caves, discovering new lands and routes, and many more. Exploration never ends and the pages for the highest, deepest, largest, longest and widest places on the globe are still open for revision as explorers go for further search of how big our planet is. Most recent discovery was made in the year 2009 about the world’s largest cave. All the while we thought that the largest cave was the Deer Cave in Malaysia discovered in 1961, but then, just recently, the British Cave Research Association found in 2009 the world’s largest cave, the Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam. Hang Son Doong cave, also known as the Mountain River Cave is so large that it has its own forest, falls and climate. Moreover, the size of the cave can house a regular New York block with a 40 storey infrastructure. This essay would look deeper into what it looks and feels like to be inside the world’s largest cave, the Hang Son Doong and also discuss some interesting facts about the said cave like how it was discovered and the new discoveries that scientists found inside it.
Before the 2009 discovery of the Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam by the British Cave Research Association, a local Vietnamese ‘accidentally’ discovered the said cave in the year 1990. Ho Khanh was a local Vietnamese that loves to go around the already known Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Central Vietnam in order to search for food and timber. It was during one of his hunting missions that he ‘accidentally’ found the opening of the not yet known cave. He felt curious as to where this opening would lead him and so decided to move in closer to the entrance. As narrated by Oxalis.com, “As he approached he noticed clouds billowing out of the entrance, and could hear the sounds of a river raging from somewhere inside the cave.” He could’ve been scared to move further inside the cave because he knew that it was one of the uncharted caves in Vietnam, perhaps in the world. He went home later that day and has forgotten the location and the route towards the cave he discovered. Years after, the British Cave Research Association or BCRA, led by Howard and Deb Limbert came to Phong Nha in search of new caves in the area. These cavers then met the original founder of the world’s largest cave, Ho Khanh, and through his story, they found out that there is a hidden cave around the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and so set to find the cave but only to fail in their first attempts. It was only in the year 2008, that Ho Khanh again found the entrance to the cave during his hunting missions that year, but this time, he took notes on how to get there and in 2009, he “led Howard, Deb and a team of professionals back to the cave for the first expedition to enter what would later become known as Hang Son Doong, or ‘Mountain River Cave’ (Oxalis.com).”
INSIDE THE CAVE
With over five kilometer long, two hundred meter tall in some of its area, one hundred and fifty meter wide, and a thirty eight point five million cubic meters as its measured volume, Hang Son Doong looks like a new world from within. Added to these measures are the marvelous creations inside the cave like its own river, forest and falls. Cavers and photographers set their dates to enter the said cave. One of them is Carsten Peter, who took breath taking pictures from inside the cave. Peter stayed two weeks inside the cave and found out that the cave is actually part of a hundred and fifty networks of caves. The photographer made a statement describing his stay in the cave and remarked, “‘We discovered new parts of the cave, it’s a huge area so to find them and access them is very difficult. ‘I love to explore, I have been in some great caves in my lifetime and this is one of the most magnificent. ‘I’ve been a photographer and explorer for the last 35 years and I’ve visited so many caves, I’ve lost count. ‘But this is by far one of the most unique and unusual caves I have ever seen. ‘To see a cave so large it has a forest inside is superb – it was overwhelming.’ (dailymail.co.uk)” Looking at the photographs he shared in Daily Mail, the cave really looked like a world of its own. There was a real river and forest, and the light comes from the big opening on the ceiling of the cave that made plantation possible. The waterfall was right in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle hidden inside the cave. The healthy and vast water from the inside river and waterfall as well as the right amount of light entering the cave made the hidden forest of the cave. In order to see the forest, cavers would need to enter and cross the dark tunnels of the cave first, and emerging from the dark tunnels, the forest would really look more magnificent as it is.
The photos posted by Peter in Daily Mail was proven true and even more emphasized through the video posted by the National Geographic wherein Martin Edstrom tried to capture the inside of the cave in a 360 degree view. They entered inside the cave and walked through the darkest parts of it with only headlights and ropes as their guide, and then suddenly, after a long tiring walk in the dark, daylight welcomed them. The dolines or what they call as sinkholes in the roof of the cave were the ones responsible for letting the light inside the cave and so therefore, the forest came to be. As Edstrom described, they felt like they entered a new world where dinosaurs could’ve been living for all the past years. He literally said that they were really anticipating an encounter with live dinosaurs inside the huge cave. In the end, he said that it would take thousand images in order to create 360 degree images of the said cave; for a certain area they captured 400 images just to capture its 360 degree image. Martin would want to let people see and experience the real beauty of the cave through his images before tourism development changes some of its natural beauty. The preview that the National Geographic posted of how it looked like inside the cave was really breathtaking; it would really encourage its audience, especially explorers, to go out of their countries and head straight to Vietnam and explore the world’s largest cave, Hang Son Doong.
OTHER INTERESTING FACTS AND DISCOVERIES
Martin Edstrom was with his team when he entered the cave, and with them were some scientists from the National Geographic Company. Though to their disappointment, they did not see any live dinosaurs inside the cave, the scientists found some new species of fish, plants and insects inside the cave. This could’ve been because these fishes, plants, and insects lived inside an untouched cave for millions of years. Estimated, scientists claim that that the cave is only three million years old which, in the history of most caves and considering its size, is a young cave. Inside, there are cave pearls as big as baseballs and eighty meter high calcite barrier that they named as ‘Great Wall of Vietnam’ and a lot more stalagmites and stalactites.
Works Cited:
By the Time He Had Returned to His Home a Few Days Later, He Had Forgotten Its Exact Location and Thought No More of It. “Son Doong Cave.” Oxalis Adventure Tours. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.
“Into the Depths of the Earth: Cave Network in the Heart of Vietnamese Jungle Is so Large Its End Is Yet to Be Found.” Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers, 28 July 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.
National Geographic. “Journey Through the Largest Cave in the World.” YouTube. YouTube, 23 June 2016. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.