Explorers discover spectacular caves in Vietnam

[Watchman]

Explorers discover spectacular caves in Vietnam
Mon Jan 3, 2:23 pm ET

By Brett Michael Dykes
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http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/peter-photography
By Brett Michael Dykes brett Michael Dykes – Mon Jan 3, 2:23 pm ET

For decades, geologists have known that Vietnam is home to some of the
world's most spectacular caves, many of them largely unexplored.
Now husband-and-wife cavers have documented perhaps the world's largest:
Hang Son Doong, big enough in places to accommodate a
New York City block of skyscrapers.

The cave in the Annamite Mountains contains a river and jungle
(its name translates to "mountain river cave") and even its own thin clouds,
and its end remains out of sight. It's part of a network of about 150 caves
in central Vietnam near the Laotian border.

National Geographic

Howard and Deb Limbert of England led the first expedition to enter
Hang Son Doong in 2009, but they were stopped a couple of miles in by
a huge calcite wall. The team returned recently to climb the wall,
take measurements and try to find the cavern's end.

[Related: National Geographic's award-winning amateur photos]

Many more photographs taken in Hang San Doong and other newly
explored caves have been published in the January issue of
National Geographic and on its website, where you can view larger images.
The site also has an interactive graphic of the river cave's path

 

[Watchman]

World's biggest cave revealed
It looks like something from an Indiana Jones film.
But for a team of British cavers, trekking through the
jungle for six hours to find these giant caves was no screen test.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/643070-worlds-biggest-cave-revealed#ixzz1A2ywBsvK
Climbing down into a large chamber, they had to negotiate
two underground rivers before reaching the huge opening.

They now believe they have located the world's largest cave passage.
Measuring 200m high (650ft) and 150m (500ft) wide, the Vietnamese cave,
called Hang Son Doong (Mountain River Cave), is believed to be almost
twice the size of the Malaysian record holder.

Vietnam cave Small: A team member is dwarfed
'It is a truly amazing sized cave and one of the most significant discoveries
by a British caving team,' said member Adam Spillane.
'The cave is 6.5km [four miles] long at present but the end of the main
passage still continues with a calcite wall of over 45m [150ft] high halting our progress.'
The cave was originally discovered in 1991 by a Vietnamese jungle man called Ho Khanh.
But he'd never been inside until this year because of the frightening noise from an underground river.
The joint British-Vietnamese expedition team spent five days exploring the cave in
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and is due to return later in the year to complete the survey.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/643070-worlds-biggest-cave-revealed#ixzz1A2ynN0lh

 

[Watchman]

Check out this amazing gallery of images
by National Geographic photographer
Carsten Peter. The caves are in a complex
within the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
and include a cavern large enough to hold a
half-mile street of 40 story buildings.

 

[Equalisation]

....errr ....ada moistened binya tak ??:o