ATA’s SUMMER PROMOTION 2013

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On 28th Sep, 2011, carrying the eager to explore the grandeur of nature, the first travelers together with ATA’s product manager – Mr. Tony Tran had launched the discovery to Son Doong Cave, the biggest cave in the world.

Accompany with the group is Mr. Ho Khanh who found the Son Doong Cave as a tour guide. The first meet with Mr. Ho Khanh really impressed everyone. Just a warm smile, a strong handshake from him is enough to make everyone feel warm at heart. At Ho Khanh ‘s house, the group had the moments of relax with green tea, a simple lunch with steamed rice cake and salted peanut and an open conversation. All of that was promising for a memorable journey.

Mr. Ho Khanh in old costume of troop

The first obstacle for the group is leaches. They are everywhere and all in hungry for blood. It was really a nightmare at first but as time passes, the scare was fade when everyone got used to them and they weren’t the obstacle anymore. In the deep jungle under shade, the expedition team followed jungle trails that on limestone Mountains to the Swallow Cave.

As planned, the expedition team would camp at the Swallow Cave. But “Man proposes, God disposes”, everything weren’t going as planned, it was dark so quickly so the expedition had to camp at a clear ground that is 30 minutes walking to the Swallow Cave. The tents were pitched up, dinner was also cooked and everyone had a good time to eat dinner together. Camping in the deep jungle, it was indeed an interesting experience!

Everything was not easier on the next morning. Although the sky seemed so bright, no rain and the ground was dry, the obstacles was still waiting for them. This time was the torrential river bank. If the expedition team couldn’t cross the torrent, that meant they wouldn’t be able to get to Son Doong Cave. This case forced everyone had to discuss and find the way to cross the torrent and after that decided if they could go any further or not.

In the torrential river bank….

Ho Khanh proved himself as a local guide with many years of experiences. At the hard times, his skill is very essential. He swam to the other side with a rope, he tied it to a tree then he led them crossing the river one by one. After much effort, finally, the group crossed the river safety. With the hope “After a storm comes a calm”, everything would be smooth but the obstacle has passed, another comes. A lake blocks the way to Son Doong Cave. To cross the lake at that time was impossible and instead of risking themselves, it was better to take the photos of Swallow Cave then head back to the other side of the cave using rope to cross the river again.

The trek back is so nice with not climbing and great view. Crossing over shallow stream, walking through banana forest and spending sometime for hot green tea in Doong Village. All of that little things made a memorable tour.

Due to bad weather, the expedition might not succeed as planned but everyone was all happy with what they experienced. Son Doong – We will come back soon.

Clip about the first expedition to Son Doong Cave

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Vietnam’s Hang Son Doong cave is the largest in the world, with caverns big enough to fit an entire city street inside them. These awe-inspiring photos take you inside the beautiful, alien world of the Hang Son Doong cave.

The cave was, amazingly enough, only discovered twenty years ago, and is just now being properly surveyed. National Geographic has a fascinating longer piece on the recent explorations of the cave, but the real highlight has to be the nearly two dozen amazing photographs from inside the cave.

Be sure to check out their gallery for the complete collection of amazing photos by Carsten Peter. In the meantime, here’s a little sample to get you in the spelunking mood. Up top is quite possibly the biggest subterranean passage on the planet, capable of fitting inside a half-mile block of 40-story buildings. To get some idea of the scale of this chamber, look for the lone explorer at the center of the image. And then there’s the jungle of Hang Son Doong:

This tiny jungle, nicknamed the “Garden of Edam”, formed underneath a collapsed roof of the cave, which allowed first light and then vegetation to make its way inside the cave. I don’t know if anyone’s officially confirmed it, but I think we can safely say this is the largest jungle inside a cave in the entire world. And then some images look like they are from another planet altogether:

These algae-covered ribs were formed by water overflowing the pools, reshaping them into what we see now. These awesome photos are still just a tiny sample of the wonders of the Hang Son Doong, so be sure to head over to National Geographic to take a look.

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Many foreign TV channels and magazines are arriving in Quang Binh to survey and shoot documentaries about Son Doong cave and the biodiversity of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

Son Doong – the world’s largest cave.

From March 6-26, British ITV Studio will make a TV documentary about Son Doong cave and biodiversity in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

US filmmakers from National Geographic will also visit the newly-discovered grotto to shoot a film. This survey will feature the famous British explorer, Howard Limbert and will be broadcast in 120 countries in various languages.

In January 2010, Canada’s Yap Films Ltd. produced a TV documentary about Phong Nha-Ke Bang. Filmmakers from TV channels in Germany and Japan have also visited.

The presence of foreign filmmakers and reporters once again demonstrates the value and interest of the international community in this world natural heritage site, especially Son Doong cave and the surrounding karst grottos.

In mid-2009, the British Royal Cave Society announced the discovery of the world’s largest cave in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park by Ho Khanh, who had named it Son Doong. The cave is 2 kilometers in length, 150 meters at the highest point, and 90 meters wide.

Before this site was discovered, Deer Cave in Malaysia was recognized as the world’s biggest cave at 100 meters high, 90 meters wide and 2 kilometers long.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is located in Bo Trach and Minh Hoa districts in the centre of Quang Binh province. It protects one of the world’s two largest karst regions with several hundred caves and grottoes.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was first nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. It was recognised as a world natural heritage site at UNESCO’s 27th general assembly session in Paris from June 30-July 5, 2003.
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is one of the world’s two largest limestone regions. In comparison with 41 other world heritage sites which have karsts, Phong Nha has dissimilar geomorphic, geologic and biotic conditions. The karsts of Phong Nha can be traced back to the Palaeozoic era, 400 million years ago. This makes Phong Nha the oldest major karst in Asia.

The area has numerous grottoes and caves. Vietnamese and British scientists have so far surveyed a total of 20 caves with a total length of 70km. Of these surveyed caves, 17 are in the Phong Nha area and three in the Ke Bang area.
The Phong Nha cave from which the name of the whole system and the park is derived is famous for its rock formations which have been given names such as the “Lion”, the “Fairy Caves”, the “Royal Court”, and the “Buddha”.
Besides the grotto and cave systems, Phong Nha has the longest underground river, the largest caverns and passageways. Phong Nha-Ke Bang also contains two dozen mountain peaks of over 1,000 metres in height. Noteworthy peaks are the Peak Co Rilata with a height of 1,128 m and Peak Co Preu with a height of 1,213 m.

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The Son Doong Cave is the world’s largest cave (Photo courtesy of the British Cave Research Association).

A group of Japanese filmmakers arrived in the central Quang Binh Province on Sunday to shoot a 3D documentary about Son Doong, the world’s largest cave in the province.

A member of the 12-strong film crew of Kyodo news agency said it will be the first 3D film about caves in the world.
The documentary will focus on the lives of creatures in the massive cave and the surrounding forests.

Experts from the British Cave Research Association, who discovered the cave in 2009, will accompany the filmmakers.
A local man, Ho Khanh, was considered the first person to actually find the cave in 1991 but then forgot the entrance. Khanh will now be the guide for the film crew.

The film will finish shooting on May 23. It is expected to be broadcast late this year in more than 160 countries and territories.

In 2009, a caver team of the British Cave Research Association discovered the Son Doong Cave at the UNESCO-recognized world heritage site Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near the Laos-Vietnam border.

The cave measured at 200 meters high and 150 meters wide at its largest, nearly double the previous world’s largest cave – the Deer Cave in Malaysia – which is 100 meters high and 90 meters wide.

The expedition also found En Cave, located above the Son Doong Cave, measuring 150 meters high and 130 meters wide.
Source: Sai Gon Tiep Thi

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A sculpted cavescape in the Son Doong Cave (Photo: Carsten Peter/National Geographic)

A 3D film about the world’s largest cave in central Vietnam will be broadcast on Japanese TV channel NHK on June 25, local authorities announced Tuesday.

The documentary featuring the Son Doong Cave will reach 60 countries in the world, according to the Quang Binh Province Department of External Affairs.
A group of filmmakers from Japan’s Kyodo News, accompanied by four British cave experts, started shooting the 3D film on May 7.

The team was accompanied by 20 locals, including Ho Khanh, who was considered the first person to actually find the cave in 1991 but then forgot the entrance.
They have overcome many difficulties and weather adversities including flash floods on the way to finish the first 3D film about the largest cave in the world, local authorities said.

On the evening of May 16, flash floods slammed to a stream near the En Cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, where the filmmakers were camping.
Luckily, Khanh woke the team members up after hearing the sounds of fallen trees and swift waters.

They escaped death after running to a higher place, but all the food for the trip was swept away by floods.

It is not the first time the Son Doong Cave has been featured on television. In March 2010, a National Geographic team visited the cave on a 20-day expedition and later released a TV special about the world’s biggest cave.
The Son Doong was discovered in 2009 by a caver team of the British Cave Research Association at the UNESCO-recognized world heritage site Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near the Laos-Vietnam border.

The cave measured at 200 meters high and 150 meters wide at its largest, nearly double the previous world’s largest cave – the Deer Cave in Malaysia – which is 100 meters high and 90 meters wide.

Located above Son Doong, the expedition also found the En Cave measuring at 150 meters high and 130 meters wide.

Source: VNA

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General Guidelines
The equipment you need very much depends on the cave you are exploring, the difficulty of the route, and the amount of time you intend to spend in the cave.

Necessary Equipment
A list of gear that you must have on any trip underground. These lists are general guidelines only. Disclaimer

Helmet:
A helmet is the most basic of essentials. Hazards ranging from bumping your head on the ceiling to rocks falling on you can exist in the cave environment. For the majority of wild caving experiences a UIAA certified climbing or caving helmet is recommended. For very basic trips involving no vertical exposure, no overhead hazards, or any other hazards beyond stumbling or walking into a rock a good quality construction hardhat with a chinstrap is acceptable but not prefered.

Headlamp:
At least one helmet mounted headlamp is needed for caving. A good quality lamp is preferred (one that doesn’t fall apart when dropped). There are several good LED headlamps on the market that are reaonably priced.

Backup lights (2+):
At least two backup lights are required. These lights must be able to guide you out of the cave if your primary light fails. Candles are not backups. Light sticks are not backups. Your old flashlight that “sort of works” is not a backup. A backup must be in good condition and be reliable. Preferably one of the lights backups should be helmet mountable. If possible, your backups and primary light should use the same size batteries (AA are the best as they are the most common underground)

Batteries:
Bring at least 3 sets of batteries for your primary light source. If you are using a MSS rental helmet you will need 9 or 12 AA batteries. Also keep in mind that your backups may use different batteries so spare batteries may need to be carried for those.

Footwear:
Sturdy hiking or work boots, preferably with knobby bottoms, are a must. Flat bottom tennis shoes are not appropriate in the cave environment. The cave environment is tough on footwear.

Clothing:
Your clothing will depend on the cave trip you are on (dry cave vs. swimming) and the trip length. In general cotton is not good in caves due to its ability to get and stay wet. In a drier cave some cavers use coveralls over layers of polypro long underwear and wool socks. Other cavers use coveralls made from heavy nylon (similar to backpack fabric) over polypro. Of course, in a wet cave a heavy wetsuit is needed. If you are unsure of clothing talk to the trip leader for personal advice, including if jeans are an ok substitute.

Clothing should be worn in layers. Brisk walking at 47F is very different from prolonged sitting at 47F.

Gloves:
Gloves keep your hands happy. Happy hands are working hands so a good pair of gloves is a must. Many cavers prefer leather, others like rubber. Canvas work gloves are ok but tend to get and stay wet. Absolutely no fuzzy gloves in the cave as these will leave fuzz on everything they touch.

Cave Pack:
Some kind of cave pack is needed to carry spare lights, batteries, water, and snacks. Fanny packs work and are readily available. Gas Mask bags and other over the shoulder military type bags are great. Most cavers end up with some kind of custom cave pack that they like. If your pack has zippers, they won’t last for many trips before the zippers are destroyed.

Large Plastic Trash Bag:
This can be used as an emergency heat tent in cave. It is also useful get used to bring home the dirty clothes. Many cavers stuff it into their helmet where it is out of the way and easily accessed.

Food and Water:
Food is nice while caving but avoid anything with crumbs. Bagals are durable, as are energy bars. Water is a must. Always plan extra food and water in case you are in cave long then planned.

Pee and Poo: (longer trips)
If you are in a longer cave remember a (durable) pee bottle. Some cavers use a dedicated water bottle, others pack light and bring one water/pee bottle and wash when they get home. Either way, be sure the bottle is a wide mouth bottle.

On very long trips (survey, expedition, etc) you may need a poo kit. This consists of a large turkey oven roasting bag (very durable), sheets of paper towels and a couple of zip lock bags to double or triple bag when you are done. A few anti-bacterial wet wipes will keep your hands happy when you are done.

Going Home Clothes:
Your caving clothes will get very dirty. Bring a full change of clothes including shoes and undies. A towel is also nice, as are baby wipes to get the mud off your hands and face after the trip.

Knee and Elbow Pads:
The rocks get hard on knees and elbows so both kinds of pads are recommended. However you can get by just fine with a few minor bruises without them. Hard plastic kneepads will be more misery than none at all so avoid them.

First Aid Kit

Cave Map / Compass

Nice to Have Gear
A list of gear that you might want to bring.

Camera:
Caves are pretty and offer many opportunities for pictures. A friend’s digital camera is recommended. Your cave pack will take a beating and even if you pad the camera, the humidity in the cave may condense inside the camera. Pack your in a zipper sandwich bag to keep it clean(er) and dry. No matter what you do, the lifespan of a camera that is taken underground is short.

After the trip open the camera up (battery compartment, etc) and allow to dry for several days.

Foam butt pad:
Not for comfort, but because for safety as rock is an excellent thermal conductor.
Note: GPS, cell phones, radios do not work underground.

Safe Caving Practices

Although the following list of safe caving practices is meant to help you, there is nothing – And make no mistake about it – nothing that will replace using good common sense. Some items listed below may have already been covered, but it wouldn’t hurt to mention them again. We cannot cover every conceivable situation you may encounter while caving, and additional reading on the subject will benefit you.

- Never go caving alone (a minimum of 3 people on a team).
- Wear a good-quality hard hat with a chin strap and the primary light source attached.
- Carry three sources of light (should one source fail).
- Always leave word as to which cave you will be visiting and your expected time of return, allowing a few hours for any unexpected contingencies.
- Follow the lead of the more experienced caver or the one who knows the cave well. If all your lights fail, sit down and wait on the spot for help to come.
- Avoid jumping. Cave floors are seldom level, and a short jump may result in an injury.
- Practice ropework (vertical caving) under the guidance of an expert before doing any vertical caving.
- Caving is extremely tiring: know your limit, rest frequently, watch for fatigue in others.
If you are uncomfortable with a passage, speak up!!
- Caving is a team activity – we all help each other.
- People with chronic medical conditions need to take that into consideration when deciding to go caving.
- Carry a small first aid kit. A large garbage bag or poncho will make a good heat tent using the heat from one candle or carbide lamp.
- If an immobilizing injury occurs, treat for shock (keep the injured caver warm) and contact the local cave rescue organization.
- Sitting still can cause shivering after a period of time, the first symptom of hypothermia. Get moving, initiate activity.
- The slowest caver sets the pace. Go only as fast as you can be followed, and check on the caver behind you.
- If lost in a cave, panic is your worst enemy. Remain calm, conserve your light, and if you followed the rule about leaving word, you have little to worry about.

** From A Guide To Responsible Caving. Compiled by Adrian (Ed) Sira Distributed free by the National Speleological Society

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At the end of Sep, 2011, the first trip for travelers to discover SON DOONG, the world’s largest cave will be implemented by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA. Mr. Ho Khanh, who is the first person to find the entrance to cave will be the tour leader of this adventure group.

The lucky tourist group is from Australia, they are researching scientists from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries in Australia. This group of four is going to take 3 days 2 nights to explore parts of the cave system where the regular tourists are still not allowed to go.
This trip not only brings the real experience but also is a challenge for tourists when they take 3 day trekking and 2 night camping in the cave.

Son Doong cave (meaning Mountain River Cave) is a cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. The cave is located near the Laos-Vietnam border.


It was first discovered by a local in 1991 (Mr.Ho Khanh), and surveyed by the British Cave Research Association from April 10 to April 14, 2009. According to the survey team, Son Doong is the Earth’s largest known cave passage at present. It is more than 200 meters wide, 150 meters high, and at least 6.5 kilometers long, though the explorers said they were unable to explore it fully.

With these information, Son Doong is much larger than Deer Cave in Malaysia, currently considered the world’s largest, an explorer said (Deer is 90 meters wide, 100 meters high and 2 kilometers long). The Son Doong cave has replaced to take pole position as the world’s largest cave.

Son Doong is formed by a system of grottos, flowing underground rivers, giant walls and deep lakes. In the 200m high arch of the cave, the sight is extremely magnificent with images of the Eden in the grotto, stalactites giant wall or the collection “Pearls” with thousands of years. The grandeur of the nature is really unbelievable.

“Son Doong Cave is the masterpiece of nature. It is the must-see destination once in a lifetime for those who love adventure”, Mr.Tony Tran – The product manager of ATA said. He also added: “I will join the first group in the expedition to Son Doong Cave this September”, showed his excitement about the next coming trip.

With ATA holding the adventure tour to Son Doong Cave will give travelers the chance to explore the world largest cave and see the magnificent beauty of nature. It also marked ATA as the first company organizes the tour to discover Son Doong cave.

Source of Photos: National Geographic

TOUR INFORMATION:
Ha Noi – Dong Hoi – Phong Nha-Ke Bang – Son Doong Cave – Chay Lap – Vinh Moc – Hue
5 days with 3 day trekking & 2 night camping
Grade: Moderate
Head office: Floor 12 Building 45 Nguyen Son street, Long Bien district, Hanoi, Vietnam
Operation office: 367 Ngo Quyen St., Son Tra Dist., Da Nang
Operation office: 108 Le Lai St., Dist. 1, HCMC
Support number: (04) 3 573 8569

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Twenty years after he stumbled on the discovery, a local farmer leads a British caving team to the find of the century

A team of British cavers recently announced record-breaking news – the discovery in Quang Binh Province of the largest cave in the world.

But the presence of the British team has eclipsed one very important figure in the story – 40-year-old Ho Khanh – a local man and guide for the expedition who says he first found the cave nearly 20 years ago, but lost it again.

Back to the start

Today the forty-year-old farmer mans a tea stall in a village on the edge of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. “I first found the cave 18 years ago, in 1991,” he says.

“I was out collecting firewood near the national park. My family were very poor, so I decided to go deeper into the forest to try and find some aloe. The resin is used to make perfume and it’s very valuable. Not many people went that far into the forest at the time because they were scared of the wild animals.”

After walking for about 20km Khanh says he lost his way. Clouds started gathering in the sky, so he decided to look for shelter.

“I sat down with my back to a huge boulder. Then something strange happened. I heard the sound of a strong wind and running water coming from behind me.”

Khanh went to investigate and found the entrance to an enormous cave, with a wide river flowing out of it.

“I was very surprised. I thought I knew many caves in this region, but this one was so different and seemed to be untouched by man. It was pitch black, but judging by the feeling of the air, I thought I was walking into a huge space. The strong wind blowing felt like something from the underworld.”

With no ropes or lights, Khanh did not venture further into the cave. A day after he’d first set out, he arrived back home.

“I didn’t have any aloe, but in my mind I had the image of a great cave.”

Khanh’s story spread like wildfire, but not everyone believed him.

“I wanted to prove my word, but I couldn’t remember the way to the cave. It was a wild place, with no human tracks.”

Eventually, the story became legend. Khanh quit his dream of becoming rich from aloe and went back to doing his daily chores: collecting fire wood and farming. But he never gave up on the hope that one day he would find the cave again.

All is not lost

It wasn’t until one morning in early winter, 2006, that Khanh’s cave dream was rekindled. A group of cavers from Britain, on a trip to find new caves in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang region, came to ask Khanh for help, as they had heard about his discovery 15 years before.

Khanh agreed to guide the team to find the legendary cave, but after three days in the jungle, Khanh and the team were still at a loss.

“I just couldn’t remember where it was,” he says.

There were some perks. On their expedition, the group did find 11 previously unrecorded caves. The British team even named one of them after the farmer.

“One of my favourite caves that we found on our trip had a lake and many beautiful stalactites that sparkled in the light. We called it Thai Hoa, after my daughter.”

The team returned to the park for two more expeditions, but each time were beaten by the density of the jungle. Finally the cavers gave in and left, asking Khanh to contact them if he found it again.

In a final effort to recover his memory, Khanh headed to the jungle one cold winter’s morning in 2009.

“I stopped by a big boulder. There was the same strong wind, the sound of water running – I knew I’d found the cave at long last. I can’t describe my feelings at the time, I was so overjoyed.”

The team immediately came back to Viet Nam and followed Khanh on a six-hour treck deep into the jungle. On April 14 they found what they were looking for.

Measuring 200m high and 150m wide, the new cave, named Son Doong (Mountain River Cave) by Khanh, is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder, Deer Cave in Sarawak Malaysia.

The cave is in Phong Nha-Ke Bang grotto system, which belongs to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. It is a limestone region of 2,000sq.km and borders another limestone area in Hin Nammo in Laos.

According to Adam Spillane, a member of the team, the cave is over 4km long at present but the end of the main passage continues on. The team were unable to go further because of a calcite wall more than 45m high halted their progress.

“Khanh has been a guide for the team for many expeditions in the jungle to explore caves. This year he took the team to a cave which had never been explored before, not even by local people,” Spillane says.

The cave was a thing of overwhelming beauty and grandeur, spokesman for the team, Haward Limbirt says.

“We plan to return to Viet Nam later to complete our expedition of the cave and conduct a full survey,” he says.

Back to normal

After the team returned to Britain, Khanh settled back into his everyday routine.

“I just think about how I’m going to earn enough money to feed my family. I only earn VND800,000 (US$50) per month.”

His discovery has yet to reap financial gains, Khanh says.

“We are still as poor as we were before. Actually, I still haven’t paid off the VND10 million ($550) loan I borrowed ten years ago to develop our farm and animal husbandry.”

Khanh’s obsession with the cave has been hard on his nearest and dearest, his wife Le Thi Nghia says.

“Sometimes I get angry because he just wants to go to the jungle and look at caves, but I understand he is very passionate about it. After all of this, I’m proud of him.”

Nghia says the only thing she asks for is recognition from the Government and the press for what her husband has done for the country.
Source : VietNamNet/VNS – 06/29/2009

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By Mark Jenkins

“Past the hand of dog, watch out for dinosaurs,” says a voice in the dark.

I recognize Jonathan Sims’s clipped, British military accent but have no idea what he’s talking about. My headlamp finds him, gray muttonchops curling out from beneath his battered helmet, sitting alone in the blackness along the wall of the cave.

“Carry on mate,” growls Sims. “Just resting a buggered ankle.”

The two of us have roped across the thundering, subterranean Rao Thuong River and climbed up through 20-foot blades of limestone to a bank of sand. I continue alone, following the beam of my headlamp along year-old footprints.

In the spring of 2009, Sims was a member of the first expedition to enter Hang Son Doong, or “mountain river cave,” in a remote part of central Vietnam. Hidden in rugged Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Parknear the border with Laos, the cave is part of a network of 150 or so caves, many still not surveyed, in the Annamite Mountains. During the first expedition, the team explored two and a half miles of Hang Son Doong before a 200-foot wall of muddy calcite stopped them. They named it the Great Wall of Vietnam. Above it they could make out an open space and traces of light, but they had no idea what lay on the other side. A year later, they have returned-seven hard-core British cavers, a few scientists, and a crew of porters-to climb the wall, if they can, measure the passage, and push on, if possible, all the way to the end of the cave.

The trail disappears before me into a difficult pile of breakdown-building-size blocks of stone that have fallen from the ceiling and crashed onto the cave floor. I crane my head back, but the immensity of the cave douses my headlamp’s tiny light, as if I were staring up into a starless night sky. I’ve been told I’m inside a space large enough to park a 747, but I have no way to know; the darkness is like a sleeping bag pulled over my head.

I switch off my headlamp just to feel the depth of the darkness. At first there is nothing. But then, as my pupils adjust, I’m surprised to make out a faint, ghostly light ahead. I pick my way through the rubble, almost running from excite­ment, rocks scattering beneath my feet and echoing in the invisible chamber. Traversing up a steep slope, I turn a ridge as if on a mountainside and am stopped in my tracks.

An enormous shaft of sunlight plunges into the cave like a waterfall. The hole in the ceiling through which the light cascades is unbelievably large, at least 300 feet across. The light, penetrating deep into the cave, reveals for the first time the mind-blowing proportions of Hang Son Doong. The passage is perhaps 300 feet wide, the ceiling nearly 800 feet tall: room enough for an entire New York City block of 40-story buildings. There are actually wispy clouds up near the ceiling.

The light beaming from above reveals a tower of calcite on the cave floor that is more than 200 feet tall, smothered by ferns, palms, and other jungle plants. Stalactites hang around the edges of the massive skylight like petrified icicles. Vines dangle hundreds of feet from the surface; swifts are diving and cutting in the brilliant column of sunshine. The tableau could have been created by an artist imagining how the world looked millions of years ago.

Jonathan Sims catches up with me. Between us and the sunlit passage ahead stands a stalagmite that in profile resembles the paw of a dog.

“The Hand of God would be just too corny,” he says, pointing at the formation. “But the Hand of Dog does nicely, don’t you think?”

He clicks off his headlamp and unweights his gimpy ankle.

“When we first got to the collapsed doline, that skylight up there, I was with another caver and we both had four-year-old sons, so we were experts on dinosaurs, and the whole scene reminded us of something right out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World,” he says. “When my partner went exploring forward into the sunlight, I told him to ‘watch out for dinosaurs,’ and the name stuck.”

“We weren’t actually searching for the largest cave in the world,” Deb says. But she’s thrilled that the cave’s newfound fame might improve the lives of local villagers.

After five days of hiking, hauling, and crawling, the expedition is still only halfway into the cave. Counting all the cavers, scientists, a film and photography crew, and porters, we are a team of more than two dozen, which seems to have slowed us down. Besides that, the going gets dangerous as we climb through the breakdown in Watch Out for Dinosaurs: One misstep on slick boulders could mean a fall of more than a hundred feet.

When we reach the next skylight, the Garden of Edam (another cheesy pun), it’s even bigger than the first, almost as wide as the roof of the Superdome in New Orleans. Below the opening is another moun­tain of breakdown with a jungle of hundred-foot-tall trees, lianas, and burning nettles. As our time and supplies begin to run out, Howard decides the moment has come to send an advance team ahead to the Great Wall of Vietnam, to see if an assault is really possible.

The wall lies more than a mile away at the end of a corridor shaped like a V with a foot-deep trench of water at the bottom. Mud walls, sticky as peanut butter, rise 40 feet high on either side. It is not possible to walk in the trench, only to stumble. By the time you reach the wall, you’re so covered in mud you appear to have gone swimming in chocolate pudding. The cavers named this passage Passchendaele, after the trench warfare battle of World War I in which the Allies lost 310,000 soldiers to gain only five miles of ground near the Belgian village of Ypres.

Climbing an overhanging 200-foot-tall wall of mud is technical, risky business, so you need just the right type of madmen. Luckily, Howard has handpicked Gareth “Sweeny” Sewell and Howard Clarke for the advance team. The two have been caving together for 20 years in the nastiest potholes in England. Clarky is a bull semen salesman, and Sweeny is a legal specialist who somehow convinced his wife that they should sell their one and only car so he could keep heading off on caving expeditions.

The first day at the base of the wall, as Clarky belays, Sweeny begins boldly working his way upward, drilling hole after hole. Almost all of the holes are too hollow to hold a screw from which to hang their ropes.

For 12 hours they jabber in their expletive-laden Yorkshire vernacular-”ez bloody crap cov­ered wit mood,” Sweeny says at one point. Neither says a word about the true dangers of the task. Were any of the six-inch screws to pop out, the rope Sweeny is hanging on would lose its anchor and he’d likely zipper the rest of the screws and plummet to his death.

On the second day of the climb, after bivouacking at the bottom of the wall for the night, Sweeny returns to his previous high point, with Clarky belaying again. Soon enough the whirring of his drill echoes through the domed blackness, Sweeny so high up we can see only the glimmer of his headlamp. At two in the afternoon-of course it doesn’t matter a bit what time it is when it’s dark 24/7-after 20 hours of drilling holes and climbing higher, Sweeny finally disappears over the wall and some minutes later we hear:“AAIIOOOOO!!”

Clarky ascends the rope next, then yells down for me, the words bouncing through the cave: “Well, ye comin’ up or wat!”

At the top of the Great Wall of Vietnam we can literally see light at the end of the tunnel and start howling our heads off. The rest of the expedition will later tell us that they actually heard our hallos more than a mile away in the cave. Measurements made at the top of the wall will reveal that from the bottom of Passchendaele to the ceiling is 654 feet. It’s just the three of us now, exploring. No human has ever been here before. We drop down off the backside of the Great Wall and begin ascending a staircase of rock toward the exit.

“Will ye look at deese!” roars Clarky, kneeling beside a dried-up pool. Sweeny and I gather around. Inside the pool, illuminated by our headlamps, are cave pearls.

Cave pearls are formed when a drop of water from the ceiling hits the limestone floor and throws up a speck of rock. This grain is jostled in its little cup of stone every time a drop hits it. Over thousands of years, a solid, almost perfectly round calcite pearl is formed.

Pearls are rare and in most caves are no larger than a marble. The cave pearls here are the size of baseballs, larger than any the cavers have ever seen. (Their preternatural size may be due to the enormous distance the ceiling waterdrops fall.)

“I ‘ereby christen this passage Pearl ‘arbor,” Clarky announces.

Twenty more minutes and we’re scrambling up and out of the cave. It is raining in the jungle. We hack our way far enough out into the forest to recognize a horizon and determine that this is not just another skylight, but that we have discovered the end of Hang Son Doong. Sweeny and Clarky are far too humble to openly express that we’ve just completed the first push through what is very likely the largest cave  passage in the world.

Source : NationalGeographic

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