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The beauty of Son Doong in the rainy season

QUANG BINH, Quy Coc Tu tourist blogger captured the beauty of the cave after the flood season, during the first expedition to Son Doong in 2021.

On the first day, the group of Demons Coc Tu (Ngo Tran Hai An) moved from Phong Nha to Hang En gate to camp. During the journey is 11 km of forest and stream runways. Due to the weather conditions, the team did not meet the bright light from the cave entrance.

Hang En is the third largest cave in the world, discovered and announced in 1994. There is a large lake, with natural turquoise color. The group went through the cave to reach Son Doong.

From the mouth of the cave, the group had to swing about 80 meters down the rope. The road is steep, dark and slippery, taking the group about 2 hours to travel.

In Son Doong cave, the terrain is extremely diverse, the group met many narrow and slippery roads. Some points have to wade through cold water, in the narrow slot just enough one outstretched arm. The group moves in complete darkness, with the help of a flashlight.

On the second day, on the way to sink 1, the group reached Jame Bond hole, a natural round stone hole. Hai An said that this is one of the unique features of the world’s largest natural cave tectonic process.

The way to sinkhole 1, also known as the Dinosaur Void, is with many giant stalactites. On the way, the delegation passed through fossil corridors, which imprinted coral fossils dating back 300 million years.

Son Doong is about 9 km long, 160 m wide and has a ceiling height of 200 m, large enough to accommodate a 40-storey building.

The stalactite block is called “Wedding Cake” at the sinkhole 1. When coming here, cold weather, water pouring down from above makes the road slippery. “Here, the scene is very ghostly with misty mist like cave clouds,” he said.

The second sinkhole or Garden of Eden that appeared before his eyes was extremely majestic. With the formation of the pit, where the light shines, there is a forest with green vegetation. Here is a rocky hill with natural steps facing the garden. In the center of the hole there are many large forest trees.

Garden of Eden as seen from the campsite. With Hai An, this is the most beautiful camping spot in 3 days exploring the cave, on the cave floor covered with white sand. From here, people are like a small dot in the cave.

On the way to the end of the journey, the group sailed through the “river” about 700 m long, the water below was very cold. In fact, this is a muddy cave, in the rainy season when the water rises, it creates a landscape like a river.

At the end of the journey, the delegation arrived at the Vietnam Wall. This is a 90 m high stalactite wall, the most difficult point to conquer in the journey. Here, the team must use protective equipment and be assisted by a safety team.

Hai An said that the scene here is extremely magnificent, when there are many tens of meters of stalactites deep in the river bed. He thinks that there are many minerals here, so the water is blue.

In the first stage, the slope is about 60-70 degrees, the members of the delegation have to stick tightly to the rope and use their strength to take big steps.

Demons Coc Tu made an expedition to Son Doong on February 16-19. The delegation has a total of 70 people, including domestic and international reporters, Tran Dang Dang Khoa – Vietnamese around the world by motorbike, Tran Tuan Viet – Photographer of NatGeo in Vietnam. In addition, 40 support people, along with cave experts of the Royal British Cave Association.

Hai An shared that this was a safety survey trip in a cave at the beginning of the new year, after each flash flood season passed through Quang Binh. Despite the unfavorable weather, the trip left him with a lot of emotions. He admires a very different beauty of the cave, and is able to record many beautiful photos and videos of the journey.

Photo: Ngo Tran Hai An/vnexpress

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