Hang Son Doong, The World's Biggest Cave ( part 3)

DOLINE 2 : GARDEN OF EDAM

Located about 1km away from Doline 1, this Doline has a primaeval forest growing 200 m deep inside the cave, below the limestone mountains. Coming out of Doline 1, you will see a small path leading to the forest. With a big opening on the top, this Doline allows a huge amount of sunlight to get into the cave, creating good conditions for many species of ferns, begonias, and even large trees, growing up along the path. You have to trek for 30 minutes to cross this forest to reach the second campsite, Doline 2. Please learn more about Doline 2 - Garden of Edam here.

CAVE PEARLS

Cave pearls formed from drips of water from the ceiling that carries calcite carbonate rippling down to the gour pools on the floor of the cave. They come in different sizes and shapes, from as small as peas to as big as baseballs. The Son Doong cave pearls are naturally formed inside the gour pool and look gorgeous under the headlamps, especially on rainy days when water is running through them. These cave pearls are just ordinary calcium carbonate deposits that have no value, they will be discoloured and plain when taken outside or left under direct sunlight, as they will very rapidly dry out. Please learn more about Cave Pearls here.

PASSCHENDAELE PASSAGE

There is a 600m lake below the Great wall of Vietnam. When the expedition team first approached the area, all of the water in the lake had drained out, leaving a hip-deep muddy passage. The members of the expedition team had to work really hard to go across this 600m muddy passage. It somehow reminded them of the movie about the battle of Passchendaele in World War I, the team decided to use the name Passchendaele to name this long and difficult passage. In many other months of the year or when it rains a lot, the water will fill up the passage to form a big beautiful jade-green lake. During the occasions when the lake is full of water, tourists will use rafts or boats to go through the Passchendaele. You can read more about the Passchendaele passage here.

THE GREAT WALL OF VIET NAM

In April 2009, after nearly 10 days of exploration and surveying, the expedition team reached a giant calcite flowstone, blocking all ways out, they decided to return due to the lack of specialised equipment for climbing over this giant wall. Right after leaving Hang Son Doong Cave, based on measured parameters, the expedition team announced Son Doong as the largest natural cave in the world. No one knew what was behind that large stalagmite, at the time, therefore they called it The Great Wall of Vietnam to describe its impressiveness. Please learn more about the Great Wall of Vietnam here.