World's largest cave: Buddhist Vietnam (video)

Vicki Win, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Cindy Hong/NatGeoTV.com; ABS Travel, Asia

Descending into "Eden," a lush and otherworldly cave system, Son Doong (abstravel.asia)

Man on bridge, Mountain River Cave

Buddhist Vietnam's Son Doong or "Mountain River" Cave is part of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park grotto system in Vietnam's central Quang Binh Province. It is the world's largest cave to ever be discovered. Son Doong, which was found by a local more than 20 years ago, is more than 200 meters wide, 150 meters high, and at least 6.5 kilometers long.

(NatGeo) Carsten Peter is a photographer, climber, diver, and caver in some

of the world's most extreme environments like Hang Son Doong cave system.

Rappelling to go spilunking

But explorers say they have been unable to explore it fully. British researchers have recently determined that Son Doong is much larger than the world's biggest known cave.

The biggest section of Son Doong is five kms in length, explains Howard Limbirt of the British Cave Research Association team searching the area April 10-14, 2009. Son Doong is much larger than Deer Cave in Malaysia, currently considered the world's largest, an explorer said. (Deer Cave is only 90 meters wide, 100 meters high, and two kms long). More (ABStravel.asia)
 

Tent camping at the cave entrance for travel deep into Son Doong (abstravel.asia)