Paradise Cave

In December 2010 one of my co-workers showed me an article in the January 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine that made me thrilled. The article was about a newly discovered cave in VietNam and it was considered the largest complex of caves in the world. This system of interconnected caves was discovered in 2005 by scientists from the British Cave Research Association with the help of a local man. It is the most beautiful cave in the Phong Nha Ke Bang area, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The whole length is 31 km long but only 900m was opened to the public. The world's biggest cave, Sơn Động, is also in this complex.

I am not really into cave but this one is not like anything i had seen before. Looking at the pictures i was spellbound by the beauty and dream of the day to visit.

The opportunity came in January 2011 when i went back to VietNam with friends and family. When we came to Hue, the ancient capital, the chance to visit the cave materialized and after a road trip of almost 5 hours we finally arrived at the place. Once there we learned that the cave was only opened to the public since September of 2010 and it was closed from October to almost the end of December due to a big flood. The ticket price to visit the cave was $120,000 in Vietnamese currency and we paid an extra $100,000 for the ride on the golf cart to the cave entrance since we didn't want to walk the 1 mile road.



There were 524 steps up to the cave opening. I was so thankful that it was a cool day :-). This picture is at the 500th step



The hike up took us throug a forest setting and i noticed a lot of plants with name tags.



Once we reached the top we were give a presentation about the cave.



Then our tour guide led us to a staircase about 100 steps down before we ended up on the nearly 1 km wooden boardwalk through the cave. At the start of the staircase we were greeted by a huge column of stalagmite



the inside opened up to a grand space where the ceiling was filled with colors





at the end of the stairs i looked back at the cave entrance



from this points on i was speechless because as we went through the cave its beauty was beyond words. We were the only group in the cave and i felt like i was walking inside the most magnificent and grand cathedral ever built, colorful and serene, even the Sistine Chapel or Saint Peter Basilica were pale in comparison. The most elaborate Baroque churches in Europe or South America were mere imitations of what mother nature could do artistically







the colors of the rock are the things that set this cave apart from others, imho. I am glad that white light is used in most places



The formation of stalactites and stalagmites here are very unique











this one reminded us of the ceremonial house in central VietNam by ethnic people



reflection pool where the water was still like a mirror



We spent about 3 hours in the cave and when the tour was over nobody wanted to leave. This place is truly a heavenly site and i felt so very lucky to have been there.

Slide show

National Geographic article 1
National Geographic article 2

Phong Nha National Park

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++