Quang Binh
Province, the home of magnificent caves in central Vietnam, has announced the
discovery of 57 more, including one which could have been formed underwater
five million years ago.
The
provincial government said at a press briefing Wednesday that the caves were
found by a team that comprised 13 members of the British Caving Research
Association and experts from Vietnam National University, forest rangers and
locals.
Among
the new caves is one that stretches nearly three kilometers and was probably
formed around five million years ago under what used to be a lake. Most other
caves are between two and three million years old.
The
water is gone but traces of strong currents are visible on the cave walls.
Howard
Limbert from the British cave association said the five-million-year-old cave
has been named Hoa Huong, after the husband and wife who helped with the
discovery.
The association has been exploring caves in
Quang Binh since 1990, creating a map to 311 of them including the world’s
largest cave Son Doong. Their work has helped earned Quang Binh’s fame as the
kingdom of cave adventures in Southeast Asia.
Limbert
said his team has only explored a third of limestone mountains in Quang Binh
and they might find bigger caves than Son Doong in the future.
A
Hollywood crew earlier this year chose Quang Binh as one of the locations to
film the much-anticipated King Kong reboot "Kong: Skull Island."
Nguyen
Huu Hoai, chairman of Quang Binh, said the province’s tourism has gone from
zero 20 years ago to 2.8 million arrivals last year, thanks to the caves,
mostly to the successful promotion of Son Doong.
The
province's tourism revenues in 2015 surged a staggering 90 percent from the
previous year to VND179 billion, or more than US$8 million.
A new cave in Quang Binh Province discovered by British cave
researchers and locals. Photo credit: British Caving Research Association for
VnExpress
More than 20 kilometers of caves have been explored between March 5
and April 11
Traces of water currents inside Hoa Huong, a cave believed to be five
million years old
The entrance into Hoa Huong
Another newly found cave of more than 2.5 kilometers long
The exploration team is going to propose to the provincial government
to open some of the new caves to tourists
Explorers drink water stored in trees branches
One of many natural sinkholes found at the caves. Many are more than
100 meters deep and terrifying even to professional explorers
A hole of 130 meters deep in the middle of jungle, as seen from a
flycam
A scorpion found inside Hoa Huong Cave
One of the Vietnam War-era bombs the exploration team has run into
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Thứ Tư, 22 tháng 6, 2016
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