Dong Thiên Đường (aka Paradise Cave), a new world class show cave in north-central Vietnam
Email: arthurc@internode.on.net
Abstract
During October-November 2012, Arthur Clarke and Siobhan Carter joined a group of American cavers on a specialist tour of wilderness caves and show caves in remote areas of central and southeast Laos and northern Vietnam. Promoted as “Focused Tours”, run by Dwight Deal and Mary Fletcher, a highlight of their recent karst cave tour was the visit to Dong Thiên Đường (aka Paradise Cave) in the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park of north-central Vietnam. Situated near the west branch of Ho Chi Minh Highway in the Quang Binh Province of north-central Vietnam, the park itself is quite remote nestled beside the small township of Son Trach and several smaller villages including the adjacent Phong Nha. Lying about 42km inland (west) from the South China Sea, by road it is about 500 km south of Hanoi and 260 km north of the port city of Đà Nẵng. The Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park is adjoins the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in Khammouan, in neighbouring Laos. Both regions contain zones of karstified limestone, each area being approx. 2,000 km2. Listed in 2003 as a UNESCO World Heritage Area (WHA), the karst of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was first recommended for WHA nomination by one of ACKMA’s founders and luminaries: Elery Hamilton-Smith. The national park derives its name from its magnificent Phong Nha Cave and its unique, biodiversity rich, Kẻ Bàng forest.
Aside from the historically known Phong Nha Cave, where tourists visit the huge, highly decorated chambers via motorised “dragon boats”, the national park is particularly known for its Hang Vòm cave system and the more recently discovered Hang Sơn Đoòng. Commonly known as Sơn Đoòng, with its main chamber over five kilometres in length, 200 metres high and 150 metres wide, it has taken the title of the world’s largest cave chamber away from Deer Cave in Sarawak. Prior to the 2009 discovery of Hang Sơn Đoòng (in Vietnamese: meaning Mountain River Cave), the Hang Vòm cave system was the largest and longest known cave in the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng park. Led by Howard Limbert, Son Trach resident and British ex-pat, the exploration of the Hang Vòm system commenced in 1990; the length now exceeds 35km.
Located at an elevation of 200m, the Dong Thiên Đường (Paradise Cave) entrance to the Hang Vòm system was discovered in 2005. The entrance chamber is 150m wide and 100m high with some of the massive stalagmite formations extending almost to the rooftop. Paradise Cave (Thiên Đường in Vietnamese) was opened for tourism on 3rd September 2010; with reportedly multi-million dollar expenditure, the site was sensitively developed in a very short period of time. From the vehicle park, tourists are taken by battery-operated golf car buggies 1.6km to the gathering place where a gently graded wheelchair pathway or steps climb 100m to the cave mouth reception and kiosk. Entry to Dong Thiên Đường costs 120,000dong (about AUS$6.00; NZ$7.00). The standard commercial tour of the first 1.1km of this massive cave is self-guided along well designed elevated walkways with viewing platforms all with good railings to contain the visitors and well lit with state-of-the-art LED lighting (and no coloured lights). From the far end of the walkway, an adventure caving option provides the opportunity for adequately equipped visitors to have a guided “wild cave” experience going a further 6km into the Hang Vòm system. Continuing along the silty clay and sandy floor, you pass through massive 40-100m high chambers and 300-400m long straight passages, crossing small creeks and wading shallow pools, walking to the Vom Grotto with its sandy beach below the 255m deep “Daylight Beckons” (Tang Hole) skylight shaft. The round trip including the developed show cave section is about 14km, with lunch and bottled water provided at the halfway point, below the “Daylight Beckons” shaft.