Son Doong, the
world’s largest cave in the north-central province of Quang Binh, will
open soon for long day tours on a trial basis, local authorities have
decided.
A source from the province's People's
Committee, the local government, said Sunday that the tours will be open
for up to seven tourists at a time and around 15 local people will work
as tou rguides and porters.
Each tour can be designed for four to six nights, according to a statement signed by the province's vice mayor Tran Tien Dung.
A Dan Tri report, citing the
statement, said that if the trial proves beneficial and convenient, the
cave will be developed for regular tours between February and August
every year.
Son Doong, which is 150 meters high and
200 meters wide, became known worldwide in 2009 when it was explored by
members of British Cave Research Association led by Howard Limbert and
his wife Deb Limbert, guided by local resident Ho Khanh.
Four months ago, the British couple
opened free English langauge and caving classes for residents of Son
Trach Commune to prepare them to take advantage of opportunities caving
tourism brings into the area.
They said they wanted to reciprocate the
support they have received since 1990 in exploring many caves, including
Son Doong, in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang system.
Many such explorations have seen the
network of 300 different grottoes and caves win UNESCO world heritage
recognition in 2003 for its unique beauty, biodiversity and geological
diversity. Tourism revenues for the commune doubled from 2009 to VND24.5
billion (US$1.2 million) in 2011.
While wanting local residents to benefit,
Howard Limbert said at a meeting with Vietnamese experts last December
that the negative environmental impacts of caving tourism needs to be
minimized. He said caves should be closed regularly and for enough
time.
Any necessary construction needs to be
made with natural materials like wood, the power of lighting needs to be
reduced or, better still, there should be no lights and only footpaths
should be illuminated, he said.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Son Doong - the world’s largest cave is now OPEN to tourists
7:43 AM
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