The magnificent beauty of Thien Duong Cave with stalactites hundreds of millions of years old

Thien Duong Cave in Quang Binh province was awarded two records by the Vietnam Records Organization (Vietkings) for "The longest dry cave with the most unique stalactite system in Vietnam" and "The cave with the longest wooden bridge in Vietnam" in 2011. By mid-2019, Thien Duong Cave once again attracted the attention of the world when the Asian Records Council established the record as "The cave with the most unique and magnificent stalactite and stalagmite system in Asia".

The cave belongs to Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, located in a primeval forest at an altitude of 360m above sea level, about 60km northwest of Dong Hoi city.

This cave is 31.4km long and was first discovered by the British Cave Research Association in 2005.

According to many scientific documents, Thien Duong Cave is 4 - 5 million years old, while the stalactites inside began to form hundreds of millions of years ago - the time of dinosaurs (Jurassic period).

This stalactite is formed by a limestone cave with underground water flowing inside. The first stage is the dissolution of limestone: When there is underground water flowing inside the rock crevices, limestone (main component is CaCO3) dissolves in water containing carbon dioxide to form a Ca(HCO3)2 solution. Then, the Ca(HCO3)2 solution flows through the rock crevices until it meets the rock wall or rock ceiling and drips down. Because Ca(HCO3)2 is an unstable substance, it is easily decomposed and deposited to form stalactites.

Along with Son Doong Cave (which has set 3 world records), Thien Duong Cave, also in Quang Binh, is a priceless gift given to mankind by nature.

Thien Duong Cave is divided into many compartments, the widest compartment is up to 150m wide and 100m high.

Entering this most magnificent cave in Asia, visitors will be amazed and admired by the magnificent beauty of this natural wonder skillfully created by nature hundreds of millions of years ago.

The deeper you go inside, the more open and magnificent the space becomes, dispelling the stuffy, hot feeling outside with the cool air inside the cave.

The miracle is that in the darkness of Thien Duong cave, there are many living creatures such as fish, bats, spiders,...

According to the previous predictions of the British Royal cave experts, there is a door leading to the outside world. Indeed, about 200m from Bat Cave is the junction of two dry streams opening up a fairyland.

The cave ceiling is flat as if it were touched by human hands, and gets lower as you get closer to the stream bank. (Photo: Antondat)

Currently, Thien Duong cave is being exploited for tourism. According to the description of the unit exploiting this natural wonder, in the journey to explore Thien Duong cave, visitors will have the opportunity to test their courage when having to overcome steep, dangerous paths, with some places where the path is narrow enough for only one person to pass through. Especially in the last section, there will be a lot of rocky, slippery terrain creating an exciting sense of adventure.