Tours Of Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave Suspended

Tours to Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave, the largest ever discovered, have been suspended following the conclusion of a one-year pilot program, reports Thanh Nien.

The program, which was run by Oxalis Adventure Tours, was approved by Quang Binh officials and allowed the company to lead tours of the cave between August 2013 and August 2014.

Nguyen Chau A, director of Oxalis, said his firm is seeking approval from provincial authorities to continue the tours that have already brought 234 visitors into the cave.

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Even without approval to continue tours past 2014, earlier this year Vietnamese tourism officials said that tours of the cave were fully booked until 2015.

A local man, Ho Khanh, discovered Quang Binh Province’s Son Doong Cave in 1991, but it wasn’t until 2009 that a group of British cavers repelled into the cave and found a jungle, rivers and a vast array of wildlife inside.

At $3,000 per head, it would be surprising if the tours weren’t restarted in the near future.

[Thanh Nien]