Thiên Đường Cave (Paradise Cave) is a cave in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park,

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, 60 km northwest of Đồng Hới city. Thiên Đường Cave is located on an elevation of 350 meters above the

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, near the west branch of

Ho Chi Minh Highway Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway () is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh. History The route roughly coincides with the Ho Chi Minh t ...

, in Son Trach Commune, Bố Trạch District,

Quảng Bình Province Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Việt Nam, Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh province, Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị province, ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The cave was discovered by a local man in 2005 and the first 5 km of this cave was explored by explorers from

British Cave Research Association The British Cave Research Association (BCRA) is a speleology, speleological organisation in the United Kingdom. Its object is to promote the study of caves and associated phenomena, and it attains this by supporting cave and karst research, encou ...

in 2005, the whole 31 km was explored and publicly announced by the British cave explorers. This cave is 31 km long, longer than Phong Nha Cave which had been considered the longest cave in this

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

. The height can reach to 72 m and 150 m wide. The limestone formation is also more spectacular than that of Phong Nha Cave. The British cave explorers were impressed by the beautiful and spectacular

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

s and

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

s inside this cave and they named it ''Thiên Đường Cave'' (''Paradise Cave''). In 2012, a new species of troglobiontic

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

species, '' Vietbocap thienduongensis'' was found in here.

Tourist activities

The access road and internal road of this cave was built by a local company (Truong Thinh Group) and the cave has been opened to tourists since 3 September 2010. The car park is 1.6 km from the entry of the cave, and tourists can go by golf cart or walk on a paved road to the cave mouth. Only 1 km is open for tourists without a tour guide. It is possible to travel 7km into the cave with an adventure tour. File:Grotte Phong Nha.jpg File:Trong động Thiên Đường 1.jpg File:Trong động Thiên Đường 2.jpg File:Trong động Thiên Đường 3.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 1.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 2.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 3.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 4.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 5.jpg File:Thien Duong Cave 6.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thien Duong Cave Caves of Vietnam Landforms of Quảng Bình province Show caves in Vietnam Tourist attractions in Quảng Bình province

Tourist activities

See also

References