Vietnam's Son Doong cave is big enough for a skyscraper to fit inside | 60 Minutes
In a Nutshell
Son Doong Cave in Vietnam, the world's largest cave passage discovered in 2009 by British explorer Peter McNab after local villager Hokan found its entrance, spans 5.6 miles, towers 65 stories high, and could fit a 747 or the Great Pyramid inside. A grueling three-day trek through jungle, rivers, and massive chambers reveals skyscraper-scale skylights (dolines), acidic Brow Tongue River erosion over 2-12 million years, and challenges like the 300-foot "Great Wall of Vietnam." Its vast, ongoing geological evolution hints at even larger undiscovered caverns nearby.
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Imagine in the 21st century discovering a marvel on par with Mount Everest or the Grand Canyon. It happened in 2009 with the revelation of the largest cave passage in the world. It's in Vietnam and they call it Son Doong (Mountain River Cave). An intrepid British explorer, Peter McNab, led the first team through this epic underworld of caverns the height of skyscrapers. McNab is to caving what Armstrong is to the moon: the first explorer. Recently, we asked McNab to show us this wonder of the world.
Before beginning the trek, a preview: simply glorious. This was the moment Son Doong caught us in its grasp. Sunbeams cascading 120 stories from a break in the ceiling. Groundwater above slipping through the light like rain and rock reflecting what seemed like the only sound in the world. Not many have stood in this space that transcends time. It was a reward for our journey that began days before.
The only way to Son Doong is on foot: a trek of a day and a half. We had a party of 53 moving in groups, mostly porters heaving camping and TV gear, plus experts in safety and climbing. There were 20 river crossings. Water flowing through limestone: two essentials for building caves. This is the slender center of Vietnam, the Chu Son Range between Laos and the South China Sea. We were following the Vietnam War's Ho Chi Minh Trail through a jungle where tigers are not unknown and leeches are plentiful.
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