It has been 30 years since the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) expedition came to Vietnam to conduct research and exploration. More than 350 caves have been explored and mapped. BCRA’s discoveries have helped Quang Binh become famous for its unique cave adventure tourism products, and at the same time become the province with the fastest tourism development in Vietnam…
One day in early May, by the poetic Son River in Phong Nha town, we had a conversation with Mr. Howard Limbert, Head of the BCRA team. Since the first time in 1990, he and the BCRA team have spent 30 years exploring caves in Vietnam. He said that during that time, with a total of nearly 19 expeditions, the group always came to Quang Binh to explore, because this is an important limestone mining area of Vietnam and possibly the whole world. The cave systems in Quang Binh are very massive, containing many valuable scientific research values and many opportunities for discovery and exploration.
More than 350 caves have been explored and mapped, along with many other unexplored caves in Quang Binh. The most prominent are four cave systems: Phong Nha Cave (94km), Hang Vom Cave System (55km), Nuoc Mooc Cave System (23km) and Tu Lan Cave System (25km) located outside the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. According to Mr. Howard Limbert, during the first expedition in 1990, the expedition realized that they had just discovered a very important cave area in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, where many magnificent caves were later discovered, such as Son Doong Cave (the world's largest natural cave); Khe Ry Cave (the longest cave in Vietnam) and En Cave (the world's third largest cave). In addition, the group was also lucky to discover the Hang Vom system including: Thien Duong cave, Phong Nha cave and Toi cave...
Mr. Colin Limbert, a member of BCRA, said that the first days of arriving in Quang Binh to explore and research the caves were very difficult, especially in terms of facilities and means of transportation. Due to the difficulties, the time spent researching and exploring the caves by the group often had to be shortened because of the limited food resources. According to Colin Limbert, his most memorable memory was in 1992, when he and the group had the honor of meeting General Vo Nguyen Giap. The General's words of encouragement and reminders are still valuable today.
The caves discovered by BCRA have now become famous tourist attractions, attracting many visitors every year to visit, play and relax. Quang Binh has become a key and attractive tourist destination for domestic and international tourists. However, Mr. Howard Limbert said that currently, tourism products in Quang Binh in general and Phong Nha in particular are limited to existing methods, such as: visiting Phong Nha Cave, Thien Duong Cave and many tours and cave exploration routes being opened by travel agencies, but the products are not diversified. Managers and operators should consider investing in other tourism products. Evaluating the contributions of BCRA, Mr. Pham Hong Thai, Director of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Management Board, said that this is an organization with a long history of research, exploration and exploration of caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang. In particular, for the tourism industry, BCRA has helped the park and the province explore and discover new caves to serve the tourism industry, such as: Son Doong Cave, Va Cave, En Cave, Thien Duong Cave...
Mr. Nguyen Chau A, General Director of Chua Me Dat Company Limited (Oxalis), said that their discoveries have brought great value to the conservation of heritage values as well as the development of the local economy through tourism activities. “Mr. Howard Limbert is also the person who helped Vietnam and National Geographic announce Son Doong as the world's largest natural cave in terms of volume. He also worked tirelessly to support the government in supplementing scientific documents to help UNESCO recognize Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park as a World Natural Heritage, helping to develop Quang Binh tourism, contributing to putting Quang Binh tourism on the world tourism map…”, Mr. Nguyen Chau A affirmed.
Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/Multimedia/emagazine/202006/hanh-trinh-30-nam-kham-pha-vuong-quoc-hang-dong-2178196/
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