The journey to find the world's largest cave in Vietnam During a trip to the jungle, Mr. Ho Khanh incidentally saw white clouds and felt strong wind. Moving closerly, he saw a very large cave. 18 years later, this cave was announced as the world's largest cave.   Ho Khanh and Howard Limbert. Ho Khanh, the man who was called by local people as the "King of caves" is now 48 years old. The thin, tall, virile, man lives in Son Trach commune, Bo Trach district of Quang Binh province. Recalling the trip into the jungle in 1990, Khanh said: "At that time, like other local people, I went into the forest to seek a livelihood. In the jungle alone, I happened to see white clouds, felt high winds accompanied with howling blown out from a cave.” But he did not discover it further. The following year, he continued to explore the forest through many trips. When the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was established, Khanh became a farmer and he did not enter the forest anymore. In 2008, a group of British cave experts made a survey in Quang Binh. They found senior woodmen to assist their adventures and Khanh was one of them. “I told them about the cave. Howard Limbert eyes lit up when he heard it," Khanh recalled. Through depictions of Ho Khanh, Limbert said that it would be a pretty big cave and encouraged Khanh to search for the cave again. " I was not really interested in going back to the forest but seeing Howard’s eagerness, I agreed," Khanh confided. Before returning to the woods, Ho Khanh met other woodmens to ask them about the cave but they did not know anything about it. No one had ever seen that cave so Ho Khanh had to go into the woods alone. The first day, he lost direction in the jungle but the second day he found the cave. A year later, the British explorers returned to Quang Binh. Ho Khanh and Howard Limbert officially explored the entire cave and announced on National Geographic magazine about the world's largest cave in 2010. "As usual, the cave is named after the discoverer. But British explorers suggested to choose Doong, the name of a little village on the way into the cave and I agreed to name it Son Doong, meaning the mountain behind Doong village," Khanh said. Since then Khanh has collaborated with British explorers to find more caves in Phong Nha forest, which are named after his relatives, such as Nghia Cave (his wife), Thai Hoa cave (his son) and Hung cave (his friend). Ho Khanh is also the discover of the cave Heaven, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Ho Khanh is also the name chosen by many groups of explorers as the guide for their survey trips. "Initially, I faced a lot of dangers because of lacking protective tools. After many years of saving, I bought a set of equipment for professional explorers. These things are extremely expensive. Only a screw to catch on the cliff is priced a hundred of USD", Ho Khanh said. Khanh has discovered about 30 caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang. In 2011, when Son Doong was opened for tourists, Khanh became an employee of the cave managing agency and is the leader of the group of porters who carry luggage for tourists. Ho Khanh also opens a small cafe in his house, which is located on the bank of the romantic Son River, on the way to the caves of Phong Nha and Tien Son. The café has become a venue of explorers. He also built several small houses on his garden to serve tourists. These days, he is busy preparing for the exploration trips next March. Recently, Khanh and Howard Limbert were presented the third-class Labor Medal by the Vietnam State for their discovery of Son Doong Cave. Some pictures of Son Doong Cave:

Photo: Huffington Post Photo: Carsten Peter Photo: ABC News Photo: sondoongcave. Photo: Carten Peter Photo: Ryan Deboodt Photo: Huffington Post. Photo: Ryan Deboodt Photo: Carsten Peter

Phong Lan, VNN