World's Natural Wonders: Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park

Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Bố Trạch and Minh Hóa districts of central Quang Binh Province, in north-central Vietnam. The national park zone covers 857.54 km2 and a buffer zone of 1,954 km2. It was created to protect one of the world's two largest karst regions with 300 caves and grottoes and also protects the ecosystem of limestone forest of the Annamite Range region in north central coast of Vietnam.

Rice paddies and lime mountains, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National park. (Source)

The Phong Nha-Ke Bang area is noted for its cave and grotto systems. It is composed of 300 caves and grottos with a total length of about 70 km, of which only 20 have been surveyed by Vietnamese and British scientists - 17 of these are in located in the Phong Nha area and three in the Ke Bang area. After April 2009, total length of caves and grottoes are 126 km.

Inside Phong Nha Cave, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National park. (Source)

Before discovery of Son Doong Cave in April 2009, Phong Nha held several world cave records, as it has the longest underground river, as well as the largest caverns and passageways. Son Doong Cave is the world's largest cave Son Doong Cave, was discovered by a team of British cave explorers of British Caving Association.

The park contains many fascinating rock formations, and Ke Bang forest. The plateau on which the park is situated is probably one of the finest and most distinctive examples of a complex karst landform in Southeast Asia.