Son Doong Cave among world’s seven best subterranean sights

Tim Pile, a lifestyle and travel journalist of SCMP, retold the discovery of the cave by a team of British cave explorers led by cave expert Howard Limbert, through a local farmer, in 2008. The cave, which is at least five kilometres in length, has been recognised as the largest in the world by the Guinness World Records.

The SCMP reported that besides underground rivers and lakes, a thriving jungle ecosystem, 400-million-year-old fossils, and spectacular geological formations, the cave is home to a series of rare species of flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth.

Topping the list of the world’s seven best subterranean sights was Tham Luang Nang Non in northern Thailand, which became famous worldwide after the drama of a youth football team’s rescue by divers made global headlines in 2018.

Other places to feature on the list were the Paris Catacombs in France, Cold War bunkers in Albania, Reed Flute Cave in China, Malinta Tunnel in the Philippines, and the National Coal Mining Museum for England in the UK.