National Geographic - Awesome Cave Photos

[Hamish Gill]

National Geographic have just published some jaw dropping photography by Carsten Peter of the inside of a cave called Hang Son Doong "mountain river cave" in Vietnam.
They really very accurately portray the shear scale of the place very well ...
Well worth a look!

the rest of the gallery of images as well as a fascinating 3d render of the cave its self is available on National geographic's web site here http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/largest-cave-interactive
The accompanying article can be found here http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/jenkins-text

In the spring of 2009, Sims was a member of the first expedition to enter Hang Son Doong, or “mountain river cave,” in a remote part of central Vietnam. Hidden in rugged Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near the border with Laos, the cave is part of a network of 150 or so caves, many still not surveyed, in the Annamite Mountains. During the first expedition, the team explored two and a half miles of Hang Son Doong before a 200-foot wall of muddy calcite stopped them. They named it the Great Wall of Vietnam. Above it they could make out an open space and traces of light, but they had no idea what lay on the other side. A year later, they have returned—seven hard-core British cavers, a few scientists, and a crew of porters—to climb the wall, if they can, measure the passage, and push on, if possible, all the way to the end of the cave.

 

[Pete Askew]

Wow, now that is impressive. And an interesting article too. Carsten Peter's portfolio is pretty damned impressive too.


http://www.carstenpeter.com/index_en.php



These are pretty impressive too:



http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/crystal-giants/crystals-photography

 

[Tony Rook]

Fantastic... I could only imagine what it would be like to stand in some of these locations. Pete - my screen saver at work is the first Crystal Cave image... it never fails to get a question before I fire up a presentation.