A local resort developer has received the green light to build a US$212-million cable car system inside the world’s largest cave -- Son Doong in north central Vietnam.

Truong An Ninh, a spokesman for Quang Binh Province, said Wednesday that real estate and resort developer Sun Group based in nearby Da Nang City has asked to survey the Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park and install the system, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

The four-section route of 10.6 kilometers would serve a resort complex that Sun Group plans in the area, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified source.

The route will start in Tien Son Cave and go through various openings of Son Doong, which has at least 150 individual caves, a dense subterranean jungle, and several underground rivers.

Meanwhile, on September 1 Quang Binh authorities suspended a tour to Son Doong but said they would reopen the cave next January for eight tours a month with around 10 people each.

They said the tours run by Oxalis Company between August 2013 and August 2014 were “successful.”

First discovered in 1991 by local resident Ho Khanh, Son Doong in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park attained world fame in 2009 after being explored by members of the British Cave Research Association with Khanh’s help.

During the one-year tourism program to test the waters, 243 adventure travelers from 34 countries explored the cave on six-day trips that cost each of them $3,000.

The five-kilometer-long Son Doong is 150 meters high and 200 meters wide. It took over as the world’s largest from Deer Cave in Malaysia, which is 148 meters high and 142 meters wide at the widest part.



