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Earlier that morning, two flights departed from Dong Hoi Stadium, flying over the central core of the ancient limestone massif, over 400 million years old, before returning to Dong Hoi.
The helicopter took off from Dong Hoi Stadium carrying journalists and leaders of Quang Binh province to begin their tour. It was a spectacular landscape, a majestic limestone mountain range containing more than 300 caves of various sizes.
Looking at the colossal limestone massif from above, one can understand why this place is home to Son Doong Cave, the world's largest cave; En Cave, the world's third largest; Thien Duong Cave (31.4km long); and many other natural wonders.
We invite you to admire some images of this flight and the caves inside the limestone mountain range here.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail in the eastern Truong Son Mountains winds through hills, rice paddies, and rubber plantations belonging to the local people.
Then we approached the high mountains, below which lay the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the western Trường Sơn route.
The Ke Bang limestone massif, also known as Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, has a total area of over 123,000 hectares.
Most are evergreen forests on limestone mountains. Pictured is a unique forest funnel growing from a sinkhole in a limestone mountain.
A range of limestone mountains with a cave entrance visible from a helicopter.
With a forest cover of 93.6% and primary forest covering over 83.7%, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park boasts the highest forest cover and primary forest ratio among all National Parks and Nature Reserves in Vietnam. The richness of its geological and geomorphological features, hydrological systems, and climatic factors has created 15 extensive habitat types with 10 distinct vegetation types within the park.
In Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, there exists a type of tropical evergreen closed forest on limestone mountains at an altitude of over 700m, covering an area of 22,500 hectares, which is the most unique forest type in Vietnam and the world. Furthermore, an area of over 1000 hectares of endemic mountain cypress (Calocedrus rupestris) on limestone mountains has astonished scientists.
Here, there are also forests within caves. Phong Nha - Ke Bang, located in the Central Truong Son Mountains, is considered one of the world's 200 biodiversity hotspots.
There are two cave systems here with more than 300 caves of varying sizes. This includes a water cave system stretching for tens of kilometers.
The dry cave system, also known as the vaulted cave system, also stretches for tens of kilometers. Together, these two systems comprise nearly 150km of caves discovered over 24 years by British cave explorers and locals.
