Strange sinkhole in Quang Binh named Nightmare, so far less than 10 people have 'touched' the bottom

Located within the Phong Nha-Ke Bang World Natural Heritage Site in Quang Binh province , the Hung Thoong cave system comprises numerous caves such as: Tron Cave, Hung Cave, a mountain lake, Thung Cave, and the Nightmare Sinkhole.

The Nightmare Sinkhole is located within the Hung Thoong cave system. Photo: Jungle Boss

To date, only a handful of explorers have set foot at the bottom of the Nightmare Sinkhole, so it remains a great mystery.

The Nightmare Sinkhole was discovered in 2016 by an expedition team from Jungle Boss travel company in Quang Binh. The team returned to the site in 2020.

The Nightmare Sinkhole is 250m deep. Photo: Jungle Boss

According to Mr. Le Luu Dung, director of Jungle Boss, Nightmare is the only sinkhole in Quang Binh with only one access route: a vertical rope descent from a height of approximately 250 meters.

This is the only sinkhole in Quang Binh with only one access point. Photo: Jungle Boss

"In the early days of exploration , the team encountered many difficulties due to the deep and treacherous terrain of the sinkhole. The only way to get out of the hole was to rappel back down (other sinkholes in Quang Binh have exits at the bottom)."

"The name Nightmare came about from those arduous expeditions that drained the strength and time of the explorers," Mr. Dung recounted.

According to Mr. Dung, fewer than 10 people have ever set foot at the bottom of the sinkhole. Photo: Jungle Boss

Because of this difficulty, very few people have ever set foot at the bottom of the Nightmare Sinkhole.

Nguyen Van Uy (born in 1988), one of the people who directly rappelled down to explore the bottom of the Nightmare Sinkhole, shared that the sinkhole is located in a valley, and to get up, one has to overcome many sharp, jagged rock formations.

Moss and vegetation grow lush and green all year round. Photo: Van Uy

The sinkhole is 66 meters long and 35 meters wide. It is about 250 meters deep. The walls of the sinkhole are covered with moss and ferns that grow lush green all year round. "At the bottom of the sinkhole is an underground river, with turquoise water. The depth is yet to be determined, but we swam about 1.2 kilometers before the river flowed down a cliff."

"Based on preliminary predictions from the terrain, it's possible that the water flows underground and dives towards the nearby Tra Ang cave. Because of this mystery, it will be a destination for those with a passion for exploration," Mr. Uy said.

The bottom of the sinkhole is an underground river, its depth yet to be determined. Photo: Van Uy

Currently, this place offers zipline experiences for those who love adventurous sports.

After swimming about 1.2km, the river flows down a cliff. Photo: Van Uy

However, visitors can only zip-line across to admire the entire sinkhole from above and experience the sensation of floating in mid-air while looking down into the deep abyss.

Photo: Jungle Boss

This is a new kind of adventure travel experience in Vietnam.

Looking up from the bottom of the Nightmare Sinkhole. Photo: Jungle Boss

This system is designed with 3 international standard stainless steel cables. Each cable has a load capacity of up to 7 tons. Two of the main sliding cables are connected to the safety harness via a pulley system, while the remaining cable acts as a protective barrier.

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