Photographer Brings Drone Into One of the World’s Largest River Caves

Back in March 2015, photographer Ryan Deboodt captured the world’s attention by bringing his drone into Hang Son Doong, the single largest cave in the world.

Now he’s back again with another incredible project. For the 3-minute video above, Deboodt took his drone into Khoun Xe Cave in Laos, which is known as one of the largest river caves on Earth.

Everything was shot during a 2-day kayaking trip on the Xe Bang Fai river, which flows through the cave.

“Tham Khoun Xe is a river cave carved by the mighty Xe Bang Fai River and is located in Hin Nam No National Protected Area in central Laos,” Deboodt says. “At 7 km [~4.35 miles] long and with an average width and height of 76m [~249ft] and 56m [~184ft] respectively, it is considered one of the largest active river caves in the world.”

entrance

cave2

cave10

He has some incredible images of the journey on Instagram as well:

Cavers in 2 kayaks head towards the upstream entrance of the Xe Bang Fai River Cave.

A photo posted by Ryan Deboodt (@rdeboodt) on

Kayaking through Xe Bang Fai cave in the Hin Nam No National Park, Laos.

A photo posted by Ryan Deboodt (@rdeboodt) on

You can find more of Deboodt’s work on his website, Vimeo, Instagram, and Facebook.


Image credits: Video and photographs by Ryan Deboodt and used with permission

Discussion