Marble Mountains: Lying just south of the city of Da Nang is a group of five mountains made of limestone and marble, collectively known as the Marble Mountains. These mountains are known as the Ngu Hanh Son (Five Elements Mountains) in Vietnamese and each mountain is named after one of the five elements of ancient oriental philosophy: Kim (metal), Moc (wood), Thuy (water), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). The largest of the five is Thuy Son, the main tourist attraction and the one we visited. While the rest of our group road the elevator up Water Mountain, Peep and I opted to climb the 150 stone steps.
The mountain is dotted with temples and natural caves, connected by paths and stone stairways. We first summited one of the small peaks of the mountain and got a great view of the towns and ocean below. I later resummited this peak by climbing the "Road to Heaven", a steep, narrow path leading up from the Van Thong Cave below. The cave itself is lit up by a large hole in its ceiling, which can also be looked down through from on top.
Hoa Nghiem & Huyen Khong Caves: There are several caves scattered throughout the mountain. The most famous of them is actually two caves linked together. Passing through the entrance gate, we stepped into Hoa Nghiem Cave, with a standing figure of the Bodhisattva carved out of one of its walls. We continued to the far end of the small cave and through a passageway before entering the much larger Huyen Khong Cave. This cave is lit by five openings in its ceiling and contains a sitting Buddha statue chiseled out of the far wall. There is a temple constructed within the cave and several additional altars within its walls.
Other Sites on Thuy Son: We also visited a small cave on another part of the mountain, the Linh Nham Cave, before heading up another long stone stairway to a higher peak, getting not only a more expansive view of the landscape below, but also of many of the other temples on the mountain. Having seen the majority of the sites on the mountain, we met back up with our tour group. We did skip one cave on our initial assent, mistakenly assuming we would take the same stairway down. However, we descended a second flight of stairs located on the mountain.
Non Nuoc Village: At the base of the Marble Mountains sits Non Nuoc Village, said to have a three or four hundred year history of carving statuary from the marble extracted from the surrounding rock. Nowadays, marble is shipped in from other provinces since extraction of the rock from the Marble Mountains has been prohibited. We spent some time at a local shop before heading to our next destination.
Linh Ung Pagoda: After our time in Non Nuoc Village, we headed back north along the coast, through Da Nang city, and over to Son Tra (Monkey Mountain) Peninsula. Standing tall on the grounds of a temple located within this national park is a giant statue of the Bodhisattva. The statue gazes across the South China Sea to the city of Da Nang in the distance. The day was overcast and we did experience a few rain drops, but that didn't prevent us from admiring the statues and temple buildings there, or enjoying the spectacular view.
Ba Na Hills: After lunch, we headed inland to Ba Na Hills, a mountain resort. This retreat from the city of Da Nang was founded in 1919 by French colonists. Of the two hundred villas that once stood there, very few remain. However, in recent years, much has been done to upgrade the area. A world-record setting 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) cable car transports visitors from the base of the mountain to the peak. We were treated to stunning views of the mountains and waterfalls below as we rode up into the clouds. Other recent improvements include a resort hotel, an indoor amusement park at which the majority of our group saw a 4D dinosaur movie, a suspension bridge, and Linh Ung Pagoda with a 24 meter high seated Buddha statue, which we completely missed. The fog was thick and many of the paths were closed due to the massive construction of an entire theme park, and we were totally unaware that the statue existed, with no maps or references to it anywhere we had seen. Anyway, we enjoyed our short time there, hiking across the suspension bridge and up a peak to the small temple located there before returning to our tour bus parked far below.
Apsara Restaurant: After returning to Da Nang from Ba Na Mountain, we had several hours to rest at the hotel. Peep went off to have a massage while I ended up having stomach problems, probably from something I ate the day before. I was still unwell when it was time to go eat, so I stayed behind while Peep went with the group to see the traditional Apsara dance performed at the same restaurant we visited on our last trip to Da Nang.
Returning Home: The following morning we packed up and were ready to go prior to our 7:30 scheduled departure time. However, we ended up waiting around an extra hour and a half for the rest of the group to join us. Due to our late departure from the hotel, our stop at the Museum of Cham Sculpture was canceled. But, again, it was something we had seen on our last trip.