Just south of Da Nang City, Vietnam sits a cluster of five incredible limestone and marble mountains. The surrounding area is relatively flat, making the mountains all the more amazing. Each mountain is named after a different element: Thủy (water), Hỏa (fire), Mộc (wood), Kim (metal), and Thổ (earth). While most of the mountains are closed to visitors, Thủy is open and boasts incredible caverns below, with killer views from the top. Join me as I recount our experience traveling from Hell to Heaven in the Marble Mountains.
Our Journey from Hell to Heaven in the Marble Mountains
Thủy Mountain is the only one of the Marble Mountains that is open to visitors. And it’s home to incredible caves and caverns leading far underground (known as Am Phu Cave – or, translated from Vietnamese: the Hell Cave), as well as beautiful temples and panoramic views of the other mountains from the top. Exploring the Marble Mountains was high on our list of things to do on our trip, and they absolutely did not disappoint. We chose to explore the Marble Mountains on a tour – since information on them to begin with was challenging to find and tours were relatively cheap. But, because we don’t LOVE exploring on someone else’s timeline, we opted for a half-day tour, as opposed to a full-day one.
After visiting the Lady Buddha in the Monkey Mountains (more on that in a later post), we made our way to the Marble Village (where we got to see workers carving Buddha statues) and then to the Marble Mountains – which was what I was most excited about for the day. Of course I’d wanted to see the Marble Mountains since we started planning our trip to Vietnam. But once I read Loving Life Moore’s blog post about it, I was sold and booked the tour before we even left for Vietnam.
After arriving outside of Thủy, we were immediately met by an incredible cave entrance – that was totally packed with other tour groups. We made our way up the stairs – with some struggle as random Vietnamese women kept picking M up and she was NOT having it – and into Am Phu cave which is one of the most incredible caves I’ve ever been in. There were staircases leading in every direction, writing on the walls, and narrow caverns going who-knows-where.
As we descended down some stairs, our tour guide (whose English name was Michael and who was hilarious) told us that we were headed down to where most of us would probably end up: Hell. From there, we passed through the multiple levels of Hell, each with statues depicting the punishment in each level. I won’t go into detail for each level, but suffice it to say: I would not enjoy being stuck on any of them for eternity.
After our time spent in Hell – where we descended countless slippery, uneven stairs – we began our ascent toward Heaven, stopping to admire the incredible temple and Linh Ung Pagoda partway up (whose sister pagodas are located in the Monkey Mountains and Sun World Ba Na Hills). The amazing pagoda attracts many tourists, and can be seen even before you start the climb to the top of the mountain. Built for worship of the Goddess of the Mountains and Forests, the temple continues to be a place of prayer and worship, despite it being open for visitors from all walks of life. Many temples in Vietnam are built into the mountains, so as to provide a quiet and relaxing place for the monks to fully focus on their work in the temples.
After climbing way too many stairs and sweating from places that we didn’t even know we had (did I mention that it was hotter than the surface of the sun and humid beyond all comprehension? I’m only exaggerating a little.) we finally arrived at Heaven’s Gate in the Marble Mountains. It was honestly kind of an underwhelming archway in the mountains that just gave way to… more mountain. Even so, it provided us with a good resting place from all the stairs we had just climbed. And there was ample shade for the ridiculous number of people that had the same intention of relaxing as we did.
And then we climbed even MORE stairs to the very top of the mountain – where a beautiful gazebo sits. The views from the top were really unmatched – and certainly one of my favorite parts of our whole journey through the mountains. The caves were cool and all, but the view we got of some of the other Marble Mountains – and the incredible view of Da Nang as a whole – was incredible.
And as if my mind hadn’t been blown already, soon we entered another cavern – one that had Buddhas for worship – which actually used to be a hospital for the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. On the ceiling of the cave were multiple holes that let in the sunlight – the largest of which was caused by a bomb that the United States dropped on the mountains. It was an interesting bit of information – and you know the history junkie in me was LOVING the mini history lesson – and a stark reminder of the difficulties that Vietnam went through less than 50 years ago. Honestly, there wasn’t much in the way of Vietnam War sites during our visit in Da Nang. Maybe there are more sites and memorials in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), but in Da Nang, we couldn’t find anything besides this former Vietcong Cave Hospital. And it seems that this isn’t a country that dwells on its past struggles.
Most of the time we spent in the Marble Mountains felt like we were walking through an Indiana Jones movie – and we didn’t hate that at all. The architecture and art, the uneven steps and overgrown vines – all of it made for a really unique and interesting experience for all of us. And while we left the Marble Mountains completely exhausted beyond all reason, we were so grateful to have had such an amazing experience. The Marble Mountains – Am Phu Cave and Heaven’s Gate – are a must-see during your trip to Central Vietnam.
’til next time…
Ash
How to visit the Marble Mountains in Da Nang, Vietnam
Because we weren’t sure how to navigate through the Marble Mountains ourselves, we opted to visit by going on a half-day tour that started in the Monkey Mountains and ended with the Marble Mountains. If you want to book a tour, you can book a tour through Get Your Guide. However, you DO NOT NEED to book a tour in order to visit. Instead, you could get a Grab to take you to the Mountains and just pay your entrance fee. The cost to visit the Marble Mountains costs 20,000 VND per person (which comes out to be about $0.85 each). Visiting the Lady Buddha is free, but getting transportation there will cost a bit if you’re visiting from Da Nang (but we’ll talk all about that later). For us, it was worth the convenience to book the tour, but it’s likely cheaper to visit on your own.
*The Wandering Whittens Blog has no affiliation with Get Your Guide.