This morning we slept in until breakfast was about to stop, so we got in some much needed rest and still made our yummy morning routine. We had planned on getting out of the hotel at a reasonable time in order to see the five Marble Mountains and the rest of Da Nang (with the exception of Son Tra aka Monkey Mountain, which we did yesterday). The Marble Mountains are pretty significant to the Central Vietnamese, as they are called Nui Ngu Hanh Son, which translates to “Mountains of the Five Elements.” Each one represents on of the five Earthly elements: Nui Thuy Son (water), Nui Tho Son (earth), Nui Kim Son (metal), Nui Hoa Son (fire), and Nui Moc Son (wood).
The mountains are filled with caves that hold rumors of ancient war lords housing treasure, but the most recent use was said to be a Vietnamese field hospital during the Vietnam War. Of the five mountains, Nui Thuy Son Mountain is the largest and has the most extensive caves/cave system.
We rode our scooter south about 15 minutes from our hotel and found Nui Thuy Son Mountain, also known as the water mountain, shooting up from the ground. Throughout our trip, we’ve seen beautiful granite and marble formations, but being a mere feet from the coastline is an amazing and very unique site to behold. Nui Thuy Son Mountain is the only one of the five Marble Mountains that is fully accessible. It costs 20,000 dong each (just under $1 USD) for entrance and there are about 150 stairs that lead to the peak, in multiple different sections, but there is also a glass elevator that brings you about 80% of the way up (or down) for 15,000 dong each one-way (about $0.50 USD).
The Nui Thuy Son Mountain has spectacular views of the surrounding coastline and neighboring Marble Mountain. It is also dotted with beautiful pagodas and riddled with mysterious caves throughout its complex edifice. It was a brutally hot day, so we didn’t spend as much time as we would have liked, but we walked up the first steep stairs to spend some time at the Linh Ung Pagoda and Tang Chon Cave.
Up the next set of stairs was the beautifully intricate stonework of Xa Loi Tower. This is the level that the glass elevator brings you to, so if you plan to see the Linh Ung Pagoda and Tang Chon Cave, you’d have to backtrack a bit. We spent some time around the tower and the little pond in front, with croaking frogs galore!
Up the next set of stairs in the Linh Nham Cave and probably the most busy of all the different tiers. There were tourists attempting to rock climb a small façade, which actually looked like Vietnamese guides struggling to hoist overweight westerners up a wall, and food/drink vendors trying to sell you everything. Off to the side, right across from the vendors, there was a cave called Linh Nham Cave that no one was entering. Of course we were interested, so we hiked up the very steep steps into the dark circular entrance to find a placed Buddha with a narrower entrance behind it. Within this entryway there were hundreds of bats and an incredibly steep and rocky entrance to who knows what?! After our mountain adventures, we decided to take the glass elevator back down to ground level, both experience the views and because of the exhausting heat.
We spent some in and around the nearby market before heading to see the iconic bridges of Da Nang. We took a nice back road along the river and witnessed the famous Dragon Bridge as we approached.
After snapping some pictures and walking up to the observation deck, it was lunchtime. We were near a very delicious mi quang place called Mi Quang Ba Mua. These beautifully soft broad noodles hail from the Cental Vietnam province of Quang Nam and were absolutely delicious. You can choose a protein topping and we went with fish. Best of all, all the options are only 25,000 dong ($1 USD)!
After a delicious lunch, we stopped by a French café near our hotel called L’Amour De Coffee. We sat on the second floor deck and enjoyed an iced macchiato coffee and mixed berry smoothie, while looking out at the beautiful coastline.
Once finished, it was about 3pm and we returned our scooter to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Our hotel has a cute little restaurant that we wanted to try out and they had the last Central Vietnamese dish that was on our list, bánh xèo. This dish, which translates to sizzling cake, consists of rice batter fried on a skillet with shrimp, pork, green onion, and bean sprouts. It is served with a sugar, fish, vinegar, and chili-based dipping sauce (as most Vietnamese dishes are), greens (lettuce, Veitnamese mint, etc.), and incredibly thin rice papers that, once rolled, hold everything together perfectly.
Tomorrow we’re catching an early flight out of Da Nang to the old capital city of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, so stay posted!