Marble Mountain Da Nang Entrance Fee

[Malene Mederios]

Mosttourism comes from day trips from Da Nang and Hoi An as it lies almost directly in the middle of the two. This option is fine and still worth the time invested, but by the time most tours arrive the destination is already packed. I wanted to view this place without the hordes of tourists and constant chatter.

As day trips are the main form of touring the Marble Mountains of Vietnam, and wanting to travel straight to Hoi An afterward, the issue of luggage storage arose. Nothing online I was able to dig up confirmed or denied any type of storage facility at Marble Mountains. As well as my luggage storage, this taxi was supposed to then make the trip to Hoi An. This was confirmed possible by the internet and hostel staff, but without a fixed rate, it would be more than double the price suggested online.

It was around a 1km walk to the secondary, more secluded, almost secret entrance of the Marble Mountains. The whole side street approaching the entrance was littered with marble statue shops, as this area is renowned for crafting out of the rock. Even though marble extraction directly from these mountains is now illegal. Early morning sunshine gleaned from the smooth, polished surfaces of stone chiseled into figures of Deities and mythical beasts.

After the entrance fee of 40,000VND ($1.70 USD) was handed over, it was time for the all-important question of luggage storage. The attendant just pointed behind her, like there was never a reason to worry. No lockers, no key, my backpack just laid on the corner behind a desk.

As I explored, a couple of hours had passed quickly. Slowly edging towards the main entry and exit point, the crowds began to filter in. By the time Xa Loi Tower was in sight, marking the main gate, trying to take pictures without a random person in it was next to impossible. Quiet had turned to chatter and scuffling of shoes filing through to the sites. Get there early!

Approaching the entrance, I paid the fee of 40,000 VND and bought a paper map. For only 15,000 VND, it was a worthy investment. The main landmarks of Thuy Son are not situated along a straight path, and the signs around the mountain are not incredibly helpful.

The route I took went something like this: Climbing the staircase of around 150 steps, I began my mountain tour at an old pagoda called Tam Thai. I then proceeded to see all the caves and pagodas at the western half of the mountain before heading to the eastern portion. I finished at Linh Ung Pagoda, before walking down the mountain and entering a large parking lot. Finally, I entered Am Phu Cave, which requires its own separate entrance ticket.

The Tam Thai Pagoda dates all the way back to the 17th century. Like many historical sites in Vietnam, it had to be rebuilt more than a couple of times over the years. After being reconstructed once during the reign of Minh Mang, the pagoda was badly damaged during the Vietnam War. It currently looks pretty new, probably having been fixed up once again in recent times. As far as Vietnamese pagodas go, Tam Thai is fairly standard fare, but the setting which surrounds it is gorgeous.

One of the more peculiar sites of the cave is the pair of marble statues sitting on the ground and playing chess with each other. According to legend, these were a couple of chess-enthusiast fairies who took on the guise of wise old men to disguise their true form.

Perhaps stories about mythical beings playing chess is fairly common in Chinese, and by extension Vietnamese, lore. I recalled a story about Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou, China, involving deities getting lost in the cavernous labyrinth. Giving up on trying to find a way out, they sat down for a friendly game of chess instead. Apparently, even Emperor Minh Mang himself enjoyed playing chess in the caves during his numerous visits to the mountain.

Depictions of hellish landscapes are fairly common in the Buddhist world, one recent famous example being the White Temple of Chiang Rai, Thailand. But some of the sculptures at Am Phu ranged from humorous to bizarre to downright disturbing. I get the guys with scary masks and the serpents devouring humans. Those were pretty cool.

But did they really need to have statues of children getting their throats slit? What kind of sicko took the time to carve this stuff? After walking through the narrow and dark caverns of hell for several minutes, I was ready to move on to the next section.

The route to a few of the other mountains was included in the map I bought. Since I finished Thuy Son sooner than I expected, I decided to go check them out. The closest ones are Quan Am and Linh Son, both across the street from each other, and about a 10 minute walk from the water mountain. But as I got closer, I saw a man in the distance trying to get my attention, and could immediately tell that something was up.

He told me that Quan Am across the street was closed, and he tried to get me to go into Linh Son. He was not wearing a uniform and looked like a sketchy character. I was also surprised to see absolutely no other staff at all, considering this was supposed to be an official tourist site.

He then told me to pay him 110,000 VND to enter the cave! I showed him my ticket and he said it was no good. This cave was part of an active temple, and I then saw a monk walk by only to snicker. Clearly he was in on it, or at least aware of the scam.

During the Vietnam War, the Marble Mountains contained a hospital for the Vietcong, which had once bordered the American airfield opposite the mountains. Today, the Marble Mountains play host to both Buddhist and Hindu caves and temples, and a stairway leads visitors to the peak of Mount Thuy, the only mountain accessible to tourists.

Unknowingly, we booked a villa just eight minutes from the Marble Mountains along the beach, so our trip over early in the morning was an easy one. Like most trips in Vietnam, we decided to get there early, and our driver got us there by 8:45 AM. We were immediately greeted by the owner of a stone-working shop who directed us to the base of the steps leading up Mount Thuy. She seemed utterly surprised that we intended to have our kids hike all 156 steps to the Mount Thuy summit, but our kids love hiking, so they were all in.

At the base of the steps, we paid our entrance fee, and up we went! By 9 AM, it was already pushing 80 degrees, so we were glad that most of the stairs were shaded, especially because they were rugged and steep. We made it up though, and we started to explore, first visiting the most popular cave, Hoa Nghiem. Also the largest cave, its open ceilings contained writing along the walls, shrines and, of course, at least one statue of Buddha.

Address: Google Maps works in Vietnam, unlike Korea, so it was easy enough to locate, and they would really be hard to miss against the otherwise flat landscape of Da Nang city. The address, however, is as follows: 81 Huyền Trn Cng Cha, Ho Hải, Ngũ Hnh Sơn, Đ Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Marble Mountains Da Nang Vietnam (Ngu Hanh Son) is a complex of 5 mountains growing close together, gathering all the beauties from nature and spirituality, giving visitors a journey to visit and explore wonderful landscapes.

Marble Mountain Da Nang is a masterpiece of the natural landscape that nature bestows on the land of Da Nang. With the harmonious beauty of the natural ecological area intertwined with the spiritual and cultural life, this landscape is increasingly attracting tourists to visit every year.

If you stay in Hoi An, you can book the Hoi An to Marble Mountains By private car with an English-speaking driver. Plus, with the primary location, travel from Hue to Hoi An or Hoi An to Hue, you also can stop to explore Marble Mountain Danang for an hour before heading to Hoi An or Hue city.

Reaching the peak of Thuy Son, visitors will be overwhelmed by the unique natural scenery of the entire Marble Mountains, the image of the city in the distance, and the beautiful and poetic beaches surrounding it.

Visiting the main hall of Linh Ung Pagoda, visitors will see a system of Buddha statues arranged including three statues of the Buddha, Manjusri Bodhisattva, The Bodhisattva Universal Worthy, Avalokitesvara, Shakyamuni Tathagata, Ksitigarbha, etc.

Huyen Khong cave is an open-air cave, one of the most beautiful caves of Marble Mountains Vietnam. When the light shines on the cave, creating an extremely shimmering and fanciful scene, making visitors feel like they are lost in a fairyland.

Tam Thai Pagoda is a long-standing ancient temple, located on Thuy Son mountain, surrounded by charming natural scenery. The temple every year welcomes a large number of tourists, Buddhist monks, and nuns to visit.

The main hall of the temple worships Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha Buddha, etc. Walking in the temple, visitors will feel their soul becomes peaceful, and themselves as if they are lost in the sacred land of Buddha.

The Hades cave is a famous cave that a lot of tourists visit in the journey to discover Marble Mountains Da Nang. In front of the cave, there is a bridge between Yin and Yang, and the road inside the cave is divided into two directions: Heaven and Hell.

Am Phu cave has 12 prison gates, each door has a hell ruler. Coming here, you will admire the scenery that recreates the legend of the underworld, the punishments for people after going to hell, etc. After visiting Hell, remember to step on the way to Heaven to feel like has just been resurrected, freed from the horrors of hell.

The Marble of Metal (Kim Son mountain) has a cave about more than 50m long-hidden at the bottom. Inside the cave are very beautiful stalactites, diverse shapes, clear and sharp lines. In particular, the stalactite layer in the cave clings to the cliff to form a life-sized statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, standing majestically on a coiled dragon.

This is a destination not to be missed for spiritual tourists. In addition, Kim Son is also famous for the traditional Quan The Am festival held every year, in order to maintain and spread Buddhist culture.

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