Marble Mountain Reviews

[Sara Legath]

Forthe uninitiated, the Marble Mountains is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills located in Ngũ Hnh Sơn District, south of Da Nang city in Vietnam. According to Wikipedia, The five mountains are named after the five elements: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). All of the mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels, and it is possible to climb to the summit of Mt. Thuy. Several Buddhist sanctuaries can also be found within the mountains, making this a famous tourist destination. The area is famous for stone sculpture making and stone-cutting crafts. Direct rock extraction from the mountains was banned recently. Materials are now being transported from quarries in Quảng Nam Province.

Standing tall and overlooking Da Nang, Marble Mountain is one of five marble and limestone peaks in central Vietnam. Each is named for one of the five elements of ancient Chinese philosophy: metal (Kim), water (Thuy), wood (Moc), fire (Hoa), and earth (Tho). We went to the top of Thuy Son, the one most often referred to simply as Marble Mountain, Da Nang.

Featured below, the first two images are from the second cave, which was larger and darker than the first. According to our guide, the large holes in the roof are caused by the American bombing of the Viet Cong, who used the cave during the war.

With the advantage of hindsight, we would have pre-booked an official guide or at least verified that we had one. What we lost were history and stories. With that knowledge gained, and after reading the reviews, we recommend the following options:

They ship heavy artwork all over the world. One shop owner told us they can charge $100 USD per cubic meter for shipping worldwide, regardless of weight. They do this by filling shipping containers. However, you might have to wait a while for the container to fill.

After experiencing dengue fever first-hand less than a year earlier, I was sure to carry insect repellent with 30% DEET for this trip, as well as treating some of our clothes with Sawyer Permethrin Clothing Insect Repellent before we packed.

Capturing the essence of travel through photography, Rhonda Albom is the primary author and photographer at Albom Adventures. She is an American expat based in New Zealand. She travels the world with her husband.

After exiting the van, we stood on the marble surface as the guides switched on the floodlights and an enormous marble cavern revealed itself. A roped-off area indicated the space where workers were currently mining.

Footsteps echoed as the group walked from one cathedral-like room to the next. Sculpted pieces of marble were scatted about to show the possibilities held within a block of limestone. It takes an artist to add warmth and life to the cold, white stone.

Our Carrara mrable mine tour ended back in the parking lot. Across the way, several gift shops and marble studios lined the road for shoppers in search of a souvenir. Since our visit was on a Saturday, there were no trucks hauling blocks of marble down the narrow roads that wind in and out of the mountains. I could only imagine what the visit would have been like during the week.

Back on the highway, we could once again see the white tipped peaks of the Apuan Alps. On first sight, it appeared to be evidence of an early snow, but it was really white marble deposits and dust that decorated this Italian mountain scene. Did you know that the large marble deposit is visible from outer space?

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