Marble Mountain Sculptures Vietnam

[Fito Coulter]

Allof the mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels, and it is possible to climb to the summit of Mount Thủy. Several Buddhist sanctuaries can also be found within the mountains, making this a tourist destination.

The area is known 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.

The mountains were very near the American Marble Mountain Air Facility during the Vietnam War. According to William Broyles Jr., the Marble Mountains contained a hospital for the Vietcong, probably within earshot of the American air field and Da Nang Beach (which bordered the air field on the side opposite the mountains). He describes the enemy as having been so "certain of our ignorance [...] that he had hidden his hospital in plain sight".[2]

The Marble Mountains are home to several Buddhist and Hindu grottoes. A stairway of 156 steps leads to the summit of Thuy Son, the only Marble Mountain accessible to visitors. It allows a wide panoramic view of the surrounding area and the other marble mountains. There are a number of grottoes, including Huyen Khong and Tang Chon, and many Hindu and Buddhist sanctuaries, the temples of Tam Thai, Tu Tam and Linh Ung, and the pagoda of Pho Dong. The sanctuaries feature statues and relief depictions of religious scenes carved out of the marble.

The Marble Mountains Vietnam, just 15 km north of Hoi An are a magical-looking place with gateways leading into the sides of mountains, and little houses and shrines ensconced in cool grottos. The road leading there from Hoi An is wide and paved, which makes it an incredibly easy motorbike ride away.

The Marble Mountains are made up of five towering limestone peaks, each one named after one of the elements. The largest, Thuy Son (Water Mountain), has the highest concentration of pagodas and natural caves and each grotto is full of sculptures and beautiful carvings.

Thuy Son is very large and you need at least a couple of hours to explore it. We were there for 3 hours, and sped through a lot of it. We should have packed a lunch to be able to stay and enjoy it at a more leisurely pace. The interior of the mountain is full of marble that has been extracted and made into statues (mostly of Buddhas), as well as carvings done right in to the walls.

There is a 15,000 vnd charge to enter Hell Cave, and a 15,000 vnd charge for the rest of Thuy Son. The rest of the area is free and open to the public. There are a lot of stairs to get to the top of the mountain, and a lot of walking once you are up there, so make sure your shoes are comfortable! There is a lot to see and it can get rather confusing when walking from cave to pagoda to cave again so this map is quite helpful when exploring.

For the 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.

While on the Azamara Quest in February, one of our stops was Vietnam. While on one of our tours we were taken to XUAT AHN art and stone sculpture factory. We purchased a sculpture for $600. and was told it included all shipping to Miami Fl were we could pick it up at the pier in 40 days. After 90 days we were emailed that it was going to California and that it would cost us another $796. to ship it to Florida. I told them to send it back and notified my credit card company and asked for a refund. Do not buy anything from them, and be careful of any of these places that the guides take you to. Get everything in writing.

Also remember that in these sculpture "factories" you are not getting a hand sculpted piece of art but a machine cut replica. This is despite what you see when you tour the showroom, people lovingly at work creating unique pieces. They are all shills who sit down at their work benches one minute before you are brought in by your tour guide.

Was this the place at the foot of the Marble Mountains (or one of them)? We did not make any purchase as we climbed up the mountain, but others in our group did stay at the bottom and did some shopping.

We went to that Mountain as well. I remember when we got back to the tour bus that some woman on the tour paid 1,000.00 for some piece of jewelry. I was quite surprised because it was supposed to be gold but I would never have done something like that on the fly.

When they said the pier, I truly believe someone meant West Coast ports. There is little ocean freight between the West Coast and Miami other than for very large, oversized, overweight equipment. It is much cheaper to ship anything brought into the West Coast ports via road or rail.

95% of container shipments from Vietnam go into the West Coast ports. Then all merchandise is cleared by Customs (and sometimes USDA or FDA), generally "drayed" in the original container to a warehouse someplace in the immediate area, and the container is stripped out. There may be many many different shipments/shippers merchandise in the container or it may be only one (like our fish-the entire container of merchandise is ours).

At that point in time, it becomes the responsibility of the shipper, receiver or freight forwarder to get the shipment to it's ultimate USA "land" destination. Inexperienced/lazy shippers allow freight forwarders/common carriers to handle the final land portion. Generally a VERY expensive way to ship something. You have at least two middlemen making brokerage off a shipment which adds to the cost. Brokerage is a minimum of 15%, more commonly 25%. Coast to coast shipping SHOULD cost about $400 (or slightly less) per pallet (48 x 40 x 60 high)

I am glad you got your money back. Some manufacturers in Vietnam truly have NO idea what shipping costs are. Like a lot of things in Vietnam-capitalism/free trade/export to the Western world is a relatively new concept. A lot of companies are in the "learning stage".

I wish I had read this before our trip to Vietnam in April of this year. I am posting now having just filed a dispute with our credit card company against the Xuat Ahn. We too live in Florida and were told our purchase would be sent to by ship to Miami and our only other expense would be paying US Duty when our purchase reached Miami. A month after we were home I contacted the factory for find out if and when our purchase had been shipped and when to expect it. I was told it has been shipped and would receive information from the shipper. When I received the first communication from the shipping company I was informed when it would ship...... which was a full two weeks after the factory said it shipped. I also received an additional bill via email for close to $300 for shipping and handling charges once our shipment arrived in LA by ship. As Greatam said it would then come to Miami via land transport. All the information and shipping cost explained by the salesperson was wrong. When we informed the shipping company that we were not responsible for the additional charges and would not be paying those additional charges they contacted the factory which never responded to the shipper's request to explain those charges to us. Having had enough of the bait and switch policy with regard to the purchase and shipping we have filed a dispute with our credit card company which has credited our account. We too were on a private tour. Hopefully this post will prevent others from making the same mistake.

I was on the cruise with Babs28, who is a neighbor of mine. Everything was written properly on the invoice and they assured her that it would sent to Miami at their cost. The statue was about 2 ft tall and probably weighed about 50 pounds. She never did get a refund from the credit card company, because she waited over 30 days to protest. The statue company told her it would take 6 weeks to get there, so there was no reason to protest the charge in the allowed time frame.

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