Vietnam’s marble mountains is a great place to visit, and judging by the busloads of tourists it is extremely popular. Without wanting to fight a constant stream of tourists, I decided on an alternative method to get to Marble Mountains. Leaving from the central Vietnam city of Da Nang at 6 am, my partner and I researched online and through hostel staff to book a taxi for a day (the taxi would look after your bags while inside visiting the mountains.
After getting a 200,000 dong quote from multiple drivers, we caught local bus #1 towards the UNESCO World Heritage town Hoi An. Around 20 minutes of smiles and stares from locals (this bus wasn’t intended for tourists), our driver called out “Marble Mountain” and we were let off in the side of a highway. A short walk and we found what I like to call the “secret entrance” to the site. Not really a secret but definitely not the main entrance! We were relieved when we were allowed to store our bags at the ticket office (carrying big backpacks around for hours would’ve sucked!).
Each of the marble mountains is named after a different element, but only Thuy Son mountain is open to the public. Which is fine by me, the view from the top – Ving Giang Dai Viewpoint – is stunning and Buddhist Temples reside within the cave system beneath the marble coating.
At 730am, the Marble Mountains are so quiet, it’s a perfect time to enjoy the caves and beautiful view! By the time my partner and I were done and made our way to the main entrance of the attraction, there were hundreds of tourists around Linh Ung Pagoda and Xai Loi Tower. They were both still beautiful, but the number of people made sure there was no quiet corner to enjoy the sight from.
If you’re thinking about visiting these beautiful mountains, I highly suggest getting there early, or you will have to share with so many others! Want to visit Vietnam's Marble Mountains? Check out my full post here:
