The Marble Mountains in Da Nang, Vietnam: How to Visit

The motorcycle trip over the Cloud Pass in Vietnam held many surprises for me. Every few kilometers we stopped. My driver told me a story, showed me the most beautiful views, and dropped me off somewhere for dinner or coffee. Then in Da Nang we suddenly stopped at an elevator that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It quickly became apparent that the elevator led high up on the Marble Mountains.

For me, one of the absolute insider tips in Vietnam: The Marble Mountains near Da Nang have really impressed me and were an absolute surprise on the trip!

My driver Duc would not go up, but now bought me a ticket for me to go all the way down again. (What can now be summarized in one sentence was a quarter of an hour pantomime show due to his English and my non-existent knowledge of the Vietnamese language).

The Marble Mountains in Da Nang: An absolute surprise!

That’s all I could get out of Duc, so I just drove up. Probably the Marble Mountains were just a barren tourist trap for some marble souvenirs, I thought, and once at the top I immediately looked for the fastest way down. Not so easy – there were no signs, I didn’t even know where I had landed; and many winding paths led to a few temples and Buddha statues – but not down to Duc.

In any case, there were a few tourists around, so this must have actually been some kind of tourist attraction. One of the elderly ladies in front of the temple talked me into buying a few incense sticks, and I briefly enjoyed the silence before continuing my way down the hill.

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Thanks to the lack of signage, I wandered around a bit until a couple of Vietnamese shouted “here, here!” to me between the densely overgrown paths around the temple. So I just follow behind. (Hm. As a solo traveler I should probably work on this naive reflex – strange men call “this way” and I’ll just follow.)

The Marble Mountains in Vietnam: So many caves

The path led behind the temple and grew darker and darker. A few other tourists were also wandering around. My curiosity was piqued. Suddenly, I found myself standing in a cave that was incredibly tall and densely overgrown—and I felt like Indiana Jones. What on earth was this? I glanced briefly into the dark, dim corners of the cave. And there, sure enough, were the most beautiful Buddha statues. Just like that.

Beware of the “tour guides” in the Marble Mountains!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite enjoy the moment—one of the “here, here” men had already sensed his chance, ran toward me, and snatched my last few incense sticks, which I had actually wanted to keep as a souvenir. I ran after him, and what at first seemed like an attempted purse snatching was probably meant more as a guided tour of the cave.

“Here, to get lucky, get lucky!” my newly appointed cave guide lit an incense stick, pressed it into my hand, and frantically motioned for me to place it in front of a Buddha statue. “Buddha good, Buddha good!” he shouted shrilly. I didn’t have time to take a closer look, because my tour guide had already lit the next incense stick and was herding me toward the next statue.

We must have put on quite a show: the so-called “tour guide,” who was obviously high on too many stimulants, running manically with me from one dark corner to the next, and me, a naive sheep who was slowly starting to find the situation unsettling but who nevertheless decided to go along with the “tour” for the time being, running after the cave guide—who was on speed and waving my incense sticks behind him.

Fortunately, my pack of incense was soon completely torched, the “guided tour” through part of the Marble Mountains was over, and I pressed a few dong into the man’s hand, which he already held out to me as a matter of course. I was really worried whether his tip would be enough… Well, then. I’ve learned something new. So, in the Marble Mountains, you have to watch out for “tour guides” hanging around.

Caves & Altars

The way down, however, turned out to be more relaxed, suddenly huge groups of tourists appeared – I was no longer queasy now – and somehow I had half an orientation. Along the way I discovered one cave after another, large and small, sometimes so small that they could only be reached by climbing and crawling. (I recommend good shoes!) Each cave was an experience in itself!

Practical information for the Marble Mountains

• You have to pay for the elevator, the exact price slipped my mind, but it wasn’t much.
• The Marble Mountains are located centrally in Da Nang, tour operators offer various tours there.
• Be sure to pack sturdy shoes—the descent isn’t suitable for high heels, and the stone steps and caves are often slippery.
• Be wary of so-called tour guides (see above) and of vendors once you leave the mountain. As soon as you’ve climbed the last step, they’ll immediately be hot on your heels, first trying to strike up a friendly conversation and then trying to foist their marble souvenirs on you.

What else to do in Da Nang