From Mountain Tops, to the Mouth of the Dragon, Back to Mountain Tops

While I’d grown to enjoy Hoi An and the people I’d met at our hostel, it was time to head to our next destination, Hue. Wanting to capitalize as much as possible on the sites in between the two cities, we booked a mini bus tour/transfer. The bus takes you by a few of the more scenic/touristy locations on your way from one city to the other (we could have also booked a private car or ridden on the back of a motorcycle or even driven our own scooters...if I come back in the future, I will probably try one of these options).

Our first stop for the day and the one we were most excited about was Marble Mountains. This is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills located in the Ngũ Hành Sơn District, south of Da Nang city in Vietnam. 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 mountains. Unfortunately only Water Mountain is accessible to tourists and we only had a little over an hour to explore.

As soon as the bus pulled in, we hoped out, paid to take the elevator to the top of the mountain (thus skipping the first few hundred steps), and began a mad dash to see everything before the bus left us. Even after taking the elevator, there were tons of steps to climb, but the sites were well worth it. We saw a few different temples, and couple of caves that had Buddhists temples inside them and large Buddha statues. A one point we followed a cave to the back and then had to climb our way out, but out ended up being the peak of the mountain and we were rewarded with stunning views over Da Nang city. It was a beautiful site and we could definitely have used a little more time to explore it.

Back on the bus, we headed for Hai Van Pass. This is an approximately 17 miles drive through lush green trees with spectacular views. In the past the pass served as the boundary between the Dai Viet and Champa kingdoms and acts as a natural boundary between the climates of the north and south in Vietnam (although they’re having an exceptionally warm winter and it was hotter and more humid in Hue than anywhere in the south while we were there).

At the top of the pass, we were given 30 minutes to explore some old war ruins and take pictures of the Da Nang and Hue regions spread out down below us.

Next we descended the back side of the Pass and came to our tour guide’s home town of Lang Co. This city is know for its white sandy beaches and for its oysters (both as food and as creators of pearls). Our tour let us out at an abandoned resort where we could see the beautiful water from behind a barb wire fence, but not actually get to it. That was a little disappointing, but the abandoned resort was kind of fun to wander around for the 20 minutes they gave us. 

The last stop on the trip was to visit the Thanh Toan Tile-roofed Bridge. The bridge was built in 1776 by Mrs. Tran Thi Dao as a way to facilitate movement for the local people around the area. It is unique because of its tiled roof, which was a rarity during that time. The bridge was beautiful and I wish we would have had more time to explore the commune of Thanh Toan because it has resisted urbanization and still retains the traditional Vietnamese local village atmosphere and charm. Unfortunately, we were running behind schedule and so an hour pit stop became 10 minutes.

Twenty minutes later, we were dropped at our new residence, The Dreamers Homestay; where we’ll stay for the next three nights. After dropping our bags, we decided to go wandering about a bit and get a feel for the town, along the way, we encountered a tout selling boat trips along the Perfume River (so named because of the smell emanating from it due to all the flowers that fall into the water during the autumn). We thought we had purchased just a quick trip across the river from one side to the other, but in fact we’d really purchased a one hour leisurely cruise along it. It was dusk and so the setting sun made it all the better. We also got to bring the captain’s adorable puppy on board and attempt to hold and pet it the whole trip (most of the time it was content to be with its owner and wouldn’t socialize with the passengers).

The cruise left us at the Da Bong Market, which we were told was a night market, but as we wandered around and saw everyone closing up shop for the day, we realized was in fact a day market. Not finding any street food to our liking nor shops to explore, we headed back to the hostel to see what their Christmas gathering was like. Turns out the girls running the place had made dinner for everyone and we had a good time chatting we a couple of Germans and a few med students from

Breaking in to See the Dragon

When Em decided she wanted to go visit Hue, I stumbled upon an off the beaten path destination there to see; the Thuy Tien Lake Abandoned Water Park. The park was built in 2004 as the region’s go to tourist attraction, but shuttered its doors in 2006, without ever being completed. In 2013 another company bought the park and tried to turn it into an eco tourism destination, but that venture too failed. No one really knows why both of these endeavors failed, but it’s believed that the local superstitions and beliefs of it being haunted didn’t help its revenue stream any. 

Nowadays the park is surrounded by “no trespassing” signs and the buildings and attractions are all left in their various states to be claimed by nature steadily over time. There are guards at the main gate and some that roam around on motorcycle and tell you that you can’t go in. Sometimes you can bribe them for entrance and sometimes you can just give them doe eyes and beg for admittance. Sometimes, none of this works and you’ll be turned away.

When we headed there, we got turned away by the guard at the front gate (he wouldn’t even take the customary bribe to let us in). So we had our driver drop us around the corner and began hiking in through the small trail off to the left side. We got a little lost as there were a few different trails, but we happened upon a local at a cemetery we stumbles upon in the woods, who was kind enough to walk us in (and even help convince the security guard that caught us to let us have a few minutes to take photos). 

The security guard fell for the doe eyes and gave us 10 minutes to photo the Dragon, but once inside the park, it was pretty easy to ditch the guard and wander for over an hour. The park is pretty large and spread out so most “trespassers” tend to only see the three main attractions: the dragon, the water slides, and the amphitheater. Not wanting to be caught a third time in the park, we stuck to these main sites as well and didn’t venture too much afield. 

The park has an eerie post apocalyptic feel to it as if everyone just up and walked away one day. Graffiti covers the walls and the foliage has started to overtake many of the structures, but things are still sturdy enough to climb and great for photography. The pools at the base of the three water slides are still filled with water (murky and bacteria infested at this point) and the tanks under the giant dragon were abandoned with live crocodiles still in them (they’re no longer there as PETA rescued them years ago). 

It was fun wandering around and seeing all the attractions here and trying to imaging what the park would have been like if it had ever opened its doors. If we weren’t so terrified of being caught by the security guard a third time and exported off the property, we probably would have explored further and found the old cabins where tourists were supposed to have stayed and the remains of a flight simulator with remnants of the electronic console station adjacent.

Flush with excitement from our elicit adventure, we met back up with our driver for the day and headed to the more allowed sites: three of the imperial tombs and the Citadel. There are seven Royal tombs in the vicinity around Hue city, but most tour companies and drivers will tell you that only three are accessible to the public. The reality is you can visit all seven, but only three are set up for tourism with entrance fees, guides, and renovations. We stuck to the standard three. 

We started with a visit to the tomb of Khai Dinh, then Minh Mang, and finally Tu Duc. The tombs are all different in style, layout, and feel, but no less impressive. You only get a little disappointed when you realize that they were all built within the last 150 years and therefore are pretty new even though they appear as if they’re centuries upon centuries old. 

The building of the Tu Duc’s tomb also didn’t endear him to any of his subjects as he imposed heavy taxation and didn’t pay his workers in order to construct it. This actually caused an attempted coup, which was ultimately discovered and stopped. When the Emperor did die, he was buried somewhere secret and had all 200 servants that buried him beheaded so that the location would remain secret. 

After exploring the tombs, we had our driver leave us at the Citadel to spend the remainder of the day exploring. The Citadel is a walled fortress approximately 1.6 miles by 1.6 miles and surrounded by a moat with water syphoned off from the Perfume River. Within the walls of the Citadel lie the Imperial City and the Purple Forbidden City (the inner sanctum that was reserved exclusively for the royal family). The gigantic complex was the capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 until 1945.

Inside the Citadel walls was once lavish and opulent, with ornate gardens and intricate pagodas. But the Vietnam War was not kind to the Imperial City. The strategic position of Hue made the city an optimal position to hold and therefore intense house-to-house fighting within the city and escalating shelling and bombing from without left many of the buildings in ruin. The Vietnamese government has been working hard to restore the areas that can be salvaged and to build new buildings where the too badly damaged ones once stood. 

Even with the damage, there is still enough within the city to spend hours admiring.

A Little Adventure, A Lot of Trees, A Waterfalls, and Beautiful Views

Because we had seen most of the main tourist sights in Hue the day before and because I wanted a little change of pace, I convinced Em to head for the hills on an all day adventure in Bach Ma National Park. The park is about 16 miles outside of Hue city and absolutely stunning. The lush green trees everywhere and the spectacular views were what I was expecting back in Siem Reap when we ventured to Kulen Mountain. What we didn’t get there, we got in spades here. 

At the peak of Bach Ma mountain there used to be a French commune in the early 20th century with over 200 estates and recreational facilities. The elite would come to the mountain to relax and enjoy themselves for weeks or months at a time and escape the heat of the lowlands. During WWII, the Japanese kicked everyone out and the town slid into disrepair. Then during the Vietnam War the American claimed the top as a helipad and base, while the Viet Cong burrowed into the mountain below and created tunnels that were used for weapons caches and to hide the injured. Today, the Mountain is a National Park and a wonderful way to spend a day. It’s also home to three species of mammals that are only in this part of the world and were only discovered in the 1990s: the antelope-like saola, the Truong Son muntjac and the giant muntjac.

Our tour drove us above the clouds and close to the top of the mountain and then we hiked a short distance to the peak. Along the way, we got to wander through one of the old Viet Cong tunnels and see some sleeping bats (they’re so cute). The weather was cooperating and we had sunny skies and clear visibility. Our guide told us that we were incredibly lucky as that’s a rarity (especially at this time of the year) and sometimes the fog is so thick you can’t even see the stairs 10 feet in front of you.

After some picture taking and a short hot chocolate break, we headed back down the mountain part way to begin the “adventure” portion of the hike. Someone in the past had found a path along the limestone rocks that takes you past five small pools at the base of tiny waterfalls (a foot or two tall) and tacked up high density cables to allow visitors to climb down the cliff face along this make-shift trail. The path is semi dangerous, but manageable for most people (there were families and small children transversing it along with our group). 

At the base of the larger of the pools (called “lakes” by the guides), we had a picnic lunch and some people braved the frigid waters for a dip under the small waterfall (about 20 feet tall). We continued on our trek and arrived after some adventurous river crossings that left most people with wet feet and me with some pretty bruises (I tried to do a hand and foot climb across a rope strung over the river and wasn’t in any way graceful in maneuvering) at the top of the Rhododendron Waterfall.

The Rhododendron Waterfall is about 1000 feet high and gets its name from the red Rhododendron simsii that blossom along the small streams in the park and in particular at the bottom of the falls. From the top we couldn’t get close enough to the edge to see the bottom, but we were greeted with amazing views of sky and forrest.

All in all, the trip to the park was exciting, relaxing, and a nice bit of tranquility between tombs and pagodas and the hustle and bustle of the cities.