19.5. – 21.5.2023
We arrived in Da Nang on Friday, and spent the afternoon and evening organising our upcoming excursions and swimming in the pool. We also went to bed relatively early, as the next morning we were scheduled to leave for a day trip to Bà Nà Hills. Although the general areas of the hotel are very poorly air-conditioned, the rooms were nice and cool to sleep in.
In the morning we woke up at 7am and after breakfast we went to the hotel lobby to wait for our pick up for the trip. In the morning the temperature was already over +30C, so it was nice to start driving towards the hills where the weather would be cooler. Bà Nà Hills is about 1500m above sea level, so the temperature difference between the bottom and the top of the gondola lift was about 10C. While it was +35C in Da Nang, we spent the day in temperatures of +25C. That almost felt cold!
The place was originally established as a French holiday resort in the early 1900s. For a long time, the only way to get up to the hills was by a long winding mountain road, but in 2013 a gondola lift route was opened there, which we also used. The 5,8km long gondola lift ride took several minutes and the views were stunning. There are five gondola lift routes criss-crossing the area and a sixth is already under construction. Some of the routes go straight from the bottom to the top, while some stop on an intermediate station first.
We took a gondola lift which stopped first at the lower station where the newest tourist attraction, the Golden Bridge, is located. This 150m long bridge is supported by two huge concrete hands, and is very popular with local tourists. This station is also home to a flower garden and a huge Buddha statue and temple, which we also visited. There is also a large wine cellar, a French legacy, which has been converted into a restaurant. It would have been possible to buy a glass of wine starting from 100 000VND (4€), but we decided not to buy it this time. All of the wines were imported from major wine producing countries and would have been similar to the stuff available in Finland.
After checking out the Buddha statue, gardens and the bridge, we took another gondola lift to the top of the mountain, where the Sun World theme park was located. The place is still under construction, and some of the areas aren’t yet finished. First, we went for lunch at the buffet restaurant, which had an incredible variety of dishes. The buffet on Viking Line boats is peanuts compared to this place. We all ate our stomachs full (Risto focused mainly on the dessert section), and then went to see what there was to do in the area.
The first thing we tried was the luge ride. The route was very long and winding. Coming back up was very easy as you could just stay on the luge and let the winch pull you straight up a pretty steep slope. This ride up took us straight to the indoor park section of the park, which was on three floors. The noise inside was quite loud, but even Ronja, being sensitive to all sorts of loud noises, could take it well, as there was fun stuff to do. The indoor amusement park focused mainly on various 3D and 4D experiences. We also went on a wild roller coaster ride using virtual glasses. That was an awesome experience! For Risto, however, the strangest experience was the encounter with some Asian older people. They were queuing in front of us and started touching Risto’s fair skin (very tanned from our point of view). First they stroked Risto’s hand, then his cheek and finally his ears. Even this was not enough, but they took a photo of Risto, for which they asked permission first, of course. Afterwards, the eldest took Risto in his arms and wanted a photo with him. Risto was a little embarrassed by all the attention he got.
The day at Bà Nà Hills was a great success for more than one reason. Perhaps the biggest reason was that we managed to avoid one day in scorching heat. The only time it was shockingly hot was when we were queuing for the gondola lift to go up, and Risto in particular lost his sense of humour. “I want to go to Finland. It’s never this hot there!” was Risto’s grumpy comment in the lift queue. Another reason for the successful day trip was that there was something interesting for everyone in the hills. The food was also excellent, and there was certainly enough of it.
On Sunday we went to cool off at the waterfalls. We were taken there by the same “taxi driver” who had brought us from the train station to the hotel a few days ago. First we drove to the Hai Van Pass between the mountain ridges. There we stopped to take a few photos and to eat ice cream. Then we continued to the waterfalls.
It is quite certain that only locals find their way to the falls. The place was well hidden in the valley at the end of a small country road. There were a lot of Vietnamese people there, as it was Sunday. However, our driver arranged us a place to sit and showed us where we could change into swimsuits. We were technically swimming in waterfalls, but we didn’t see any of the actual waterfalls which were further away. There were many small huts built alongside the flowing water. We also settled in one of these huts. The water was thick with swimmers due to the weekend and the hot weather. Apparently many of them didn’t know how to swim, because they were swimming with life jackets on. While we were swimming, our driver went to order us a “bamboo chicken” for lunch. We actually happened to see these chickens being carried to the kitchen on a scooter, dangling by their legs. Of course the chickens were dead by this point, but the feathers were still firmly attached.
A moment later, a whole grilled chicken cut into pieces was carried to our mat. The dish also included rice, omelette, vegetables and glass noodle soup. The chicken in particular was delicious. Our meal was (unfortunately) accompanied by two giant amplifiers competing with each other, each of which played different music, of course. In addition, the locals had hooked up a microphone to the amplifiers, so we soon had some bad karaoke singing in the background, accompanied by a squeaky microphone. At that point Ronja started screaming at least as loud as both amplifiers combined that she wanted out. Now. We didn’t leave completely, however, but switched to a lower pond for a swim, where it was more quiet.
As we left the falls, the narrow street was parked full of cars. Since we had driven our car a little higher up the falls, we were stuck behind several cars parked in front of us. For a while there was quite a Tetris game going on as cars were moved from side to side. Eventually, our driver got tired of waiting for the driver of the car in front of us, and with the help of other locals, managed to squeeze his car through the narrow gap and we could continue our journey.
On the way back we visited the statue of Lady Buddha. This Buddha statue is the tallest in Vietnam (67m) and apparently a popular tourist attraction, especially among the locals. It is no wonder, as 70% of Vietnamese people are Buddhists. We happened to be there at the time of some kind of prayer in the temple behind the statue. A Buddhist monk was reciting in front of the altar. Behind him a lot of people were also reciting aloud together with the monk. We did not stay very long at the statue, as the heat was still terrible.
In the evening Marko went to the Da Nang Night Market for a massage and to watch the dragon of the Dragon Bridge next to our hotel spit fire and water (Obviously not at the same time.). This happens every weekend at nine o’clock in the evening and the bridge is closed for a while so that motorists don’t accidentally become barbecue skewers or end up having a shower with their clothes on.
