What are the Marble Mountains in Vietnam? Marble Mountains in Da Nang: “heaven” and “hell” at a glance The highest mountain in Vietnam

The city of Sa Pa is located in the very north of Vietnam, 380 kilometers northwest of Hanoi. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from him; I relied on the other participants in our trip. I only heard that you need to go for two days, with an overnight stay. Therefore, what I saw there was a pleasant surprise for me.

And this is what I saw:

In Shapa I was able to see beautiful mountains, rice terraces, cute piglets, and village life. True, I didn’t see all this right away...

Let's start with the fact that I was going to write a post about the town of Sapa (Sapa in English, or Sa Pa in Vietnamese. It turns out that all the names familiar to us among the Vietnamese consist of two words: Ha Noi, Sai Gon, etc.) And only by using I learned that in Russian the city is called Shapa and not Sapa. That is, on the contrary, .

So, from Hanoi to Sa Pa is 380 km. You'll probably think - well, it's a couple of hours maximum on a normal train. I thought so too. But in Vietnam, trains are not like , they do not run at a speed of 300 km/h. So you have to travel all night, nine hours. Yes, the average speed is Vietnamese railway about 43 km/h. A berth in a sleeping car compartment costs $40 each way. It looks exactly like the Soviet coupes of my childhood (here these are considered luxury class, only tourists can afford this luxury).

Eh! If I had known that everything would look so nostalgic, I would have stocked up on cutlets and boiled eggs. I thought all South Asian sleeper trains were like this one.

This train does not go all the way to Shapa, but goes to the town of Lao Cai right near the Chinese border. From there you need to go to Shapa for about an hour by minibus or taxi. It is difficult to get lost here - all drivers know that tourists from trains from Hanoi go to Sapa. You shouldn’t pay more than 50,000 for a seat in a minibus, or $25 for one taxi; they say sometimes you can bargain for cheaper.

The road constantly climbs uphill. Shapa is located at an altitude of 1500m above sea level. Villages constantly flash by on the side of the road. All life here passes along the road. Here are the children going downstairs to school. This means they will have to go up home in the evening.

At the entrance to Shapa there is a lake, surrounded by beautiful houses. For a second you might think that you are in some kind of mountain resort in Switzerland.

But this feeling quickly disappears when you arrive at the main square. Long live socialism! The people and the Party are united.

Every minibus and taxi at the entrance to the city is monitored and surrounded by aunties from the surrounding villages. They are dressed in traditional outfits. "Come with me! I'll show you my village, which is the most beautiful!" they shout vying with each other in very good English. Some even know a few words of Spanish or French.

The fact is that the mountains around Shapa are inhabited by ethnic minorities. The Hmong, Za, Zay and Tay peoples live here. Each of them has their own language, their own traditions, and villages in the area. For many centuries these people lived agriculture, but lately Shapa has become tourist center, and every village is trying to attract visitors, because in this way you can earn much more money than by selling rice. Therefore, every morning, women put on their traditional outfits (the easiest way to distinguish nationalities from each other) and gather in Shapa. Everyone knows the train schedule, and they arrive just when taxi drivers start picking up tourists.

At that time, we already realized that there was nothing special to see in Shapa itself, and after a short investigation we chose the two most sociable (and persistent) aunties. They said that they were from the Hmong village of Hautao, to which we could walk through the mountains, and, if desired, spend the night there. The name of the village didn’t mean much to us, but we thought that most likely they were all similar to each other. So, meet Zuzu (left) and Mama-Chi.

We soon realized that the prefix "Mama" in the name "Mama-Chi" meant "grandmother."

"Mama-Chi has grandchildren. I don't have any yet," Zuzu explained. “But my eldest daughter is already fifteen. She is very sexy! She will soon get married, give birth to a baby, and everyone will call me Mama Zuzu.”

“Isn’t fifteen too early?” I asked carefully.

“Fine! What to expect? I met my husband when we were sixteen. And now I’m already thirty-two. It’s time to become a grandmother.”

The women took us on a trek to their village, promising that it would take four hours to walk along beautiful mountains. They weren’t deceived about the mountains; the path invariably went up. But it was difficult to appreciate their beauty, since everything around was shrouded in heavy fog.

We soon realized that it was not so much fog as clouds. The mountains were one of those that go under the very clouds. Other aunties were walking along the path. Some led their tourists, others returned home empty-handed.

“Did you also get to the city on foot?” I asked Mama-Chi.

“No, our husbands bring us to the city on mopeds. We ourselves don’t ride them, it’s not a woman’s business.”

But Zuzu’s husband came. I still don't remember his name. She said their house was uphill from the road. It seems that the higher you go, the cheaper the “real estate” is, because it takes more effort to get up and down every day.

Mama-Chi and Zuzu have many daughters. They all gathered on the porch, and I felt a little sorry for the men - they were in a clear minority at home. Arriving home, our guides took off their traditional outfits; it turned out that underneath it all they were wearing very ordinary clothes.

By the way, the village path passes through the porch of the house - some neighbors constantly pass here, from those who live above. They say hello, ask how you are, share village news...

All free time leaks like this on the porch... Mr. Zuzu doesn’t speak English, so while we asked the women about village life, he sat on the sidelines and carefully examined the string on my bag. I don’t want to blame anyone for anything, but towards the end of the trip I discovered that the leather cap had fallen off.

Vitya and Tolik finally decided that they had had enough of the village and asked for a taxi back to the city. And I, Zlata and Slavik decided to stay overnight to try to watch the dawn at the Tree of Life.

Mama-Chi cooked dinner for everyone. Her husband ate in his corner, not looking up from the TV. This time they showed some Chinese series there. For dinner, they served some local liquor, which Mama-Chi called “Happy-water.” The strength is around 30 degrees I think. We drank together.

There was nothing much to do in the village after dark, and after dinner everyone got ready to go to bed. We were offered "lofts" under the roof. I love sleeping upstairs.

Zlata and Slavik settled in the same one on the other side.

Instead of a bed, just a mattress, with an insect net around it. After a long day of walking and Happy-water we fell asleep almost immediately...

And woke up with roosters! I’ve always dreamed of saying so, but I’m rarely in the village, and now, finally!..

One of the daughters was already working on something in the “kitchen”. As you can see, there is no gas here, everything is very primitive. There is a fireplace, I lit a fire, boiled water...

We woke up still dark, but unfortunately the dawn at the Tree of Life did not take place due to weather conditions.

No problem! We still had to walking on the rice terraces!

This time Zuzu was not there. Mama-Chi said that she went back to Shapa to meet tourists at five in the morning. It turns out there are some trains that arrive in the middle of the night. And in her place, Zuzu sent her eldest daughter, Son. The one who's fifteen and "very sexy."

The two of them took us around the rice terraces and explained how rice is grown in general. This is a very labor-intensive process!

Rice must grow completely covered with water, so mountainous areas We need terraces, otherwise the water will leak out! The steeper the slopes, the more often terraces need to be built; this takes a lot of work. Therefore, flatter terrain is used first. By the way, this is why minorities like the Hmong live in the mountains - it’s the same in China, you come to the rice terraces, and there are also some people there with their own language and customs. The main ethnic group in the country long ago took all the convenient “flat” land for itself, displacing small peoples to places where it is more difficult to grow rice. But the Hmong are hard-working and adapted.

Here you can clearly see that there is water in the terraces. Where it is green, the rice is not yet ripe, when it turns a little yellow, it will be reaped, and there will be empty terraces with stems sticking out of the water.

Rice on an ear looks like this:

The cut ears are collected into bunches and tapped on a tarpaulin. This way the rice is separated from the ear.

The whole process is incredibly tedious, since the rice fields need to be maintained. Vitya said that this is precisely why Asian peoples are so hard-working. According to him, rice requires more labor and more calculation than wheat. Historically, farmers who were not prepared to plan ahead and work hard for their harvests simply starved to death.

We ended up going down to the Zantochai River, which flows along the bottom of the valley. Everything around is covered with rice fields.

Leads across the river suspension bridge. On it we almost came face to face with another buffalo that wandered there. Fortunately, the young hostess turned him around in time. It seems that driving cattle is considered an easy job in villages, so it is always entrusted to children.

On the way we passed a village of the Zai people. Their grandmothers kept trying to sell us their souvenirs. Later, returning to Shapa, we met younger aunties. I understand that in the villages only those who are too old to go to the city trade.

Our guides watched this without much interest. The weather cleared up, the sun came out, and they opened their umbrellas and led us to the next village, from where we could call a taxi back to Shapa.

By evening we were again shaking in the compartment of the slow Vietnamese train carrying us

Marble Mountains in Da Nang - the most popular attraction in the area. The mountains are located 7 km from Da Nang. If there are not very many tourists in Da Nang itself, then groups come to the Marble Mountains not only from all over Da Nang, but also from Hoi An. What is so interesting about these mountains and how to get to them on your own.

Photo: view of the Da Nang Marble Mountains from the observation deck on Water Mountain

Marble Mountains in Da Nang

The Marble Mountains in Da Nang are several rocks in the middle of a field, overgrown with trees, shrubs and cacti. From a distance, the landscapes of the provinces of Krabi and Phang Nga in the south of Thailand resemble in miniature. Why are the mountains called so - marble? It's simple. Marble was once mined here. Now they are no longer mined, but marble products are still sold everywhere on the approaches to the mountains.

  • They have caves, and a temple is built in the largest cave
  • You can climb the mountains and wander along rocky paths
  • You can see temples and pagodas in the mountains
  • Observation platforms from which you can admire the beach and the city from above

Walking in the mountains is not difficult; you don’t need climbing equipment. There are neat paths and stone steps in the mountains. There is even an elevator that, for a fee, takes tourists to the middle of the mountain. But it’s still better to wear suitable shoes. High heels and beach flip-flops are not the best solution for the marble mountains.

Observation deck overlooking the sea

For our trip to the Marble Mountains in Da Nang, we chose a cloudy day so that it would be comfortable to walk up the steps. First of all, we climbed to the observation peak overlooking.

Refreshing wind, sound of the surf, great view. Everything would be great if it weren’t for the Vietnamese tourists who set up chicken coops everywhere around them. We all don't love Chinese tourists. So the Vietnamese are no different from them. It's good that the Vietnamese don't travel abroad like the Chinese.



Having photographed every centimeter, the Vietnamese left and all this farce finally died down. Only Europeans remained at the top. A long-awaited silence reigned. But after a few minutes the Chinese stood up. We hurried down, grateful to the summit for these few minutes of silence with civilized people.

Lookout with mountain views

The second observation deck is slightly lower and is located in the Chinese gazebo on the opposite side. All tourists who visited the Marble Mountains in Da Nang have photos from this place. Katya also appreciated this view.





Where can I order a transfer from the airport?

We use the service - KiwiTaxi
We ordered a taxi online and paid by card. We were met at the airport with a sign with our name on it. We were taken to the hotel in a comfortable car. You've already talked about your experience In this article.

Caves in the marble mountains

The second thing worth seeing on the marble mountains is the caves. We saw 3 caves and went into 2 of them. First we looked at this hollow. The cave is small and consists of two halls. In the first there is an altar with a golden Buddha. You can enter the second hall by climbing through a narrow passage. In the second compartment there is a hole in the ceiling that provides natural light. You can go somewhere further, but there is a very narrow hole there, we didn’t climb.



They couldn’t enter the second cave they noticed because of the smoke. The monks apparently overdid the fire or their supply of firewood there began to smolder.

The third cave was discovered by accident. This cave impressed us most of all with its large hall. We never expected to see such a large free space in low mountains. It’s as if marble mountains are hollow inside.


The most big cave in the marble mountains


A small temple was built inside the cave. Looks impressive, just like in the movies

You can rotate the photo of the cave around you with your mouse:

The fourth cave is downstairs behind the elevator. It's called Heaven and Hell. There you can look at sculptures of people in various thematic poses. We didn't go in.

Photo panorama of the cave

Temples and pagodas in the mountains

There are also several small Chinese-style temples and pagodas built on the mountains. The history of the marble mountains has not been studied, but outwardly the temples do not look very ancient.
















Our reviews

We liked the Marble Mountains in Da Nang. We didn’t regret going, it was interesting. However, the mountains left a double impression. On the one hand, it was interesting to wander along the paths, see the caves, the temple and climb the observation decks. But on the other hand, the crowds of tourists got on my nerves. We also specifically went on a weekday. They waited until the Vietnamese and Chinese holidays will end. But still, noisy and ill-mannered Chinese-Vietnamese tourists did not provide the peace and quiet that are necessary in such beautiful places. So, it’s definitely worth going to the marble mountains, but you need to be prepared for crowds of tourists and not count on privacy at the lookout or near the temple.

How to get to the Marble Mountains on your own

Getting there on your own is quite easy, both from and from. All you need to do is take bus 01 Danang - Hoian, pay 20 dong for the fare and get to the mountains. We posted the route of this bus on the map in the article. The Marble Mountains will be clearly visible from the window. The conductor can say Marble Mountains or just Mountains if he asks where you are going. The main entrance is marked on the map at the end of the article. From the stop, walk about 5 minutes down towards the sea. A one-way taxi ride from the center of Da Nang will cost 150-200 thousand VND. A taxi from the beach will cost about 100 thousand dong. You can also easily get there on your bike.

  • Prices: Entrance 40 thousand dong ($2), elevator 15 thousand dong ($0.75)
  • Opening hours: not known exactly, but from 7 am to 5 pm you can definitely come
  • Opening days: daily
  • How much time to allocate: we spent about 3-4 hours here

You should take water and something to snack with you. In the mountains there are sales points and small cafes with tourist prices. For example, we drank a coconut for 40 dong when the normal price is 20-25. Shoes - sneakers are best. You won’t need anything unusual in clothing, it’s not cold there, but you can take something to cover your knees and shoulders, since there are many temples in the mountains.

Marble Mountains on the map

GPS coordinates: 16.002470, 108.262455

The Marble Mountains are without a doubt considered the main attraction of Da Nang. Great creations are harmoniously intertwined in them human hands and the vagaries of nature. In fact, the Marble Mountains site includes: beautiful gardens, mysterious underground temples and beautiful Chinese-style buildings that are located on these mountains. The mountains are located approximately 30 kilometers from Hoi An and literally a few kilometers from Da Nang, in a southerly direction, almost on the seashore.

You don't have to buy a tour to visit this interesting place. It is quite possible to get there on your own. It goes from both Hoi An and Da Nang regular bus, which connects these two cities. It runs on the route Hoi An - Da Nang, and vice versa. During his route in both directions, he makes a stop near the Marble Mountains. You can also get there by taxi.

For a daytime ticket you will have to pay $1 per person. Daytime ends at 17.00. You can go further for free, but keep in mind that it gets dark here early, and you are unlikely to have time to carefully examine everything. You can go upstairs by elevator or stairs. Climbing stairs is, of course, more tiring, but much more interesting. But along the entire route there are places to rest, where you can sit quietly and enjoy the surrounding landscape.

The Marble Mountains are of natural origin. It is actually a conglomerate consisting of five marble and limestone hills. All of them are connected to each other into a single mountain range. Each hill included in the Marble Mountains has its own name, which it received in honor of one of the natural elements: water - Tui, wood - Moc, earth - Tho, metal - Kim and fire - Hoa. In former times, the inhabitants of all the surrounding villages practically lived only at the expense of the Marble Mountains. They mined valuable rocks from them, from which they subsequently made lamps, all kinds of figurines, vases and various household utensils. Today it is prohibited to take valuable rocks from the Marble Mountains, so materials for such crafts local residents They take it in another province. This fishery is very old, since one of the nearby villages, Non Nuoc, was founded back in the 13th century.

In order to explore in detail the Marble Mountains and everything cave temples, you will need at least 3 hours, and maybe more. Since the caves are very dark, be sure to take a flashlight with you. Near all the caves there are usually some grandmothers or local boys who will offer you for a certain fee flashlights for rent. By the way, they are usually not satisfied with the fee you offer. And the one they offer is unlikely to suit you. In principle, they sell soft drinks, cookies, and fruits, but at a very inflated price. So it’s better to stock up on everything you need before your trip.

The Marble Mountains keep a lot of surprises; sometimes huge temples are located in the most unexpected places. There are always temples, pagodas and monks here and there on the mountain. The inside of the caves is also extremely interesting.

Near the Marble Mountains, of course, there is a market where local souvenirs are sold. Be sure to bargain because the prices are very high. Please note that marble figurines are very heavy. Although, if you suddenly decide to purchase some grandiose large thing made of marble, you can even get delivery to maritime transport home. You can buy a small set of postcards and a map of the caves, which you can later travel through. Don't forget to also wear comfortable, preferably fastening, shoes. Still, you will be walking through the mountains and visiting caves, and it’s not entirely convenient to do this in beach slippers.

Or a car, while others choose hitchhiking. Often independent travelers are faced with a choice of where to stop and what to see along the way between major cities. Here are some cool ideas.

Dalat waterfalls

Dalat(Đà Lạt)– the richest mountain region in Vietnam with waterfalls. The biggest and beautiful waterfalls in the vicinity of Dalat are surrounded by fences and ticket offices, equipped with roads and trails for tourists, paid entertainment and cafes.

Waterfall Pongur is located 45-50 km from Dalat city on the road on the way to Ho Chi Minh City. This wide waterfall is one of the most beautiful, consisting of 7 cascades flowing into the lake. If you have time along the way, it is worth stopping by the Gowgah waterfall. This is a small, but free waterfall, not very popular among tourists.

If you like comfortable stay and additional entertainment, go to the waterfalls Prenn(about 10 km from Dalat) and Datanla(about 5 km from Dalat). Prenn Waterfall is located on the territory beautiful park with sculptures, bridges, benches and a temple, and from additional entertainment You can ride a boat, an elephant or an ostrich. This is a favorite waterfall for tourist buses, so there are a lot of people here. Datanla Falls consists of three cascades, and to get down to the lower levels, you can take a cable car, ride a trolley and ride an elevator in the middle of the jungle for an additional fee. Datanla Falls is on the way to Prenn Falls from Dalat, so you can plan both falls in one day.

Elephant Falls(about 30 km from Dalat) – very powerful waterfall, which we recommend going to for lovers of silence and solitude with nature. They don't go here tourist buses, and the flow of people is much less. There are only a couple of cafes near the ticket office, and from the entrance to the waterfall you will have to go down huge stones with additional support on iron railings.

Price:

Pongur Falls: 20,000 vnd ($0.9)

Prenn Falls: 40,000 vnd ($1.8)

Datanla Falls: 30,000 vnd ($1.3)

Elephant Falls: 20,000 vnd ($0.9)

Phong Nha Ke Bang Caves

Phong Nha-Kebang (Vườn quốc gia Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng) – national park, a UNESCO heritage site, famous for its many caves, including the largest cave in the world Shondong. However, access to it, like to some other caves, is limited - you can only get there as part of multi-day tour for people in good physical shape. The tour is provided by the only company Oxalis, and its price is $3000. Current information can be found and . But there are also caves open for independent exploration.

Caves Phong Nha And Tienshon available for inspection by water. At the box office you can purchase tickets for your favorite water transport to visit one or two caves at once. To independently visit other caves you will need a bike. Lovers of active walking should go to the cave Paradise, 1 km out of 31.4 kilometers of which is open for independent travel along a road paved for tourists. From the entrance to the cave you can walk 1.5 km along forest climbs or, for an additional fee, drive part of the distance in an electric car to save time and effort for the climb.

Seekers thrills and fans of extreme sports will be interested Dark Cave, where the entire path is illuminated by a lantern on the forehead, and this path passes through narrow tunnels. To enter the cave you will have to cross the river using a zipline, and at the end of the cave walk you can swim.

Those who want to get everything quickly and at once can visit both caves (Paradise and Dark Caves) in one busy day. Along the way, if you have time, you can stop by a cave Eight ladies- a monument to the victims of US military bombing.

Price:

Phong Nha Cave: 150,000 vnd ($6.5) + water transport fee

Tien Son Cave: 80,000 vnd ($3.5) + water transport fee

Paradise Cave: 250,000 vnd ($11)

Dark Cave: 350,000 vnd ($15)

Cave of Eight Ladies: free

Bajo Falls

25 kilometers from Nha Trang, on the way to Zoklet beach, there is a wonderful place to relax in nature, hide in the shade from the hot Vietnamese sun or, conversely, sunbathe under its rays and swim in the cool water. You can come here for just a few hours, or you can stay for the whole day. From the entrance to the waterfalls there is a 1 km long path in the jungle. It is worth stocking up on drinking water so as not to overpay for it on site. For clothing, it is advisable to have not only flip-flops and a swimsuit, but also comfortable shoes. Bajo Falls consists of three levels, and the name of the waterfall translates to “three lakes.” To climb to the upper level, you will have to climb over the stones, focusing on the red arrows. The beauty of nature and the special atmosphere of solitude can be felt even on the trail on the way to the waterfalls, so if you don’t have the strength to climb over the rocks, enjoy the beauty on the lower level, the most convenient for swimming.

Price:50,000 vnd ($2.2)

Views of the sea coast

Vietnam stretches along the sea coastline, and on mountain climbs unimaginable, breathtaking views open up. One of the most popular viewing platforms is Haivan pass, located near the Vietnamese pillbox, where everyone who travels from Da Nang to Hue or to reverse direction. However, this place is far from the most picturesque, if only because of the crowds of people and fences.

It would be much more pleasant to spend an extra day in Da Nang and devote it to a trip around the peninsula Son Tra (Sơn Trà). Traveling around the peninsula on a bike will not leave you indifferent, revealing on one side the wild jungle of the reserve, and on the other – the endless sea, changing around every new turn.

Another attractive viewing point will be Cape Dailan– the most eastern point not only Vietnam, but throughout South-East Asia. Part of the beach here is occupied sand dunes, and a sea lighthouse is blinking on the mountain. Entrance fee: 20,000 vnd ($0.9).

Tea plantations

Tea plantations in the vicinity of the dam Kau Kau(Đập Cầu Cau)– very picturesque and cubby. The mountain multi-tiered pyramids of tea trees are mesmerizing. Here you can take a boat ride and, after enjoying the nature around, have a snack in a cafe. Tea plantations are located not only around the lake, but also stretch for many kilometers along the Ho Chi Minh City highway. This is far from the best popular place at independent tourists, probably due to its remote location, so don't be surprised if you find yourself the only visitor there.

Price: freeTBut

Suoi Voi Springs

Springs await you 45 kilometers from Da Nang Suoi Howl (Suối Voi)- These are stone pools with cool, crystal clear water, where it is pleasant to cool off on a hot day. The springs are located on the territory national park Father Ma (Bạch Mã). The shape of some stones gave the springs a second name - Elephant Springs. On both sides of the stone pools there are canopies that create shade, where the Vietnamese are willing to lay down a carpet for relaxation for an additional fee. Those who want privacy or not have to pay to stay under the canopy can make their way through the deeper rocks to the distant pools. The farther from the first tents, the less noise and people. Traveling from Da Nang to Hue or in the opposite direction can be an excellent occasion to visit the Suoi Voi springs, where you can have a wonderful rest along the way. There are cafes for those who want to refresh themselves.

Price:15000 vnd ($0.7)

Marble Mountains

Marble Mountains(about 10 km from Danang, about 20 km from Hoi An) - “mountains of 5 elements” is a complex of 5 hills, each of which has the name of one of the elemental elements in the eastern horoscope: water, earth, wood, metal and fire. The largest and most interesting to visit is Mount Water. Here you can explore caves with altars and pagodas, climb to observation platforms and admire the view of the city and the sea. Part of the ascent can be done by elevator for an additional fee, but the main distances will have to be covered on foot, walking along paths and stone stairs. One of the most interesting caves is a cave Am Hu, its interior arrangement and sculptures symbolize heaven and hell. Marble products and sculptures are sold in the city. Previously, marble was mined in the Marble Mountains, but today its mining is prohibited, and marble is imported from other regions of Vietnam.

Price: 40,000 vnd ($1.8)

Hoi An

Bonus to our “natural” list – Hoi An(Hội An, about 30 km from Don Nang). This is a traditional historical city-museum under open air, a UNESCO heritage site. The city has 22 major attractions: museums, ancient houses, meeting halls, chapels, a temple, a Japanese bridge, a traditional workshop and a theater. To visit any 5 attractions you can purchase general ticket for 120,000 vnd ($5.3). You can enjoy the atmosphere of the old town for free, walking along its streets, where more than 800 buildings are of historical significance and date back to the 16th-18th centuries, from the times when Hoi An was a large port city. In the evening, the embankment lights up with colorful lights, local barkers invite you to ride on boats, and fruit sellers in a traditional Vietnamese hat and with a wooden rocker on their shoulder offer to take a photo for free (with a subsequent request to buy fruit). Hoi An is also a “couturier city”, famous for its sewing and shoe craftsmen. Many pavilions are open in anticipation of new orders, the turnaround time is 24 hours. A visit to Hoi An can be combined with beach holiday: The beaches are 3-4 km from the center. You can choose housing near the beach, in the old town, or in a residential area in between. It is convenient to get around the city by bicycle: you can rent one, and they are often provided free of charge in hotels and hostels.

Price: For any 5 attractions 120,000 vnd ($5.3)

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Having moved to live in Vietnam for 3 months, we had no idea what nature was like here, we read about everything, but not about nature. There will be palm trees, a lot of greenery, everything will be like in Thailand and the Philippines, we thought. Perhaps this will not surprise anyone, but for me it was a discovery how much the local nature resembles ours in Chelyabinsk. The owner of our house, Dao, and her friend Leia invited us to go to the mountains for a day.

We rode on 2 bikes and got lost for a long time, because... The girls traveled to those places on their own for the first time. We said that we had a map and we could show where to go (we knew that the mountains were a little west of the city Danang), but Dao and Leia stubbornly stuck to their “Don’t worry.” Well, okay, as it turns out later, a map in a phone with a GPS function will still come in handy. After 2 hours, the mountains finally came into view. I'm the only one who thinks this looks a lot like Russian nature? Or I suddenly became nostalgic.

Mountains, houses and many, many flowers. The gaze rested, looking at this beauty.

After another 10 minutes, we arrived at a park that fits perfectly into the environment; it’s more like a recreation area or a sanatorium than a park. We never figured out what it was. Dao and Leia went further to meet with students (yes, Denis was surrounded by only teachers that day), and agreed to call each other when we walked around the park and saw the waterfall. There are ponds, trees, paths inside the park. The park is very cozy, but walking through it, we could not leave the feeling of abandonment. It seems that the flowers are watered and the paths are cleaned and the trees are trimmed, but it seemed to us that the park used to smell fragrant, but now it is only barely breathing.

We found several birdhouses. It's funny that there are no starlings in Vietnam, but we still call birdhouses built in this country birdhouses. It’s interesting to know what they call these houses, probably also from the name of the birds. Although, the Vietnamese language is a completely different story.

There were few visitors, and all that was there were mostly teenagers, splashing in the river, over which a charming bridge was stretched. The teenagers, seeing us, began to loudly greet us, laugh, in short, behave like ordinary Asian teenagers. For six months in Asia, we have already become accustomed to constant attention, hearing every day 30 times: “Hello!!!”, responding to this with “Hello!!!”, the Arava of teenagers, actively chanting something to us, was not so much and noise. As usual, we smiled widely and waved our hands, because... judging by our observations, Asians have an extremely positive attitude towards white tourists and if they shout something at you, it’s something like: “How are you? Come here!". We have not encountered any aggression towards us yet, so we are also behaving very friendly.

In the park, as elsewhere in Vietnam, all the signs, all the signboards are only in Vietnamese, we can only guess what is written on them. If in Thailand both local and English were often used on one poster, in the Philippines only English was used, but here only Vietnamese.

There is a small waterfall in the park, from which they caught either fish or garbage. By the way, there is very little garbage, which is good news. After wandering around a bit, we discovered a real football field. Yes, this happens in Vietnamese parks. Or was it not a park, but a sanatorium? In any case, a horse grazing on an abandoned football field among picturesque nature and mighty mountains is amazing.

But what I liked most were the small, cozy, clean gazebos where you can hide from the scorching sun and calmly enjoy nature. By the way, I thought that it would be great to do yoga in such gazebos; maybe that’s what they were created for, considering that the floor is covered with perfectly even tiles.

According to our plan with Dao and Leia, after the park we had to get to the waterfall on our own. “Oh, waterfall!” We remembered and quickly went in search of him. Along the way, however, we stopped at a party of pioneers. Seriously, children in red ties were having some kind of celebration, we tried to join, but the lively counselor started asking us what we were doing here, and we had to retreat, having only managed to take a photo of the arch made of trees. Why only a limited number of such arches are created is not clear to me; if it were up to me, I would make them a ubiquitous decoration of every city, because they are so cute. And we will definitely capture the pioneers.

In the meantime, let's capture ourselves.

If we had taken off our helmets, we probably would have died on the spot from sunstroke, so what, but the sun in Vietnam in May is just right.

And this is my favorite photo from the trip to the mountains. The glacier that came down from the mountains brought in many, many stones, which is why the entire valley and all the rivers are strewn with boulders.

Finally, hearing what we thought was the sound of a waterfall, we followed the sound, but it turned out to be only a river.

After driving around for some more time, we decided that at this time of year the waterfall turns into just a trickle and it would be extremely difficult for us to find it. We called Dao, but there was no connection. In the mountains this is not surprising. Continuing to call, we drive back to the park in the hope that there will be a connection there. Along the way we observed landscapes.

 

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