MARBLE MOUNTAINS
The Marble Mountains is a group of 5 hills located in Da Nang, a major city near Hoi An. These 5 limestone and marble hills were named after the five elements: metal, water, fire, wood, and earth. The Water mountain is open for visitors and one can climb the summit after a couple of hours exploring the numerous caves and tunnels.
The tour we took picked us up from the hotel and it was a half a day tour so we took it on our last day there, just before taking of for Ho Chi Minh City. The tour was $42 per person, and it started at 8am. There was a 1.5 hour ride till out first stop after picking everybody from our tour for that day. First stop was a local marble shop and factory where one can see the actual creation of massive sculpture created from marble stones, or can just browse the smaller less expensive pieces made of different marbles.
After climbing 156 steps on a very hot and humid day, we made it to the first stop, a Huyen Khong buddhist grotto carved into the mountain. Entering the caves was actually a relief from a heat outside, as the temperature inside the caves were way lower and more confortable. The caves were used during Vietnam-American war.
The last stop was the Monkey mountain, a newly created and built massive Lady Buddha statue overlooking the Da Nang area, something like the Rio de Jeneiro's Christo Redentor. The name Monkey mountain was given by US solders stationed at the near by base where they noticed numerous monkeys coming down from the jungle for food. Today, a feeding of monkeys continous as an attraction for visitors and tourist.
