Marble Mountains

The tour van picked me up from the hotel at 1530. It however had to drop off a couple of passengers from the previous trip, and pick up more passengers, a Vietnamese couple with a child. One of the passengers, who later turned out to live in Sydney, tried to talk to me in Vietnamese when I got on. On this trip people said I could pass for Vietnamese.

Before reaching Marble Mountains, we stopped at a marble shop where they had beautiful works. Only problem was no soy coleccionista, as I once explained to a hispanophone. If I bought any marble it would certainly have made me exceed my carry-on luggage limit, and I was already slightly over. No point buying just a small piece, it would just collect dust. I collect memories and photos.

There was no doubt that the stuff would go well with a beautiful mansion. Would suit some Asian tycoon.

The shop assistants had already guessed that I was not a likely buyer and looked bored.

The entrance to the Marble Mountains was just around the corner from the shop. There are 5 mountains, named after the elements: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). We would be visiting only Water.

There is a long flight of stairs, but a cheap elevator takes one to the top. There is a good view of the other mountains and countryside there. Incidentally the marble in the shops is sourced from elsewhere now.

A view towards the beach. Da Nang has a very long stretch of beach and new resorts were being built. A new terminal was taking shape at the airport so they were preparing for more visitors.

A pagoda at the top.

A Buddhist temple. Monks were chanting while I was there.

In nearby caves there are religious relics of the Cham people who were the ancient inhabitants of the area.

Statue and reflecting pool.

Buddhist carvings on the hillside.

Buddha and disciples, including animals.

After that short visit it was another half hour drive to Hoi An.