Tour de Vietnam — Part 1: Đà Nẵng to Huế

We arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam on a clear, sunny day, collected our bags, and proceeded directly to The Motorbike Station where we were issued two rental bikes that were shipshape and ready to carry us on our journey north. After a brief overview of the gearing and operation by the manager, we were off! Our first order of business was, originally, to immediately begin exploring the area. But, considering that it was rush hour, we had just endured nearly 24 hours in transit, and it was my first experience driving a motorbike in Vietnamese traffic, we decided to first seek out our hotel, get dinner, and plan our strategy for the next day.

We left early the following morning for Thuy Son, one of Da Nang city's five Marble Mountains. These marble and limestone mountains are named after the five elements: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). Thuy Son is the largest and most impressive and is explored via a stairway of 156 steps that lead to the summit and the Ong Chong gate where you enter into the labyrinth of caves, temples and pagodas.

Ong Chong Gate

Lumbini Garden outside Ong Chong Gate,
simulating the birthplace of Buddha Shakyamuni

Linh Ung pagoda, a Buddhist shrine built in 1825, is encountered immediately beyond the gate. Da Nang actually has three Linh Ung pagodas but the Thuy Son one is the oldest. Inside there are many offerings and Buddha representations.

Linh Ung pagoda

Continuing along the main path, there is a sign to enter the Tang Chon cave. The cave is occupied by 10th century Cham Hindu altars and two buddhas (one sitting and one standing). The Cham or Champa lived in this complex and used it to worship. The Cham once occupied a large area in central Vietnam from the 2nd century to 1832. They were heavily influenced by India, which shows in their art and religion. Just inside the entrance, there are 3 tall honey locust trees planted 160 years ago.

Temple with three altars and sculpture of the Great Buddha in the middle

Altar within temple

Guan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion

A grotto with sculpture of two wise men playing chess

Just to the south of the Tan Chon cave is the Xa Loi tower. The tower was built in 1958 by a group of Buddhist monks. It stands at a height of 115 feet and features seven floors, each of which contains a Buddha statue.

Xa Loi tower

The path continues onward toward the west side of the mountain, leading to the Van Thong Cave. This cave was more difficult to access. There were uneven, slippery stairs leading to the cave entrance. Inside was a large Buddha statue at the center of the cave and a narrow, slippery corridor leading to an another empty, small area with an opening that allowed sunlight to enter from above.

Buddha inside Van Thong Cave

Access was difficult but we made it

The path next led us past the Tam Thai pagoda which had a traditional design, and on to Linh Nham cave accessed via stairs behind the Tham Thai pagoda. Linh Nham cave was another smaller cave with small altar.

Linh Nham cave

The final cave, Huyen Khong cave, was the most spectacular. The entrance to Huyen Khong cave is a high dome called Hoa Nghiem cave. Huyen Khong cave, the largest of the Marble Mountains, consists of a large chamber enclosed by rock walls vertically cut by flows of rain water. Sunlight falls into it through 5 holes of its ceiling, which are thought to be Buddha fingers, from a height of over 98 feet. It is believed that the cave might have housed temples of Cham people to venerate Hindu gods. This is based on various sculptures discovered in the grotto, some of which date back to the 10th century. There are four temples within the main chamber, each dedicated to a different god or goddess.

Entering Huyen Khong cave

Sunlight filtering through the holes

The cave contains several altars and sculptures

Staircase

Two additional pagodas are situated on the far western end of the mountain: Tam Ton and Tu Tam pagodas. There is also a viewpoint overlooking the city of Da Nang and other Marble Mountains. We actually missed one of the caves while we were there because it has a separate access point off the street below. Am Phu is called the "Hell Cave" because it is believed to resemble the Buddhist concept of Hell. Apparently, there are various sculptures and artworks depicting scenes from Hell. Bummer!

The last stop at Thuy Son was Tu Tam pagoda. The name "Tu Tam" means "Three Hearings," which refers to the three levels of Buddhist teachings: hearing, thinking, and practicing. It was built by a group of Buddhist monks in the second half of 15th century. It was destroyed during conflict and rebuilt in 1825 by Emperor Minh Mang. It was highly damaged in the American-Vietnam war and renovated in the 1980s.

Tu Tam pagoda gardens

View from the viewpoint

We wrapped up our tour with the viewpoint and made our way back down to the motorbikes. We headed towards Hoi An, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site situated on the banks of the Thu Bon River. It has a long history as a trading port dating back over 1,000 years. It was an important trading hub for Chinese, Japanese, and European merchants during the 16th and 17th centuries. We started a tour of the Hoi An historical quarter at the Japanese Covered Bridge constructed in the 1590s by the Japanese community to link them with the Chinese community. The bridge entrances are guarded by a pair of monkeys on one side and a pair of dogs on the other. The story is that many Japanese emperors were born in the year of the dog and monkey, and another story says that the bridge construction started in the year of the monkey and was finished in the year of the dog. There is a pagoda-like structure that sits in the middle of the bridge inside of which are several altars and shrines.

Monkey side of the Japanese Covered Bridge

Japanese Covered Bridge

We checked out the Cam Pho Communal House located on the west end of the historical quarter. Communal houses were both places of worship, administrative centers and meeting halls. Hoi An has 23 communal houses. Dating back to 1818, Cam Pho is one of the oldest villages in Hoi An. The architecture of the communal house is a blend of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese styles.

Cam Pho Communal House

Next we toured the Nguyen Tuong Family Chapel, built in 1806 by Nguyen Tuong Van, headmaster of the Royal Army of the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century. It was a place of worship and memorial for the family as well as a place for cultural and social events. The chapel was damaged by bombings and used as a storage facility during the American-Vietnam war. It was restored twice in 1909 and 2005. The architecture is a blend of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese styles. The interior, including furnishings, décor, and antiquities, have been in place for 200 years. More information on the family is available here.

Exterior of Nguyen Tuong Family Chapel

Interior of Nguyen Tuong Family Chapel

The next historical structure we toured was the Phung Hung Ancient House built in 1780. The first owner of the house was a Vietnamese merchant. He named the house “Phung Hung” which means “Prosper.” In the past, the house was a shop that sold spices, silk, chinaware and glassware. It is a typical commercial house representative of Vietnam’s urban areas in the 19th century.

Interior of Phung Hung Ancient House - the ground floor was formerly the shop

Upstairs inside the Phung Hung Ancient House

Carp carvings on the balcony

We toured the Cantonese Assembly Hall built in the late 19th century in Chinese style. The roof is constructed with yin and yang tiles and a dragon carving. The hall was built in 1885 by the Cantonese merchants’ guild and was used as a gathering place for community and religious events of Guangdong Chinese living overseas and working in the Hoi An commercial trading port. A historical photograph of the assembly hall is found at this website.

Gate to the Cantonese Assembly Hall

Exterior of the Cantonese Assembly Hall with dragon roof sculpture

Painting of three famous Mandarins of the Three Kingdoms Period hidden partially behind prayer incense coils. The Three Kingdoms was a period between 220 to 280 AD when China was divided into three dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu

Next up was Quan Cong Temple, established in 1653 by Chinese immigrants in Hoi An. The temple was devoted to an esteemed Chinese military general, Quan Cong. Quan Cong served in the civil wars during the Three Kingdoms Period in China. He is a symbol of loyalty, bravery, integrity and justice. The legend goes that Chinese merchants would come to Quan Cong Temple to sign contracts for loans because no one would dare to commit fraud in his presence.

Temple interior

Courtyard

We moved on to the Hoi An Museum of History and Culture. The museum is within the Quan Am pagoda, one of Vietnam’s oldest, built in 1653. We only got a limited tour of this pagoda but I cannot recall why! It must have been closed.

Photograph of the interior entryway

The tourism office in Hoi An offers tickets that allow you to tour five historical sites or museums with one ticket. One of the options we chose was a performance at the Hoi An Traditional Art Performance House where we saw a performance using traditional musical instruments and dance. A couple of very brief clips are below:

That was all we could fit into the day. We headed back to our hotel which is a short walk from the beach and we enjoyed dinner with a view of the South China Sea.

The next day started our journey by motorbike from Da Nang to Hue. First, we attempted to tour the Son Tra Peninsula where our hope was so do some bird watching and butterfly photography. We had a little bit of trouble finding the right way into the park, and when we entered we found that there were really no places to get off the bikes and walk on trails. The area was essentially paved road through overgrown vegetation and no trails. In addition, there was not much of a shoulder on the road and some cars and trucks were using it. We didn't have time to look for another route as the drive to Hue would take over four hours. We decided to abandon that aspect of our visit and get started on the long drive to Hue.

The road we traveled to Hue was quite busy. There wasn't much time to stop for any roadside attractions, and frankly, it was difficult for me to keep my eyes on anything but the road! Driving is a bit of an art in that no one looks if any traffic is coming before they pull onto the road. Vehicles will come to a stop to park about anywhere, occupying most of the traffic lane. Motorbikes swarm the roads from all directions, and the convention seems to be to honk at people as you are passing. We were able to get a few scenic shots and stopped for noodles before turning onto the Hai Van pass, an approximately 21 km long mountain pass on National Route 1 in Vietnam. It is a scenic coastal route that tourists often experience by motorbike. We had some foggy conditions and, again, there were really very few places to actually catch a view. I didn't feel that the road was "deserted" as some profess, although it was much better than than the highway!