Ngũ Hành Sơn: The Marble Mountains of Da Nang

The Marble Mountains sit a bit north of Hoi An, Vietnam.

Ngu Hanh Son, the village at the base of the mountains, became famous for its centuries-old tradition of marble carving, and Alex, our driver, pulled in for a stop on our trip between Hoi An and Hue, our destination for the day.

The surrounding village is known for its marble working, and before heading into the mountains themselves, we visited one of the local workshops where we got to walk between rows of beautifully detailed marble statues.

The statues were mainly of Buddhist and Catholic figures (representing the main religious demographics in Vietnam), but there was a wide selection of furniture and decorations as well.

We even got to watch one of the local artisans hard at work making the first rough cuts on a block of white marble.

The nearby mountains themselves are actually a cluster of five marble and limestone hills each named after one of the five classical alchemical elements: Kim (metal), Thủy (water), Mộc (wood), Hỏa (fire) and Thổ (earth).

The Marble Mountains have changed a bit since I was last in Da Nang, and there’s now something that definitely wasn’t there before: an elevator that takes visitors to the top! In the past, reaching the pagodas, shrines, and caves meant making a sweaty climb up the steep stone steps of one of the mountains. These days, you can simply queue up, buy a cheap ticket, and ride the elevator almost all the way to the top.

The mountaintop consists of a path winding between a handful of Buddhist shrines, pagodas, and grottoes. It's a spiritual site, and the mountain was even granted a National Special Relic Certificate by the Vietnamese government in 2019.

Da Nang straddled the border between North and South Vietnam during the war, and while it changed hands a few times, it was mainly defended by US Marines and Republic of Vietnam forces. This part of Central Vietnam was where some of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War took place.

During the war, there was even as secret Viet Cong field hospital hiding in the mountains, hiding just on the other side of the American Marble Mountain Air Facility. The Northern Vietnamese military command was so confident in their victory that they hid the hospital behind enemy lines almost literally under the noses of the Americans. Their hubris was justified though; the facility was never discovered!

We entered one of the many caves, and following a steep path that involved a lot of scrambling up boulders, ended up at an overlook point at the peak of the mountain. The views stretched out across the surrounding plains to the nearby coast.

The largest cave, Huyen Khong Cave, is a Buddhist grotto that holds a number of statues and shrines. The air there was tick with incense, and light streamed in from an opening in the rocky ceiling far above.

Despite the crowds, it was a quiet and very serene place and felt very mystical.

It was also a bit stuffy. It was a hot day, and very humid, and I was soaked in sweat by the time we descended the mountain via the elevator and headed back to the car.

Soon, we were leaving Da Nang and heading up into the mountains to drive the famed Hai Van Pass.