Da Nang was originally just a day trip before we took another night train to Nha Trang, but it ended up being one of my favorite place...though I'm pretty sure my love for climbing mountains creates a bit of bias. We took off for Da Nang early morning and I headed to Marble Mountain, and Hannah went to the beach.
According to ancient folklore, a dragon emerged from the water on Non Nuoc Beach and laid an egg. A thousand days and a thousand nights followed before the egg hatched, and out stepped a beautiful girl. The fragments of the shell were left on the beach and eventually grew into the five mystical Marble Mountains. The mountains are named after the five elements: Tho are (mountain of Earth), Thuy Son (water mountain) and Moc Son (wood mountain), Kim (metal mountain), and Hoa (fire mountain).
The mountains are incredibly beautiful, as they are literally made of marble and limestone. A ban was recently enacted to stop peopling from carving out of the mountains. There's peaks, caves, tunnels and temples all over the mountains around every turn! The view from the top was different from any other, because it's in the middle of Da Nang, which is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam. One way you saw the other mountains placed throughout the developed city, and the other way you could see gorgeous beaches down the coast. I ventured through the mountains for a few hours, and I was exhausted by the end! The path ways were really steep and rocky in most parts of the mountain! There was an option to take an elevator to the first level of the largest mountain, but I didn't want to pay for that!
After the mountain I went to the beach for awhile, but it was still relatively cool out, so we ended up jumping along cafe's and exploring the streets towards the end of the day before our next train out! It's truly the days where you don't expect much that end up being some of the best!
