Location: Marble Mountain (Ngu Hanh Son)
Da Nang, Vietnam
There are no shortages of sacred sites in Vietnam! What churches are to Europe, temples & pagodas are to Vietnam! Buddhist & Hindu places of worship have been erected all over the country, including in some pretty spectacular location. Marble Mountain is one such site. Located near the city of Da Nang in Southern Vietnam, it is a cluster of 5 marble and limestone mountains, dedicated to the five elements: Metal (Kim Son), Water (Thuy Son), Wood (Moc Son), Fire (Hoa Son) & Earth (Tho Son).
Marble sculpting has long been an art form in the region, thanks to the once abundant supply of marble. These days, in order to preserve these sacred mountains, marble used for sculpting is imported from China. It’s hard to walk 5 meters in any direction in the area without coming across a marble vendor. They are literally everywhere.
While all the mountains are littered with caves, pagodas, shrines & temples, the most visited one is the ‘Water’ mountain, Thuy Son. It’s main pagoda is visible from the street below.
Elevator to the base of Thuy Son (Water); our group ‘opted’ for the 156 step climb instead.
The Water Mountain boasts the ‘road to paradise’, which our guide talked up. A lot. He kept insisting that the ‘stairway to heaven’ would yield the best, most spectacular view of the city of Da Nang. He sent the group on our way up the 20 gazillion stone steps to the top. Do you know what happens to stone steps on a mountain made of marble after millions of visitors have climb up? They get used to the point of becoming marble. Which means they are slippery. And treacherous. Nevertheless, we persisted. Even when the steps abruptly stopped, forcing us to scramble over sharp rocks for the last 50 feet. Even when the ‘trail’ was so narrow that one person could barely safely clamber up, yet somehow you had to navigate around hoards of tourist attempting to make their way down the cliff. Finally, I had made it to the top. Here’s a photo of our awesome view:
Best view in the world – said no one ever
That’s right. The view was obstructed by rocks. If you squint at just the right angle, you can make out the city in the distance. The ‘top’ of the mountain was barely more than a collection of jagged boulders with ultra narrow footholds worn into the stone. Sadly, there was a crowd of at least 30 people up there, all vying for a safe place to stand to admire the ‘view’. It was, can I say, less than pleasant and scarcely worth the precarious climb. Not exactly my idea of a ‘stairway to heaven’. But… my standards could be unfairly high, now that I’m worldly and all! 😉
I much preferred the view ‘back on earth’. There are dozens of Buddhist and Hindu temples, sacred places of worship over history. And of course, thanks to the abundance of marble, there are tons of marble statues all around. While this mineral is now intimately associated with the mountains for obvious reasons, the legend of their origins is much more mythical.
“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.”
While there’s plenty to see above ground, there’s even more wonders below! There are numerous caves scattered throughout the mountains, many with shrines within. Some are very elaborate, with ornately sculpted statues and brightly coloured lights, while others, are, well, different. Odd might be a more accurate description.
This cave was also the site of a Viet Cong hospital during the Vietnam War. Our guide repeatedly stated that the hospital operated right under the nose of the Americans without them ever catching on. However, a quick Wikipedia search revealed that the enemy was so “certain of our ignorance […] that he had hidden his hospital in plain sight”.
One such cave is Am Phu Cave, otherwise known as the ‘Hell Cave’. This 302m long cave with 50m arches is home to the country’s most unique shrine. Buddhists believe in the philosophy of causality – those who do good deeds in life will be guaranteed a place in paradise after death whilst anyone committing wrong or evil actions will descend to the 10 circles of hell and especially to the ‘jail’, which is the cave’s deepest point. The cave also features a purgatory section, by which sinner’s souls must first pass to be judged. There’s even a court with judges and a spiritual scale used to weigh one’s good and bad deeds. The rest of the cave is filled with graphic and gruesome sculpted scenes depicting the ‘horrors’ that await those bound for the depths of hell. It’s quite, well, something. The entire cave is meant to encourage believers in doing good deeds and discourage those who tend to misbehave. Let me tell you, if I was Buddhist, I’d definitely be convinced to stay on the straight and narrow!
The spiritual scale, which side would yours lean on?
Top, left: The Judges, the ones who decide your fate. Top, right: one of the many gruesome scenes inside the cave
Marble Mountain is definitely one of the more unique sites that Vietnam has to offer!