Ba Na Hills - Part 1
The Mistey Golden Bridge
🎬 Sometimes the story keeps writing itself even after it ends – A behind-the-scenes moment is waiting at the end of this post, for The Secret Journey members only.
📍Da Nang, Vietnam
When I entered the water that morning, I had no idea that just hours later I'd find myself in the heart of a cloud, standing on a bridge held by enormous hands, wrapped in fog so thick it was difficult to see more than a few meters ahead.
I met a guy at the beach. This time, I was the one who approached him and said, "Hey, I'm going into the water, want to join me?"
"Sure!" He jumped up immediately.
He told me he was from Germany, tattooed himself as a hobby, managed baseball teams in the National League, and traveled extensively through his work. He was here on a short vacation because he missed Vietnam, and mentioned he'd like to simply wander like me.
"I'm sure you can. What do you love doing most? And are you good at it? What's your passion?" I asked, like a walking compass.
"Sports!" he replied with his whole heart. "I simply love sports, and I enjoy managing teams. I know I could come and manage a team here, or anywhere else, but there's always a good enough excuse to stay. My father hasn't been well lately, and it would be hard to leave."
He said, and I understood him.
We talked about Da Nang and how amazing it is here. He mentioned he was thinking of going to Ba Na Hills today, where the famous Golden Bridge and an endless amusement park are located.
"Today? It's already noon," I replied, surprised.
"Yes, I heard tickets after 3 PM are cheaper, and I was thinking of going at 3. Want to join me? It's something much nicer to do together," he completely surprised me.
I had been thinking about doing this attraction, and kept postponing planning it. Here was the reason.
"Sure! I'd love to!" I recognized a new pattern being born here.
Ba Na Hills was originally a French resort built in the early 1900s. At about 1,500 meters elevation, the air is much cooler than in the hot, humid city. Today, the site is a fascinating blend of European and Asian influences – a sort of Vietnamese Disneyland on top of a mountain.
We agreed to meet later because he was staying at a hostel on the street parallel to mine. Before I left, I heard several notifications on my phone, and immediately knew what they were about.
"The friend from the hostel I told you about said he wants to join, that way we'll save on the taxi too."
"Sure," I answered. I wasn't expecting a date at an amusement park, or maybe I was.
We took a Grab together. A half-hour drive turned into an hour when the driver drove at 40 km/h on a main road with no cars in sight. Before we left, he said it's better to buy tickets in advance to avoid waiting in lines at the entrance, and he could help us. How convenient.
On the way he stopped at a travel agency and said, "Tickets!" We got out of the car and heard one price option, with or without dinner - these were the only options. The price - one million dong (about $40).
This was the price we expected. I had tried to check before with ChatGPT to verify that there was a reason to arrive at a late hour, and it was written everywhere that the complex is open until ten at night. There's plenty of time for all activities.
We paid and finally arrived.
In the huge complex, the driver simply pointed in a direction and said, "Bus!" So we roughly knew where to go, and simply got on the first bus we saw.
This isn't my style. I always research and check thoroughly, especially when it comes to attractions like these. This time, I simply trusted the guy for no particular reason.
A five-minute bus ride brought us to the cable car area. It's a huge area where you can easily get lost, which is why every few meters there's an employee directing traffic. In our case, it was easy to understand that we simply needed to continue walking from where everyone was coming out.
We didn't see anyone walking in our direction; everyone was going the opposite way, finishing their day, looking exhausted.
We found the cable car ascent, and they let us go up despite the sign saying it was an entrance for locals only. There was no one in line, so I guess during the day, they might have directed us to the more distant cable car.
We boarded the cable car, which moved very quickly compared to what I expected! It moves at speed, and we were all so surprised when we heard the ride takes half an hour. "It must cross the mountain," we thought out loud, and we didn't yet know how right we were.
The cable car progressed up the mountain. We could see the horizon line of the city until we climbed high enough and entered a system of heavy clouds. We thought it was just for a moment, but within a few minutes, and until we arrived, we were wrapped in heavy fog. The kind of fog that immediately reminded me of the movie "The Mist," and of course, I was very afraid.
It's one kind of fear to see the great height I'm at, to understand that everything here is forest, and presumably, dangerous animals live here. But it's an entirely different fear to simply not see anything around, and to continue moving upward rapidly, when all we hear is elevator music from the speakers, and it's starting to get chilly.
I realized that perhaps the decision to arrive late wasn't correct, but at the top of the mountain, it's a matter of luck. Even during the day, we could have found ourselves inside a heavy cloud, and it's something you can't predict from the coastline.
We arrived at the first station, the intermediate station that's high on the mountain, but still not at its top. We rushed to continue to the next cable car, but then we asked one of the representatives how to get to the bridge, and he said it's right here. He pointed to the glass wall we had just passed, and we didn't see the bridge, which was right in front of us.
That's the level of fog that was there.
We headed toward the bridge, and were able to see only a few meters ahead, and even that with difficulty. There was pleasant music of fairy tales, children's fables, and fantasy all around, and the atmosphere truly felt magical with the fog around, and less frightening.
Our main concern was that there would be many people on the bridge, because although in Google images it looks amazing, in reality the bridge is simply full of people, and it's difficult to capture the ideal photo.
In our case, there were people around, but very few, so we managed to capture proof that we were there, more or less.
The Hand Bridge, as it's known, was built in 2018 and specifically designed for the Instagram era. The idea was to create a feeling that the bridge is supported by "the hands of gods" emerging from the mountain.
We continued to wander around the area and saw all kinds of statues of body parts, and I wondered what was behind this.
These statues are part of an art exhibition that combines influences from various cultures – part of a larger complex known as the "Garden of Creation."
We continued to the next cable car, again going out into the fog. This time it was a ride of a few minutes, until we began to see shapes of castles that gained depth as we approached. It felt like a scene in movies when the fog disperses and you see the knight's castle. I was excited.
We reached the top of the mountain, and began walking quickly toward the attraction one of them saw on YouTube - a winding track in the air that you slide on in a seat and can control the speed. It looked just like the sliders I did in New Zealand, and it was amazing to me! And addictive!
But to get there, we had to pass through the central square of the park, or more accurately, the city, because what I saw there surprised me much more than the Golden Bridge...
But that's a story for the next post - about the magical city that surprised me at the top of the mountain, about the attractions, the food, and the frightening return through the dark forest by cable car...
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