Ba Na Hills - Part 2
The Enchanted City on the Mountaintop
🎬 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
We hurried toward the attraction one of the guys had seen on YouTube – a winding air track where you slide down in a seat and control your speed. It looked just like the luge rides I'd done in New Zealand, and I was excited to try it.
But to get there, we had to pass through the central plaza of the park, or more accurately – the city. Because it's literally a city up there. What appeared before my eyes as the fog partially cleared was far more impressive than the Golden Bridge.
There are cafes, restaurants, shops, bars, hotels, ATMs (of course), and what not? But this isn't just any city – it's a fairytale city! All the buildings here are shaped like castles, everything is grand and impressive, there are endless gardens of styled flowers, statues of all kinds, everything is captivating, everything is interesting, everything is fascinating!
I felt like a child again, and I knew I wanted to stay here forever! It was simply mesmerizing to see all the alleyways with yellow lights, the ornate gold-adorned fountains, even the church was so impressive, and I couldn't stop marveling!
The only drawback was that at this late hour, everything looked about to close, or was already closed.
Unlike me, the German guy was a bit disappointed. "It looks like Europe," he said candidly. "There are buildings exactly like these in Germany, and this building looks exactly like London, even the cold is similar!" We laughed, because it was indeed chilly at the top of the mountain.
I understood what he meant, and maybe that was the intention – to bring Europe to Southeast Asia. But even in Europe, there isn't a sense of magic like there is here. They invested in every detail, every street lamp, every statue, all part of the experience that makes me feel like I'm in a fairytale.
We reached the attraction we were looking for, after descending two floors in an elevator and finding an entire city inside the mountain – there's a whole 3-story arcade, protected from weather, filled with attractions for all ages.
Just like the ride in New Zealand – here too we needed to add money and choose how many rides we wanted to do. One ride cost 50K dong (about $2), so we started with that. We entered quickly because the place was almost empty.
It's strange to walk through spaces as large as an amusement park when it's empty of people. It's wonderful because we didn't wait in any lines and got on four attractions in half an hour, but the feeling of the size of the place added to the magical atmosphere. I wondered what it looks like when the place is full of people, lines are packed, and you probably wait hours for each attraction.
The ride was so much fun! It feels a bit too loose when all that's holding you is a flimsy safety belt, and I didn't even fully release the speed, because I'm not adventurous enough apparently, or maybe because it was my first time here, and it was amazing enough as it was!
As soon as I got off, I shouted to them: "Let's do that again!" But we had more attractions to fit in, and we realized we were short on time.
We continued to the tower attraction where you sit on overly comfortable chairs, rise to the top, and descend at speed. It was really fun! And yes, you can hear me screaming in the video.
We continued to a ride that presented itself as scary, and when I said I didn't want to go on, the boys insisted: "Now you have to!" Why do I listen to them at all?
I got on. And I expected to be scared but it was quite ridiculous, until the last section had displays of sharks and dinosaurs. Why would I be scared of a dinosaur? It's a fascinating creature! And a shark? When I'm clearly not in water? They could have tried harder.
Dinner time approached, as they had explained that our buffet was from 6 to 9 PM, so we started looking for it. On the way, we passed stunning streets, small restaurants, families, couples – there are people here, just enough so that the place isn't desolate.
We found our buffet, which happened to be German-styled, too German. The entire design looked like Germany, the staff dressed in traditional Oktoberfest outfits, beer mugs emerging from every corner, and we just laughed about how the guy felt at home.
"Should we find a table first?" "Let's drink first!"
Each of us received 2 vouchers for free drinks at the entrance, so we knew we were going to stay here for a while. I was afraid they would discover my true identity as someone who doesn't drink beer, so I drank some too, and no, I still don't understand how people can drink this, and so much of it!
We found a table and attacked the buffet, all of us really hungry. There was everything from everywhere, endless containers, from every corner of the world. I think even if I had tried to taste everything – I wouldn't have succeeded.
After the meal, we went out and continued roaming this enormous place. We reached a Japanese temple, where we encountered flyers of various kinds, so we turned back.
It's such a huge place, I thought about how easy it would be to simply stay here, by accident or on purpose – there are so many hidden corners and not many employees at this hour. I thought about how if we're not responsible enough to return in time for the last cable car, we could simply get stuck here, and maybe that's (also) why there are hotels here.
We thought about returning to the Golden Bridge because it said it was open until 8, hoping that now at night we could see it illuminated, and the clouds had already dispersed. But we missed the last cable car that left at 7:30, so we were left with the foggy pictures.
As we made our way toward the French Village, we saw park employees running toward the nearest cable car.
"What, is that the last one? But it's only 8 PM, I thought the place was open until 10," I said, confused.
We encountered an employee who hurried us along. We asked about the cable car schedule and he answered that at these hours, there are cable cars for ten minutes, every hour. So if we don't make it now, we'd have to wait an hour.
We understood it was better for us to head to the exit, because it would take time until we got out of here, and the whole park was already closed. We ran.
We caught this cable car. This time it goes directly to the bottom, on this long ride. We sat in a completely dark cable car, without elevator music this time, with much more fear.
This time we heard the forest, and as if without control, we started talking about survival.
"How long do you think you could survive here if we fell?" said the guy.
"An hour!" I shouted, frightened.
They laughed, I knew it would be less.
"I've seen horror movies like this! I don't want to be in one!" I said anxiously.
"Lucky I didn't do this alone like I initially thought, it could have been much scarier," said the guy.
I found myself looking outside at the ground through the window, as if surrendering to the fear, trying to feel it and let it fill me, and reminding myself that I'm protected. All the bad thoughts came to me in an instant – I remembered that article about the cable car disaster, all the dangerous animals that could be here in the forest, and even the trivial worry that my internet package had run out and I needed to renew it. What timing.
"Here we are already close, don't worry, from here we'll definitely survive," he interrupted my thoughts, and managed to calm my half-relevant, half-ridiculous fear.
At the cable car exit stood an employee who immediately asked us: "Bus??" We nodded for a moment while she said "Da Nang?"
"Bus to the city?" I asked, making sure I understood.
"Yes, yes, bus to Da Nang! Free!" she answered while leading us.
Cool! We followed her in the huge and deserted place. We only saw additional employees every few meters, and a place built to accommodate thousands of people with organized queues, and only us in it. How strange.
She led us to the exit swiftly, as if we were late, while she spoke into her walkie-talkie in what sounded like: "I have some more lost tourists here! Wait for them!"
We arrived outside, hit by the humidity in full force. "How hot it is down here compared to the mountaintop," said the guy, and the employee signaled us to sit and wait.
Within a few minutes, the bus arrived and took us to the city center, from where we took a short taxi back.
We wondered if there was also a free bus on the way there, and only the next day I asked ChatGPT, who told me that indeed, holders of discounted tickets for after 3 PM have a free bus from the city center to the park.
Not that it was so terrible, because we shared a taxi and in total it cost each of us about 150K (about $6), but if I were to do it again, I would arrive by shuttle early in the morning, stay there all day, and return late, like now.
Because I think seeing this city at night is an amazing experience that shouldn't be missed – and all the organized tours return to the city by 3.
This place is so big, and so fascinating. In every corner, you can find something new. During the day there are street performances, and at night, yes, there are night shows.
In my dreams, I would stay there overnight at that castle hotel, and wake up to this magic, and all I can say is that I'm left wanting more. I simply want to return.
Fortunately, I have 3 more weeks here, because I might just do exactly that.
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