FINALLY! We get to take a break from the past few days of riding hundreds of kilometres each day and properly enjoy Da Nang today!
But just as we thought we could sleep in and not wake up at 5:00AM for once.. we were wrong 😂
All because of ticking that bucket list of visiting The Golden Bridge at that sunrise golden hour.
First caught eye of Da Nang's Golden Bridge in this captivating photo taken by @smashpop and since then, I told myself I'm gonna ride over there one day!
Fast forward a short few months, here I am! Riding to Sun World's Amusement Park at Ba Na hills where the Golden Bridge is located at.
Based on Google Maps, it says it'll take us 2 hours to get there from our hotel by motorcycle. On top of that, we were misled by Google to see that The Golden Bridge was open 24 hours when it opens only at 7:00AM.
Thinking we could catch a 6:45AM breathtaking sunrise at The Golden Bridge, we got up at 4:30AM to prepare for our two hour ride to Ba Na Hills.... which turned out to be just 30 minutes from our hotel. #failpart1.
5:15AM
We arrived at Sun World's entrance and realized this place only opens at 7:00AM. #failpart2. So we waited and ended up being literally the first to enter the park 😂
Entrance fee was 700,000 Viet Dong (SGD $42) per person to access all the cable cars and every other attraction in the park but we were there just for The Golden Bridge.
Mel was afraid of heights so she kept herself distracted by looking at her phone all the way when we were in the cable car while I was busy walking left and right snapping a million photos as usual haha.
The higher the cable car got, the quieter Mel was hahaha but ya la it was pretty high considering we are heading up to the top of the mountain.
There were multiple different cable cars to take before getting to the top, and because it was so misty, we navigated around the area before finding the correct direction towards the Golden Bridge.
And yay! We're finally here!
The 150 metres long bridge is suspended 4,500ft in the air and only opened last June. The image of it went viral on social media and since then, tourists from all over the world flocked to see this magnificent architecture.
Being the first few visitors here since we came here sooo early, we had the bridge almost all to ourselves initially.
9:15AM
The fog and clouds cleared up for just a few minutes and boy, what a vast difference the view was. Blue skies with the golden railings reflecting off the sun rays, it was beautiful!
Many different tour groups started to flow in from this timing onwards and the crowd started to build up really quickly, so we made a move.
It wasn't such a bad thing after all to have mistaken the opening hours and accidentally being the earliest birds here because we later read and saw hundreds of visitors having to queue at Sun World's entrance for at least an hour to two when they arrived from 8:30AM onwards.
So get there early if you want to avoid the massive crowd!
From our pictures, we hope you realize weather plays an enormous role when it comes to sightseeing so it's always better to manage your expectations! Despite the fog during our visit which actually gave a nice mysterious feel too, we're glad to have ticked this off our bucket list!
13:35PM
Descended from Ba Na Hills and returned to the hotel to swop into some lighter cooler clothes before heading to Marble Mountains next!
Named after five elements; wood, fire, earth, metal and water, Marble Mountains is another popular attraction here in Da Nang known for its cluster of five marble and limestone hills located at Ngu Hanh Son.
We experienced quite a big change in weather as the sun is now scorching compared to just a short few hours earlier where it was only 14°C up at The Golden Bridge.
According to an online travel guide, Marble Mountains is a pilgrimage site home to many tight tunnels, caves, temples and peaks waiting for us to discover. Wearing comfortable shoes would be good as there's quite a bit of walking and climbing to do, and a torch light as some of the caves inside are pitch dark.
It was hot outside but once we entered the caves, it was really cooling inside and surprisingly not many people were here at this hour so it was easy to explore around without getting caught in human traffic.
To make up for the gym sessions I've skipped due to this trip, we navigated our way on foot through multiple tight caves before climbing up to the highest point of Marble Mountains, overlooking the vast My Khe beach.
There were plenty of shops nearby selling stone-cut marble and limestone sculptures. Some were carved out to such exquisite designs and we were tempted to buy one... but then we realized we have absolutely no space in our bags to fit anymore things and we can't possible carry these sculptures on our bikes all the way to Sapa.
I guess pictures of those beautiful sculptures would do for now, as we headed to the beach to relax. We took turns to pillion each other today since we weren't riding to anywhere far. Easier and faster to get around together also.
16:01PM
After layering all those bulky motorcycling gears for days, it feels sooo good to rid them all off and just chill in bikinis, listen to the rolling waves while having some fresh coconut juice.
Sometimes, I really feel pure bliss when I'm doing absolutely nothing. I mean, how often do we get to do that with our usual busy hectic lifestyle back home?
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| pc: buffalotrip |
A pity we gotta give it a miss this round due to not having enough time but I'm keeping this in my "Places to Ride" list and will plan for it the next time!
Da Nang is about 800KM from Hanoi and to ride there would take us at least another 2 - 3 days, which we don't have to spare.
19:20PM
To save time and catch up on some rest, we dropped off our bikes at KTM Da Nang and hopped onto Vietnam's Railway to experience their overnight train from Da Nang to Hanoi. We will then pick up another pair of KTM 390 Duke when we arrive in KTM Hanoi to resume our two wheel adventure.
That's the great thing about the bike rental from KTM as they have shops across Vietnam, it was really convenient for our one-way trip's itinerary plan.
Our cosy corner for tonight! Not too bad, right?
This is probably the closest to a first-class ticket I'd ever get 😂We purchased our tickets online here a few days in advanced to secure the lower bunk beds that were more comfortable and easy to access compared to the upper bunk. You can buy the tickets on the date you travel but not advisable as seats may get sold out.
Here's the toilet/sink area to wash up. There are no shower facilities onboard so wet-wipes is the way to go!
The train moved off punctually at 20:40PM (which was rare as their trains are known to encounter delays) and while we were trying to have some romantic candlelight dinner, I saw something crawling on the wall behind Mel.
It was a sneaky little cockroach! Ho seh liao! If got one, sure got two. If got two, sure got more dunno hiding where. We killed about three, before Mel smeared her feng you (essential oil) all around the walls of our beds to keep the roaches at bay.
Now the whole cabin smells like feng you 😂
I'm too tired to care about the roaches and feng you frangrance. Just gonna sleep off this 18 hour train ride and wake up to Hanoi! :D
[Singapore. Ho Chi Minh. Da Lat. Quy Nhon. Da Nang]
[Mileage Clocked: 1,235KM]
[Terrain: Tarmac]
[Traffic: Moderate]
[Terrain: Tarmac]
[Traffic: Moderate]
[Temperature/Weather: 15 - 23°C/Cooling]
Next stop: Hanoi