Marble Mountain is a group of five hills which is made of marble and limestone. It is situated 8 kilometers from the city center. If you happen to go to Hoi An, or Hue, you would see these mountains on your right side.
The caves in the mountains during Champa Kingdom had places of worship. These were later converted to spiritual places for Vietnamese and Buddhists.
Historical background:
According to Cham legend, a dragon flew to Non Nuoc beach one day and laid an egg there. When the egg hatched, a beautiful girl stepped out of the egg. The egg shell broke into 5 pieces which became the five marble mountains.
In 1825, King Minh Mang named these mountains "Ngu Hanh Son", meaning "complex marble mountains" in Vietnamese. Each mountain was named after the five elements of Eastern philosophy--- metal(Kim), water(Thuy), wood(Moc), fire(Hoa) and earth(Tho).
These mountains are home to caves, temples, pagodas. Every mountain has some thing special, but the most popular and accessible is the Thuy mountain.
- Kim Son (metal mountain):
view of mountains of Kim Son (higher one) and Hoa Son (lower one)
The mountain which looks like an upside down bell is Kim Son. It is to the north of Hoa Son.
- Thuy Son(water mountain): home to most of the caves tourists visits
160 meters high Thuy Son has an area of 15 hectares. It is the most beautiful and highest of all mountains. It has 3 peaks at different levels. Most of the caves we visit are located here. The peaks have been given different names for identification.
three peaks of Thuy Son
Thuong Thai: This is the highest peak with a height of 160 meters. Most pagodas like the Tam Thai pagoda, Tam Ton pagoda, Tu Tam pagoda, Hoa Nghiem cave, Huyen Khong cave are situated here.
Trung Thai: It is slightly lower. It is the middle peak and has the attractions as the Heaven Gate(Van Can Nguyet Quat Gate), Van Thong Cave or the cave which leads to Heaven Gate.
Ha Thai: This is the lowest peak on the east of Thuy Son. It is home to Linh Ung pagoda, Xa Loi tower, and Tang Chon cave.
- Moc Son (wood mountain)
Parallel to Thuy Son mountain is Moc Son. It may be called a "wood" mountain but hardly any trees grow there. This is also a mountain with no places to worship.
- Hoa Son (fire mountain)--- which can be seen from the view.
The lower one beside Kim Son is Hoa Son.
- Tho Son (Earth Mountain): This is the lowest and longest mountain.
Ticket counter to go up to see the caves. The ticket costs 40,000 VND per person.
elevator to take visitors up, a separate ticket is needed for this. Ticket counter is very close to the elevator and it opens very close to Xa Loi tower.
We decided to take an escalator white going up and come back by stairs. Elevator ticket costs an extra 15,000 VND per person per trip.
Also, we were unprepared how much a climb would be ahead of us. Moreover, going up by the stairs would have been tiring for us. There was much more to hike on reaching the top. Thinking back, I now think that the climb is not that much and we could have gone up by stairs.
There are guided tours who can help decide and tell in detail about the caves.
map of placement of caves
The map gives an impression that there must be some distance between the caves but, actually, they are very close to each other. The climb at times is steep. There are places where you can rest, take pictures and proceed.
We did not follow any path, just looked at the map and covered whichever was nearest.
We came out of the elevator and first saw Xa Loi tower ---> Van Thong
---> Heaven Gate ---> relaxation area ---> Linh Nham pagoda --->
Tam Thai, Tong Tham, Tu Tam pagoda---> Hoa Nghiem ---> Huyen Khong ---> Linh
Ung pagoda ---> Tang Chon pagoda ---> came down ---> Am Phu caves
Xa Loi tower
In front was the sign to Linh Ung pagoda, we turned left towards Van Thong cave and came out to Gate of Heaven.
the climb
Van Thong cave
view from Heaven gate
The path from Heaven Gate led us to relaxation area.
relaxation area right ahead
On the right was a path to Thuong Thai peak or the Sea Watching Tower. This is the highest point on Thuy Son. We decided to skip the climb and went to Linh Nham pagoda.
Linh Nham pagoda
After visiting Tam Thai pagoda, Ton Tam pagoda, we traced our way back to relaxation area.
Hoa Nghiem and Huyen Khong are connected to each other.
altar of Guanyin
Huyen Khong cave
We had finished visiting the places of interest in Thuong Thai and Trung Thai, we started our decent to see Linh Ung pagoda and Tang Chon pagoda in Ha Thai.
Behind Linh Ung pagoda is Tang Chon pagoda
very interesting scene of two people playing a game of chess
We come down the 106 stairs from Linh Ung pagoda which I feel is not very difficult to climb.
Incase, one decides to skip going up by elevator then this is the alternate way to climb up. It leads straight to Linh Ung pagoda.
Just beside the ticket counter are the Am Phu caves. Separate ticket needs to be bought for entering.
ticket counter and entrance to Am Phu caves
Two natural or Heaven gates:
There are two natural gates, also referred as Heaven gates. The gates are natural rock formations. The gates connect Tam Thai Pagoda and Linh Ung Pagoda.
East Wind gate or Van Can:
This gate is situated on the east side of Thuy Son, hence the name east wind gate.
Van Can going back from relaxation area towards Ling Ung
West wind gate or Nguyet Quat Gate:
It is situated on the west side of Thuy Son.
Nguyet Quat Gate
The caves between the two gates are Tam Thai, Van Thong cave and Linh Ung pagoda. Benches have been put at places for visitors to relax and enjoy the serene surroundings.
Souvenirs:
There are plenty of souvenirs one can take home. Fridge magnets, handbags, hats....
This place is known for its marble carving and one is tempted to at least window shop here.
Some information:
Timings: the caves are open from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm. If, possible try to reach the caves as early as possible. The place becomes over crowded with tourist buses soon.
Ticket prices: 40,000 VND per person to go up. If you decide to take the elevator then, 15,000 VND per person one way.
There is a separate ticket of 20,000 VND for Am Phu caves.
