I won’t lie, when my photographer told me where our day trip would be taking me I thought they said Banana world. Thankfully I was wrong and though I love bananas, I couldn’t wait to see one of the most unique spots in Vietnam hidden at the top of a mountain. However, I was sad that this wasn’t the day where I would finally meet a minion.
Located a little over an hour’s drive from Hoi An through the villages and greenery lies a little-known gem. Ba Na Hills Sunworld is an Amusement Park that has something for everyone. Though from the bottom of the hill, it doesn’t really look like much is going on. The car park is huge but the day I visited, it was nearly empty. For a place so popular on Instagram, I couldn’t believe the lack of visitors. From the moment I walked through the huge sundial, I fell in love with this place. Dinosaurs rarely say this but, visit this place before it gets overran by international tourism (my photographer agrees).
I visited on a sweltering day when the sun was blazing across a clear blue sky. The temperatures were 34 degrees by 9am and the humidity once again was making me look like a furry blue toilet brush. I hoped the humidity would be a bit lower once I had ascended the mountain. The initial entrance and lead up to the cable car was so beautiful. I loved the ornate Chinese design, filled with many beautiful pieces of artwork, separated by steams filled with colourful koi carp. Staff were giving away free samples of coconutty peanuts which were delicious and immediately helped me decide I was going to have the best day here. I received my ticket which took me up to the top of the mountain in the cable car and also included my lunch.
The cable car ride was incredible as I was lucky enough to visit on a very clear day. I rode on the world’s longest non-stop cable car for 5.8km and went up 1300 metres altitude (scary stuff). The view quickly changed from flat green plains, to views of the mountains and forests; sadly no monkeys were spotted during this part of my trip. The ride took 15 minutes and I finally arrived in my destination after floating through the clouds. The cable car goes under a small French village, which was strangely reminiscent of Hogwart’s.
Upon leaving the cable car station, I walked outside to find a recreated medieval fair complete with old fashioned fair rides. I walked through the fair and up a rather steep staircase. The surrounding gardens were beautifully landscaped and I found lots of trees in the shape of squirrels.
The gardens were beautiful and all of the flowers were out in bloom, especially the water lilies who were covering the ponds in various pastel shades. I also spotted some rather delicious looking yellow flower hats but they turned out to be Angel’s trumpets so I am rather pleased I didn’t eat one. I also spotted some deadly nightshade covered in beautiful butterflies. For the first time ever, I decided I didn’t want to eat any of the flowers in this garden and I would simply wait for lunch.
Continuing higher up the garden, I walked up a staircase lined with happy buddha statues and the handrail was a white dragon. This part of the park was incredibly beautiful but it wasn’t the most accessible for humans with walking difficulties. The challenging walk to the top was worth it just for the views. I spotted 5 different paths, but decided to take the most direct route to the viewing platform. There was a small Buddhist temple at one side and a wooden pagoda which I climbed to enjoy the views of Vietnam below. A peaceful moment you would think. Alas, it was not as my photographer spent the time screaming and running from an Asian hornet (embarrassing human alert). I don’t know who was more embarrassed; the hornet, me or the resident robot. The robot is employed to bang the gong every few minutes, though he was rather quiet whilst my photographer was nearby. I left the robot and the hornet to have some peace and decided to head back down the hill and go into the French village.
Having never visited France, I can’t compare this village to the country but I did find it to be very beautiful. The area is rather small and centred around a cathedral, built to recreate the Gothic French architectural style. The village is a remnant of the 19th century when a French captain moved from Da Nang up to the more tolerable temperatures of the mountains. I can totally understand why because I had almost forgotten what a humidity free temperature felt like. The old stone buildings were broken up by interestingly shaped topiary trees. I didn’t find any dinosaurs but I found a few friendly green lizards climbing up the walls of an old restaurant. The next 45 minutes turned into an impromptu Instagram session because every corner was more photogenic than the last. Restaurants break up the photo opportunities and though the food smelled amazing, I decided 10am was slightly too early for lunch. Instead I headed across to the beer Hall, because it was a huge mirrored building (not because I wanted a dinosaur sized breakfast beer).
I loved the whole area because it was like experiencing Europe through the eyes of someone who has never visited the continent. This area brought together the best parts of Europe together. Behind the beer hall was a magnificent water fountain decorated with gold horses in a design reminiscent of ancient Italian cities. Simple decor styles made way for seats and statues who were enjoying the cool morning shade. I made friends with some geese who told me to go and stand at the front of the train which would take me to a castle.
The castle was huge and beautifully ornate, the ceiling of each floor in the building was decorated like the nights sky. I wasn’t here to just admire the artwork, I was here to do something scary. Two 4D rides were waiting for me to go on. My Photographer joined my on the first ride because it was a relatively tame flight around the world (their health condition doesn’t agree with this). I then walked across to the second ride which was a 5D scary adventure complete with giant spiders and getting wet at the end. After my hair raising adventure, I ventured outside into a beautifully landscaped courtyard to find my photographer who was taking photographs (as you probably guessed).
I was pleased to spend some time in the calm courtyard because I was finally able to ride a horse. He showed me his favourite view and then I wandered along the paths to see the displays of flowers. It was 1 pm and the clock chimed very loudly and a Knight appeared from behind a door but didn’t stay for long before he disappeared back into his castle. The weather was changing rapidly, though it wasn’t overly hot I found the mist from the clouds to be very refreshing. The clouds made the environment rapidly change and the surrounding buildings looked ethereal peeking out from behind the clouds. The landscape surrounding me was in a timelapse and I really enjoyed watching it change. As the clouds disappeared I noticed a giant holding up a large pink hotel. It seemed very heavy and it was rather hungry work watching him lift the building. I hadn’t realised the time because I was having so much fun exploring, but I quickly realised how hungry I was so I decided it was definitely time to stop for lunch.
It is worth visiting Sunworld for lunch because the wide range of foods available is incredible. I visited the Four Seasons Buffet Restaurant and was surprised to find almost every type of western and Asian dish I could think of. There are a lot of table in the restaurant but I didn’t find it overly busy on the day I visited. The food options are all located in one area and I was surprised to find a vegetarian section alongside a giant salad bar. The Asian options looked delicious and I was very tempted by the pho and tempura stations but unfortunately I didn’t have enough room on my plate. Desert was a huge pile of fresh fruit, including a new favourite, loquats. My Vietnamese guide introduced me to the tiny fruit which I cannot get enough of. I’m sad they aren’t available in the UK.
After lunch I headed back towards the cable car to head across to the other side of the park. You can walk but I was feeling lazy after eating a rather large lunch. The clouds were getting lower and I couldn’t see anything during my cable car ride. At one point I was concerned that we had been eaten by a giant marshmallow but my photographer spotted part of the golden hand bridge through a break in the clouds. I left the cable car and headed outside into the misty mountain landscape and unfortunately couldn’t see a hand in front of me (no pun intended).
Cau Vang or the Golden Hand Bridge is a modern addition to the park and probably one of the most instagrammed scenes of Vietnam. The bridge is in the shape of an arc and is held up by two fibreglass hands which look like they were carved out of stone from the mountains. It was a really ethereal seeing the trees and Bridge peeking through the low hanging clouds. It was busy but I wasn’t bothered because the bad weather was stopping a lot of people from crossing the bridge. I walked up to the first hand and was in awe of the sheer size. I thought my photographer’s hands were huge but the hands on the bridge must have been inspired by giants.
In typical Vietnamese style, by the time I walked to the second hand the weather had completely changed. The sun was cracking the pavement and the fog had disappeared, I loved seeing the bridge in the sunshine but I preferred it in the fog. Sadly, I couldn’t see the view of Da Nang below but it added to the magic of being in the mountains. In the future I would like to stay overnight in Ba Na as my guide told me golden hands bridge is a beautiful place to watch the sunrise.
My next stop was Suoi Mo Garden and Le Jardin D’Amour. The gardens were incredibly designed, I loved seeing the garden in the shape of a peacock (mainly because it was blue). My photographer loved the dancers in the garden, it was very similar to Dubai Miracle Garden.
I walked through a stone passage which had some mythical chinese creatures on one wall. But, I was more interested in the opposite side because there was a stick insect who was bigger than me. My photographer also spotted Jiminy Cricket jumping along the side of the wall.
The insects led me to the beautiful Chua Linh Ung Buddhist temple. Reviews of the area made me rather sceptical about visiting but I was in awe if the huge white Buddha statue towering over the mountain below. It didn’t have the mystical feeling of the temple I visited in Hanoi but it is well worth visiting whilst you are in Sunworld.
I spent the remainder of my time exploring more of the gardens. There was a small maze which I found really hard to escape and also giant chess. There were a few more statues dotted around the gardens which I found to be incredibly detailed.
I ended my day with another ride on the world’s longest cable car ride which was clearer than my journey up the mountain. The bay of Da Nang was lit up beautifully in the late afternoon sunshine as I made my way back to Hoi An.
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