A while back, the poorly named Golden Bridge (why not simply call it the Hand Bridge?) went viral. This bridge has been touted as something straight from Lord of the Rings, and has been described as a “breathtaking” and “must-see” attraction of Da Nang in central Vietnam.
Its specs are certainly impressive. It’s built 4600 feet above sea level, stretches 500 feet, and its choice location gives you an impressive view of Da Nang city and the fertile mountainside. A look at look those professional photos will indeed make it seem like you’re in Middle Earth.
There’s certainly a lot of beautiful views and interesting attractions if you decide to visit the Golden Bridge, but there’s a lot to consider due to the hefty price tag, especially if you’re a fellow budget traveler. So let’s look at what you’ll be getting for the price of admission so you can better decide if it’s worth the visit, as there’s much more that those pictures don’t tell you.
Quite the grand entrance. What you see here is an indicator for things to come.
Price
Let’s start with the biggest factor for most people: moolah, dough, greenbacks, dollar-billas. The Golden Bridge is one attraction of the greater Ba Na Hills Resort run by Sun Group, and Sun Group is clever enough to make you buy their admission ticket for the entire resort rather than sell any item a la carte.
At the time of this writing, the admission ticket costs a good 700,000 VND (~$30) for the entire resort unless you’re a Da Nang resident (I’m doubtful that any of my readers are). They also offer a ticket price with an all-you-can-eat buffet for 850,000 VND ($36.35). Booking with tour through your hotel will usually bring the price up to 850,000 VND ($36.35) and 1,000,000 VND ($42.76) respectively.
That price tag is a decent chunk of change for any person, but if you consider that a steaming hot bowl of pho costs 30,000 VND ($1.28), that’s quite an expensive ticket relative to the cost of living in the country. So what do you get for that hefty price tag?
In downtown Da Nang, freshly made yogurt, a cup of coconut desert and a beef salad will cost you a grand total of 40,000 VND ($1.72). You can order this set nearly 20 times for one entrance ticket.
Golden Bridge
Let’s first talk about what most westerners are here to see: giant hands getting frisky with a nice, long, hefty bridge. I’m sure that view by itself is worth it for many people, but there’s one thing people seemed to neglect mentioning: clouds. Due to the sheer elevation of the bridge, the Golden Bridge is at the correct altitude to be shrouded in clouds. I’m sure the view is phenomenal if the skies are clear. The view was beautiful enough when the weather improved and I was already wandering around the French village, so I can only imagine that the views from the bridge live up to many people’s expectations.
But this means you’ll have to just hope for the best during your trip. You can of course try to time your visit for the dryer seasons, but you’ll always have to be crossing your fingers and knocking on wood as you traverse up the mountain.
So if you go to Ba Na Hill solely for the hand bridge, just be aware you’ll be betting it all on red.
Just a spectacular view.
Cable Car Ride
Also currently included in the admission is the cable car ride that you’ll have to take to get to the resort. There are two lines that lead you to different areas of the resort, but their crown jewel is the Toc Tien – L’Indochine route. The cable cars travel at 7 km/hr, give you some pretty impressive views, and even broke many Guinness World Records. And if you’re feeling skeptical at the quality of Vietnamese engineering, the equipment is sourced from ski-faring countries including Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, so you can rest at ease.
I honestly found this ride to be one of the highlights of the trip that few people mentioned. The views are damn impressive as you view the valley below and rise up into the clouds. It’s a smooth ride and definitely a part of the trip that I savored.
I really wish they cued the Jurassic Park music on the ride. The beginning of the cable car really did remind me of the arrival to Isla Nublar scene in Jurassic park.
The Gardens
The gardens dominate the lower area of the Ba Na Hills Resort. This is the Resort’s attempt at Versailles-esque gardens, and honestly, it falls short of that high bar, but still looks pretty nice. Large gardens, plaster statues, and Greek-styled columns fill many of the gardens while other areas are styled in a Southeast Asian and a Buddhist style of landscaping. They even built some impressive temples and pagodas that are also active places of worship.
These gardens are a beautiful sight, but are also a first indicator of what you can expect from the whole Ba Na Hill Resort. It’s simply one giant park that just begs you to take as many selfies as possible and do little else. If you don’t like taking pictures or taking in the sights, you’re going to be left with few other options.
My abysmal attempt at being artistic
The French Village
This brings us to the French village! Ba Na Hills was originally built as a little French resort during the colonial days. Most of the buildings fell into disrepair or were actively destroyed after the colonialists left. With the exception of some ruins and the Wine Cellar Debay (which was under renovation for my visit) there are few traces of the original French buildings. So it’s with a bit of irony that the Sun Group built an entire model French town at the top of the hill.
But hey, it looks nice and people seem to love it. For those that have been to Europe, you’ll find that the French town isn’t too far off. It looks like an overly-idyllic French square, complete with castle bastions and a little Gothic church. It’s just too perfect, and the painfully cheap plaster façade gives the entire town away. Plus the sheer masses of Asian tourists may be another indicator.
Looks pretty picturesque right?
And what else is in this town? Again, not much else. They stuffed the town with a variety of restaurants, and they’re in the process of building a German beer garden, and… that’s about it. Oh there are some actors walking around on stilts and dressed up as vampires and jesters. Oddly, all the actors are eastern Europeans.
Just like the gardens, the primary attraction of Ba Na Hills is to give you opportunities to take pictures and show off the nice places you visit. With the price tag of the Resort, it makes sense. It targets tourists from the Southeast Asian region that can’t afford to go to Europe but are looking for someplace nice to go for a short vacation.
That’s quite immense, and that’s just the upper half.
Recreational Activities
At this point you must be thinking, there’s got to be some form of amusement, and there are. But for the size of the park, there’s shockingly few activities. There’s the ‘Fantasy Park’, a large building home to an arcade, a couple kids rides, a rock climbing wall and one thrill ride. For the size of the building, it’s awfully vacant.
Outside of the Fantasy Park, there’s a Wax Museum (not included with the entrance ticket), a cart ride, funicular railway ride and shopping. I might have missed an item or two but that’s literally 90% of their activities. I also don’t think you can pay an entrance fee and then sell the concept of shopping to me as an additional activity.
Clearly, Ba Na Hills Resort is quite far off from a theme park and the many rides they normally have.
This Drop Tower doesn’t go too fast in comparison to western standards
Food
On the bright side, Ba Na Hills does offer a large variety of food. The French village is filled with restaurants that are very much in the style of the old Epcot (RIP). They’re attempting to offer many different cultural foods from various countries so visitors can try dishes from across the world. The downside is that all of this is quite pricey when compared to the usual prices in Vietnam. If you don’t mind the price tag and like trying foods from Europe all the way to Asia, this can be worth your while.
Since the food is quite expensive and if you’re on a budget, I would recommend paying the extra 150,000 VND ($6.40) and getting the buffet if you do go. The rampant street food stands usually sell dishes around 50,000 VND ($2.15) and are quite small for western standards. At that point, just pay a little more and get a nice and full meal while you’re there.
Can’t say I disagree with this policy. I quickly realized why they had this sign when I saw people pile their plates as if they’re in preparation for the great hibernation
I actually enjoyed my trip
It may sound like I loathed my trip to Ba Na Hills but that’s far from the truth. I actually adored my time there if not for the wrong reasons. I loved the cable car ride. The clouds obscuring my view on the Golden Bridge was a let-down but hardly a deal breaker. And even though I found the French village bland, I did find it to be oddly unique and interesting. The gardens were well thought out and the temples on the mountainside had absolutely stunning views.
I enjoyed the eclectic mix of Eastern European vampires, a fake French village and conical hats.
But I’m also a bit of a weirdo. I enjoyed seeing Southeast Asian tourism culture in action. We have a different attitude and mentality in the west when we’re tourists, and I had far too much fun people-watching and spotting these differences. If you’ve ever thought that we take far too many selfies, then you haven’t seen tourism out here.
There’s a veritable sea of selfie sticks poking above the crowd. Huge crowds of people push their way through the already jammed parks, painfully unaware of the disruption they’re causing. Most people hardly ever yielded for those posing to take photos, and understandably so. You wouldn’t get anywhere if you waited for those in front of you to finish taking photos.
Even eating in the buffet was a people-watching paradise. The poor buffet layout placed plates throughout the buffet line. Add in the Southeast Asian culture of not waiting in lines, and you had people just cramming their way into any part of the buffet line without any semblance of order. When grabbing food from the trays, many guests would use the tongs and then abscond with them, apparently oblivious that those behind them would need those tongs to serve themselves. Then you would see an exasperated waiter chase them down and politely ask return to the tongs to their original position.
It was an absolute delight for me to walk and around and watch how people behave in a different culture, but I definitely understand that’s not an experience most people would pay so much money for.
The Bottom Line
Is a trip to Ba Na Hills for you?
Here’s what I think most people should consider:
- Is time or money not an issue?
- Do you enjoy taking selfies?
- Do you enjoy people-watching and keeping an eye out for cultural oddities?
- Do you want to see more than just the Golden Bridge?
- Are you okay with just taking in the sights?
If you answered yes to at least four of these questions, then it’s probably worth your time. If these don’t interest you, then save the trip for another visit or don’t worry about it. After all, it’s far from the “must-see” attraction you’ve been hearing about.
And if you do go and don’t enjoy the place, hopefully the beer garden will be open so you can drown your boredom.
People come and go, but a good hefeweizen is forever
Until next time.