Danang’s Best Tour? This Might Be It!

I came to Da Nang for a Grounded Life get-together, a meetup for retirement-age travelers, and decided to show up about a week early. I’m really glad I did. Other folks had the same idea, and I’d made new friends before the event even started. One of our first outings together was this tour: Lady Buddha, the Marble Mountains and the Am Phu Caves.

I don’t remember the exact price, but it wasn’t bad. If you’d like to take the same tour, here’s the Lady Buddha, Marble Mountains and Am Phu Caves tour (affiliate link: it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps support the channel).

Lady Buddha (Linh Ung Pagoda). The temple was a beautiful start to the day. The views from the mountain stretch out over the coast, and it works in reverse too: the statue is lit up at night, and you can see it from all over the area, even from your hotel room. Fun fact, according to our guide: the Lady Buddha is neither a lady nor a Buddha. I wish I’d taken better notes, so you’ll have to ask him when you take the tour. He was a pretty funny guy. There’s also a sign warning that the monkeys bite. Good advice. Keep your distance.

Marble Mountains and the Am Phu Caves. My one piece of advice for this part: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. It was hot, and there are a lot of stairs (roughly 200 up and down). The Am Phu Cave takes you through its “hell” and “heaven” sections, and our group had plenty of fun with that along the way. It’s an interesting place, but make sure you’re hydrated before you go in. It was hot and humid inside the cave.

There’s an elevator for part of the climb, and a few of us happily became the “elevator bandits” on the way back down. We finished the day the right way: smoothie time.

Before you book: the tour takes most of the day, so plan accordingly, and dress for warm weather. If money isn’t an issue, look into a private tour; I believe they offer those as well.

Sometimes it’s not about the destination or even the journey. It’s the people you’re with. I had a great time that week, and I can’t wait to see everybody again.