Friday – April 3, 2026 – Da Nang
When we were looking at the excursions for this trip last Summer, a picture of this bridge and these hands was displayed when we came to the port of Da Nang. At the time there wasn’t a description given so we didn’t know what excursion would include them. Once on the ship we found out the bridge is named the Golden Bridge and the hands are located in an amusement park named Sun World Ba Na Hills. We booked the excursion to be able to see the hands holding the Golden Bridge and were lucky to secure places before the excursion sold out.
My only association with the name Da Nang was as a key city during the Vietnam war in the late 1960’s. I had no idea what to expect when we arrived here. Over 50 years of time can erase many of the signs of conflict – and they certainly did here. I saw no signs of the Vietnam war. What I did see was a nice beach, lots of scooters and pickleball! On the way to our excursion destination I did see some rice paddies – the only thing I remember being mentioned in the news reports from Vietnam in the 60’s.
Our first stop of the excursion was billed as a rest stop and place for souvenirs. The rest stop was accurate but the second part of the description was not entirely correct. The was a place that wanted to sell everything pearl. There was a video about pearls (if you wanted to watch it – which I did not – already having seen something like that in Cabo San Lucas). When leaving the viewing room you entered a large sales area with pearls. There were no other souvenirs. So I went outside to people watch. The store was located at a “T” intersection with no traffic signs or signals. It was amazing to watch the drivers/riders as they approached and navigated the intersection. I believe it would take some time to get accustomed to this kind of traffic control. One of the best moves was when a tour bus came up the upright of the “T” and made a U-turn (blocking all the cross traffic) before driving down the upright. There are a couple photos in the gallery from this intersection.
We drove 20-30 minutes from the pearl store to our next destination – Sun World Ba Ha Hills. Our admission to the resort was included in the price of the excursion. When we were given the receipt to allow us to enter, I was shocked to see the price – 1,000,000 VND (Vietnamese Dong). That is roughly $38. We boarded a cable car that is billed as the world’s longest non-stop at just over 19,000 feet. The ride rises to around 4,900 feet. As we approached the summit, we could see the hands of the Golden Bridge come into view. You’ll see lots of photos of the bridge and hands in today’s gallery.
Once on top we found Yvonne and Carl and spent some time with them exploring the spots at the top of the mountain. There was more construction that looked like it would add substantially to the rooms available (like Disney has done at its facilities in Florida). We went to several of the spots on the top but didn’t have time to try the rides. Nor did we find a restaurant with anything more than fast food. We found some t-shirts with the bridge and bought them as our souvenir of the day. Hopped on the cable car going down and spent the ride with 2 couples – 1 couple from Idaho and 1 couple from Oregon. Took a photo of them and gave it to them via AirDrop (also a copy in the gallery).
Once down we looked for a place to eat – didn’t find anything but did get gelato for Kelsey. When our bus arrived, we waited and waited and waited. This shouldn’t have been an issue because our guide had everyone give her their cell numbers so she could contact them if needed. There was 1 person missing from our excursion. He didn’t respond when she tried to reach him and didn’t tell anyone where he might be. We waited almost an hour and finally got approval to return to the ship.
On the drive back to the port, I was able to get a few photos of small shops. One that seemed unusual was a combination barber and café – haven’t seen anything like that back at home. The thing that astounded me was the number of scooters in Da Nang – they were everywhere! The last tourist sight of today was the Dragon Bridge. Our guide had told us earlier that we would have a chance to stop and take photos but because we were late we simply drove over the bridge.
P.S. Turns out the missing passenger made his way back to the ship without letting anyone know – how thoughtful!
View the gallery here.