Guide to visiting Vietnam Golden Bridge (Hand Giant Bridge) at Ba Na hills

Vietnam Golden Bridge, also known as Giant Hand Bridge or Cau Vang in Vietnamese, has recently gone viral across the world since it was first unveiled to the public in June 2018. It is the latest attraction at the Sun World Ba Na Hills fantasy amusement park. Follow us to check out what are best attractions at the Golden Bridge Ba Na Hills and How & When to get there for the unrivaled photo shoot?    

Where is the Golden Hand Bridge?

Da Nang city in Vietnam is well-known among Vietnam as the city of bridges with many impressive bridges along the Han River. And the Golden Bridge is the youngest one added to Da Nang’s bridge collection, yet it soon has become an unmissable symbol of Da Nang and a highlight of the Da Nang tour.

Location: Golden Bridge is located in Thien Thai Garden of Sun World Ba Na Hills.
Ba Na Hills, 35 kilometers southeast from Da Nang, is a famous hill station and resort. Unlike normal stations built on the ground, Ba Na Hills is located 1,489 meters high on Nui Chua Mountain.

Photo: Instagram @talrevivo

The bridge is 150 meters in length and 12.8 meters in width with 8 apertures of which the longest one is 21.2 meters. What impresses the travelers the most is the giant hand covered with moss lifting the bridge from the verdant hill. According to TA Landscape Architecture – the company that designed the bridge, the giant hand alludes to the mountain god, and the bridge represents the yellow silk that instructs the villagers to find Thien Thai garden. (Thien Thai means the Heaven)

How to get to the Golden bridge Vietnam?

The Golden Bridge is on the top of a mountain in Ba Na Hills and is only accessible by cable car. The cable cars all run from Sun World, meaning the only way to get to the bridge is by buying a ticket to visit Sun World (a franchise of theme parks in Vietnam).

Transportation mode from Da Nang center/Hoi An to Ba Na Hills foot:

It is a 40 minutes drive from Da Nang city center or one hour from Hoi An and pretty straight forward to get to. Some transportation mode from Da Nang city to Ba Na hill foot:

• By motorbike:

The condition of the road is excellent and they are relatively quiet, so you could ride a motorbike to Sun World from Da Nang or Hoi An. You can’t get bored during one hour drive to Ba Na hill as there would be many marvelous sceneries of long beach, verdant jungle, local life along the road to admire.
You can hire a motorbike at your hotel at a very reasonable price – about 80,000 VND (3.44 USD) to 150,000 VND (6.45 USD) for a day.

Photo: Road to Bana Hills foot

• By shuttle bus:

The shuttle bus from Da Nang center to the Ba Na Hills foot runs in the morning from 8am and returns to Da Nang in the afternoon with latest one at 4:30pm, with drop-off and pick-up at your hotel. This is a good option for those who can’t ride motorbike yet also want to save money. The price ranges from 120,000 VND to 150,000 VND for a two-way ticket and 100,000 VND for a one-way ticket. You can call the bus office to book the tickets or ask your hotel to book for you

Shuttle Bus contact:
Da Nang Xanh: 0511 247 555 or 0511 650 6789
Da Thanh Travel: 0236 263 8638 or 0905 516 026 or 0905 516 026
City Tour Da Nang: 0905 777 229 or 0935 434 335

Fewer shuttle buses operate from Hoi An to Ba Na Hills foot, but you will still be able to find a great deal at the travel agents around Hoi An. Price is supposed to be around 200,000 to 250,000 VND ($8.50 to $10.90 USD) per person for a return ticket.

• By taxi:

The price from the center of Da Nang to Ba Na Hills foot ranges from 350,000 VND to 500,000 VND each way, depending on the type of taxi. You can go with your team to save money.

Some reliable taxi company in Da Nang:
Vinasun taxi: 0236 368 6868
Mai Linh taxi: 0236 356 5656
Tien Sa taxi: 0236 379 7979

• By Private transfer 

Many trusty car rentals in Da Nang can offer you private care for rent or private transfer service upon your wish. With this option, it’s worry-free and more time for you to explore all attractions around the Golden Bridge.

• Book a joining or private tour

By joining a tour, they will take care all for you from transport from your hotel to the Ba Na Hills, entrance (cable car) fee, lunch and a guided tour of some of the Ba Na Hills’ most sought-after attractions. With a tour guide, your trip should be more interesting with many stories about the city and the local’s lives here.

Board on the cable car to get to the Golden Bridge:

Once arrived at the foot of the Ba Na Hills, proceed through the entrance to purchase a ticket for the park. The Golden Bridge is located on top of Ba Na Hills, so cable car is the only way to reach it. Ticket prices are 750,000 VND ($33 USD) for an adult and 600,000 VND ($26.50 USD) for a child between 1m and 1.3m in height. Walk through to the Hoi An Station, where the longest cable car (over 5km) in the world awaits.

Queue for the pod and step in when it arrives. The cable car is about 17 minutes and arrives at the ‘Marseilles Station’. Along the way, it passes above gorgeous verdant scenery and provides excellent views down below to Da Nang’s My Khe Beach and the urban expanse of the city. 

Note: The entrance ticket includes most of the service in Ba Na Hills park: round-trip cable car, the Golden Bridge, French village, Fantasy Park, Linh Ung Pagoda on the mountain, Debay Wine Cellar the Le Jardin D’Amour Flower Garden.

Photo: Cable car to Ba Na Hills

From the circular arrival room of the Marseilles Station, you can exit directly onto the Golden Bridge and begin your walk along its 150 metres of wooden walkways, flanked by lavender and coated from the bottom and the handrails in a royal gold. As soon as you walk out the cable car’s doors you’ll realise that they couldn’t have picked a better spot.

Time to visit the Golden Bridge in Vietnam?

Timing is everything with the Golden Bridge and every minute counts. You can never tell what the weather will be. Even if it’s clear on the ground, the bridge can be surrounded by clouds and fogs.

If you desire to have the best shoot with fewer people on the bridge, then you’d better be on the first cable car at 7am. Although the early morning may have mist which actually made it more atmospheric, you still could see clear skies later. It really is worth it to set your alarm and go early, let the photos do the talking…..

It’s safe to say that this is one of the most crowded places to visit in Vietnam, especially at the weekend and during the peak tourism season from April to September. 

Photo: The bridge at 7.15am – Photo: walkmyworld

Photo: And 9am

Those who don’t fancy making such an early start can stay overnight in the heart of Ba Na Hills. The Mercure French Village is set in a section of the theme park that is only a very short cable car away from the Golden Bridge. Plenty of restaurants available around the hotel as well.

Tips for travel to the Golden Bridge in Vietnam:

• Tickets are available only on the day you book.
• The ticket includes activities such as cable car, the train ride, the garden, the wine cellar, the French village, and almost every game in the Fantasy Park for guests to explore and enjoy.
• The first cable car is at 7 AM and the last one is at 9 PM.
• It takes you about 6 hours to fully discover Ba Na Hills.
• Bring a light jacket and an umbrella in case needed. 

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Abnormal Special Economic Zone in the Golden Triangle

It is currently 9 am and it is still boisterous here. What can be seen here is some overnight die – hards are making bets at the gambling tables while the exhausted ones are taking small naps nearby. This is Kings Romans, a splendid casino with a huge golden crown on the top, is located on the side of Laos along the Mekong River. The casino owned by a Chinese in Ton Pheung district is a 10,000 square meter leisure centre called ‘Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone’. The other two nations in the Golden Triangle are Thailand and Myanmar, which are just on the opposite bank of the river. These two countries have long been known for organizing illegal activities consist of human trafficking, weapons smuggling and rare animals trafficking.

The establishment of the casino is an attempt made by the Government of Laos with an aim to make profit from an activity which is considered to be illegal in China but Laotian’s favorite.

This is such great news to the Chinese who love gambling but cannot be satisfied in their country.

However, with 24 hours open per day and all days in the week, Kings Romans gains a stable number of gamblers form China. Chinese gamblers have been regarded as among the world best gamblers when always come back with suitcases full of cash.

A hostess at the casino expressed surprise when she saw Chinese gamblers stayed at the gambling table for one or two day playing nonstop.

Special Economic Zone looks like a small replica of China. All of the clocks here are set to Beijing time, yuan is the main currency and the mostly used language here is Chinese.

It is quite surprise to know that not many employees here are Laotian. Most of them are from Myanmar and China.

For the country which is landlocked and poor like Laos, the casino is such a valuable source of income. The zone is a great way for Laos to gain money from China. What a profound investment.

However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, this investment comes hand – in – hand with the serious damages on the environment and the lack of land for other projects.

Observers stated that the Special Economic Zone had now turned into the place where people used to wash dirty money from China.

The Golden Triangle has been popular for producing drugs for long times. It used to produce the drug that is the second most sought drug in the world.

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Nha Trang welcomes ‘night beachgoers’

Although there are still safety concerns, Vietnam will zone Nha Trang beach for night swimming.

As reported, the local authorities have just granted permission for a company to zone the beach to serve the locals and tourists who are in favor of swimming at night.

Normally, people are not encouraged to swim at beaches in Vietnam after 6 pm since the lifeguards are not on duty at that time.

The company who applied for the permissions asserted that there would be lights, lifeguards and lifeboats to make sure that the beach was safe for swimming when night falls. And the zone is said to be near the hotels.

Mr. Le Huy Toan, the deputy chairman of Nha Trang, declared that the company would have to go through trial time.

He stated that the company had to hire bodyguards and install lighting systems in order to make sure that beachgoers were safe. The beach area used for trial will be the one near 32 – 34 Tran Phu Hotel.

There are to be no entrance fee and the night beach will be open for both tourists and the locals. It is not sure by which way the company earns profits.

Nha Trang beach, located on the South coast of Vietnam, is a wide known beach.

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Myanmar has to face tourism issues

Myanmar is going to have to face a rise in orphanages and child sex tourism. These are the emerging issues in not only Myanmar but also the Mekong countries.

According to the recent tourism’s influence appraisal conducted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, children are really susceptible to the negative influence generated from tourism. What can be learned from the neighboring countries, especially Thailand and Cambodia is that we should put more focus on raising the awareness of both tourists and tour operators.

Mr. Naung Naung Han, a member of Myanmar Tourism Federation executive stated that

Child sex tourism was a problem in the country but not really a huge one yet. He also said the issue needed to be controlled before it got more serious.

He has just gave a speech at a golf tournament where the golfers requested young female partner from a KTV which recruited young girl from the age of 14 to 16 years old for sexual services. He declared that child sex was illegal but the case was that there was no law about it at KTVs.

The rapid expansion of tourism had a bad influence on not only children but also the environment.

There is a suggestion that the Government make up plans to control the bad influence that tourism has on the children and the environment.

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Ho Chi Minh City issued law prohibiting pets on walking street

A list of what you can and what you cannot do at Nguyen Hue Street, the street which is for pedestrians only has just been issued by Ho Chi Minh City government. What seems quite strange is that there is also a rule says no pets on the street.

The government also forbids inline skating, selling coffee and having picnic on the walking treet.

This 19.7 million USD walking street is a brand new tourist site in Ho Chi Minh City. The street was open to the public on April 29^th this year as an event to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the end of war.

In order to celebrate the 125^th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, the most beloved President of Vietnam, a statue of him was placed on the street on May 17^th.

There are 160 wooden benches have been set up along the street. All of the benches were made of the wood from the centuries – old trees in front of Saigon Opera House. Last July, these trees were cut down for the construction of the new subway station.

The city has welcomed more than 2 million international visits in the first half of this year. Most of the tourists are from South Korea,ASEAN countries, Japan, and the USA.

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Angkor failed to attract European tourists

APSARA (which stands for Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap) has just reported that over one million foreign visitors had come to Angkor Watt. This represents a rise of 2% compared to the same period in the previous year.

                   

The total revenue gained from selling Angkor tickers reached 34 million USD after the first seven months of this year.

Mr. Long Kosal, the spokesman of Aspara Authority believes that the fear for the outbreak of MERS is to be to blame for the fall in the number of European visitors.

However, it seems that the economic depression in Europe is much more related to the decrease. Cambodia is not the only country that has been affected by the crisis. The other ASEAN countries have also recorded the decreases in the number of European visitors.

In contrary to the fall in the number of European tourists, tourists from Asian countries seem to be in favor of Angkor. They don’t have to pay too much for the park tickets and stay in Siem Reap for only one night. This shows a huge difference between European tourists and the Asian ones. The European visitors are always eager to learn more about the Cambodia’s history and culture and they spend a whole day exploring just one temple.

Apasra did not mention how much of 34 million USD goes to the areas which are lack of elementary infrastructure and clean water.

The Angkor Archeological Park is an attractive tourist sites, which is even more famous than the ecotourism destinations and the coastal regions.

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Cambodia failed to meet tourism targets

Because of the bad global economic outlook, Cambodian tourism will fail to reach its goal of 5 million visits this year.

Mr. Thong Khon, the Minister of Cambodian Tourism, concerns that the nation’s tourism might be badly influenced by the negative global economic situation and other factors such as the crisis in Russia’s economy, terrorism and the outbreak of MERS.

He also noted that the nation might not be able to reach its goals this year.

A liberal visa policy has been recommended by tourism experts. There are also recommendations suggesting visa discounts and single – visa program valid for ASEAN countries. However, it takes quite a long time before these recommendations are made real. Not until October will the visa exemptions have positive influence on the country’s tourism.

However, there is a way to achieve this target. The saviors are visitors from China but the prices need to be more competitive. More charter flights might be required and Chinese travel agents might also expect discounts in the prices of room in the heritage city.

The recently released data has shown a significant increase of 4.3% in the number of international visitors to the country this year.

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Myanmar’s Bank for tourism is waiting for approval

A new Tourism Development Bank in Myanmar has been kept waiting for the permission from the Central Bank. The new bank is established with an aim to finance tourism SMEs and travel projects.
Mr. Than Tin, the managing director of Myanmar Tourism Bank, stated that he had hoped that they would get the license in May but the Central Bank had not approved the permission yet.

He also added that if permitted, there would be not only one bank in Nay Pyi Taw but also two others in Yangon and Mandalay.

The new bank will help travel companies with their technology and finance. The first bank is established in the capital city probably because travel projects need to be approved by the Government.

The government has previously approved the establishment of a public company formed to sell shares and manage and join tourism – related events.

This project is believed to be not only devoted to tourism but also to those related projects.
Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Statistics has released the statistics showing that the country has earned more than USD920 million from tourism in 2013 and over USD 1 billion in 2014.

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B&Bs in Myanmar

There are going to be bed and breakfast establishments opened in the remote regions of Myanmar once the tourism law was passed.

The first B&B might appear in Thandaung Gyi, a small beautiful town in the North of Kayin State.
Mr. U Win Kyaw, the Minister of Tourism Department in Hpa-an, Kayin State, told the local media that there had already been some operators ready to offer B&Bs. 7 operators in Thandaung Gyi are ready to offer guests B&Bs. He also added that B&Bs were advised to be located separately from houses and there had to be at least 4 rooms for tourist to accommodate conveniently.

Mr. Myo Win Nyunt, the director of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, stated that the tourism law hadn’t been submitted yet and the Ministry didn’t have the right to issue licences for B&Bs.

However, if the Immigration Department or the Government approved, B&Bs can be opened as long as they are located away from cities and hotels.

This idea of B&Bs is sure to boost Tourism in this country since this would be a perfect choice for visitors with tight budgets.

Mr. U Khin Aung Htun, the joint secretary of Myanmar Tourism Federation, recommended that B&Bs be allowed in Chin states, Kayah and Shan, where the locals would love to provide such type of travel service.

However, these B&B establishments will have to be checked carefully by the authorities to make sure that they satisfy the standards of sanitary and safety.

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The need to extend the normal 15 – day visa exemption to Vietnam

Tourism Department in Ho Chi Minh City is about to extend the normal 15 – day visa exemption to the 30 – day one for the five European countries.

According to an unnamed source, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tourism Department is on its way to apply for admission from the the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to extend the length of European tourists’ visa – free stay. The countries that are going to be considered for visa extension are Germany, France, UK, Spain and Italy.

Tourists from Europe are in favor of tours across Vietnam and the Indochina tour which is the combination of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Hence, the 15 – day visa free is quite short. Moreover, during their trip, they normally don’t enter the country once but many times so multiple entries should also be allowed.

European visitors have officially been exempt from visa when traveling to Vietnam since July 1st with an aim to increase the number of visits to the country.

However, travel companies in the city stated that the Government still required fee when visitors wanted to extend their stay in Vietnam beyond 15 days.

They expect to have at least 30 days of visa exemption.

Besides, this new visa exemption program will only be available for one year and this means no long – term plans can be made to boost visits from the 5 mentioned countries.

Currently, citizens from South Korea, Finland, Russia, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Belarus, Sweden and ASEAN countries are exempt from visa when visiting Vietnam.

Vietnam has recorded a decrease of 11.3% in the number of international visitors this year.
Tourism companies believe that the rising cost and complicated visa requirements are main causes of this fall.

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