Bana Hills, do we or don’t we? Mixed reviews .
10.3.23
Crambled eggs for breakfast.
Thuy booked us a car to collect us to go to Bana Hills at 8am, we get picked up again there at 5pm.
We took a pack of cards in case it was really naff. We’ve seen posters, it looks a bit Disney but so many people said we should do it, including Thuy.
It’s an hour away from Hoi An.
We had originally booked Coco Island Villa until yesterday and planned our last few days to be in Danang and going from there, but instead we extended our stay in Hoi An by another 3 nights as the distance to Ba Na is almost the same and we were so happy here. Thuy gave us a panic, bless her, she had taken it off Bookings system and we were scared there were no rooms left! It’s lovely and quiet at Coco Island Villa, the beds are wonderful, the rooms are huge, the garden is really pretty and the staff are so lovely. Taxis are very cheap too, Grab are almost half a normal taxi price.
We loved it, yes it’s a trek to town, although it seemed shorter each time and I loved that snapshot of local life.
No joy making friends with Pluto dog yet, although I saved him some meat and he likes the dog biscuits I’ve been carrying around everywhere.
Most of the local dogs don’t like them, not sure they’ve seen packet dog food before.
The car arrived on time and we arrived at Ba Na hills shortly after 9am. The lovely sedate driver took a photo of us and showed us where to be at 5pm.
It was our most expensive day trip, at one million dong, £15, for the return car journey, plus £32 each entrance ticket, but still a fraction of the price of booking it as an organised tour, with more freedom and no waiting around for other people.
First impressions weren’t great although the landscaping after the ticket office was nice.
We were offered fast track tickets for an extra £10.50 each and warned we may have to wait an hour for a cable car. We decided to take our chances.
We dodged a round one tour group and were on the cars virtually straight way. Anyone planning a visit, don’t pay the extra!
The first thing is lots of escalators to reach the start of the cable car to the top of the 1400m mountain.
It’s in the Guiness Book of Records as the longest and fastest cable car.
There are 4 cable car stations which seem to operate depending on demand and more being built.
We’d been warned not to bother going if it was cloudy and to avoid the weekend.
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and the number of people was no issue.
It’s all owned by Sunworld, the same as the cable car we didn’t end up doing in the fog in Sa Pa.
The station and the landscaping are equally fabulous as Sa Pa.
At the top we got out of the cable car and were in a French village!
A Notre Dame replica Cathedral, French streets, music, cars and incredible buildings. It was surreal and a little crazy.
Lauren and I went on the chairoplanes.
It was so funny as it was 99% adults having the best time. So much squealing 😂
The buildings continued to surprise and impress us.
After a German section were some replica temples, we’re convinced one was a copy of part of what we saw in the huge Tam Coc complex with the enormous bell, pagodas too amid beautiful flowers and trees.
We made our way to the winery area, an original French 1923 cellar and a scale model of the dining room and storage areas. It was so hard to understand how people got up there all those years ago.
All of the tour guide brochures mentioned group lunches at 1pm, so we timed our trip to the Golden Bridge for then knowing there would be less people around.
It was fabulous, the main thing we wanted to see and it didn’t disappoint one bit.
Fabulous.
The lava funicular goes from Mystery Station to a castle with gargoyles and statues.
This part was obviously new and not very authentic or inspiring but then we went up a level and found a 4D cinema.
Ohhh the fun and laughter. Just brilliant.
There was also a 3D experience where we flew over different cities from around the world. The effects were amazing.
It’s such a strange concept up there, it works, but plays with your head, in a good way.
The temple areas were amazing. It was difficult to know if they were genuinely old and had always been there or if they’re fake.
More fabulous landscaping
John thoroughly enjoyed the luge. Lauren & I were nervous of doing it. It did look fun and I kind of wish I’d been braver having seen how over cautious and slow some people were.
Just as John was whizzing around the mist started to come in really fast.
He would like to have done the 2nd one, but they closed it due to poor visibility.
We then discovered fantasy land and it’s 5D cinema.
After queuing we went in and discovered we were all sitting on individual horses, with guns to join in the film and shoot the targets!
After 2 rounds I had a big fat zero score, whilst Lauren and Johns were in the 1000s.
I had no idea what I was supposed to be shooting at.
After round 3 I had 500 points, Lauren was way ahead and explained we were supposed to shoot at the number corresponding to our horse number everytime it popped up.
Oh! No time to have another go as we needed to leave fantasy land and get a cable car back to the bottom.
There was just enough time to see some dinosaurs and then try Vietnamese doughnuts. The filling was mung bean paste. Unusual but weirdly nice.
The day had flown by and we loved it despite our misgivings. We definitely didn’t need our pack of cards.
At the main French village the cable car queue was very long. We nipped back across to the luge and got a different one, with no queue.
At the bottom we waited over 20 minutes for our driver. John kept pacing around looking for the car. It was white..
Same car, different guy arrived, he was clearly trying to make up for being late, we didn’t like the car drive at all. He was even opening messenger photos, cropping and forwarding while driving fast.
He dropped us at the tailor. My popper was in the wrong place, so now the waist was crooked. Quickly remedied. Laurens other dress now has the split in the right place and her trousers were so fab she decided to have another pair made.
Cutting it fine, only one more full day left here. 😭
We had dinner along by the river, not far from the Japanese bridge. We picked a selection not dissimilar to what we had at Bale Well, with some noodles, pretty tasty but not quite as good, but a beautiful location.
Got a Grab back to the hotel, no time for cards, way too tired.
I don’t think I’ll be bothering to go up our cable car in Fethiye again, it is just nothing in comparison to what Sunworld have achieved and judging from the cranes and work going on, continuing to achieve. There are 2 hotels up there too, maybe 4, not certain, but a 2 day pass will likely be needed in future.
Yet another fabulous day.
Anyone in doubt should give Ba Na a visit, they’ll be pleasantly surprised. The concept is so strange you can’t help but have the biggest smiles.
So much about today didn’t make sense.
What drugs was the creator on?
Whoever thought a French Village, fun park areas and temples up a mountain were a good idea?
Crazy, but it worked. 😍
