We headed off from Hoi An, back to Danang
today to catch our sleeper train to Hanoi, on the way we detoured to Marble
Mountain for a look. Amazing! Prepare yourselves non-geologists for
some geo-geek stuff. The mountains
are made from partly metamorphosed limestone and marble that is now vertically
dipping (see photo!) and when eroded creates small near vertical hills with
caves and fissures all over the place.
The local monks have built some small temples inside and outside the
mountain that take your breath away for location. We climbed up some goat tracks leading through caves to the
top for views of a nice little swell hitting the coast. A lot of the local building stone
comes from this area and many shops on the road to the mountain sell the most
incredible marble carvings; we wanted a big lion to take home but settled for a
photo of a happy Budda instead.
Marble Mountain is highlight of the area for sure, even for
non-geologists.
The
sleeper train was pretty cool, and we got some awesome views as the train wound
its way up into the hills along the coastline between Danang and Hue. Managed to get some sleep before the
train arrived into Hanoi at 4:30am and we caught a dodgy taxi with a driver who
I’m sure is related to Speedy Gonzalez!
