We took a private transfer for 59 USD from Hue to Hoi An, stopping at Lap An Lagoon, the Hai Van Pass and Marble Mountain.
We left Hue in the direction of Hoi An. There’s a few choices of how to get between the two cities – the simplest is just to take the train (to nearby Danang) or bus straight there, which takes about 3 hours. But then you go through a tunnel and you miss the famous Hai Van Pass (featured on Top Gear) and some other sights along the way. So we splashed out on a private car from Hue Private Cars. I booked the transfer online the day before so it was pretty easy to organise. It cost 59 USD which seemed pricey but it was very comfortable. We also tipped our very friendly driver (Minh) 5 USD which he was over the moon about.
Minh picked us up at our Hue hotel at 10am and took us to our Hoi An homestay where we arrived at about 4.30pm. On the way we stopped at 3 places – Lap An Lagoon, the Hai Van Pass and Marble Mountain.
Lap An Lagoon
Lap An Lagoon was nice enough for a quick photo stop after about an hour of driving, but everyone who’s transferring is being led to the same spot so that the cafe can make some money (the driver had a quick lunch here) and so that the persistent hawkers can try and offload some of their fake euros onto you. It’s nice enough for a wedding shoot, but we could have used a bit more sunshine. Give it a few years and this place will be lined with resorts – there was a lot of construction going on. The lagoon is known for its oyster farming.
Hai Van Pass
About 10 minutes after the lagoon we started on the Hai Van Pass which was pretty disappointing. Again, the weather. We stopped for a photo of Lang Co Beach, and then again at a crumbling French fort that had been used by the Americans during the Vietnam War. But then everyone else was being requested to go and visit these sights too so we did start to feel like we were being herded. The views weren’t great, so we were happy to get on with the journey. Pretty much the highlight was stepping out of the car on the Danang side and feeling the warmth – very strange how it can be instantly 10 degrees warmer.
Marble Mountain
After about another hour’s driving we passed through Danang which was great because it reassured us we didn’t need to stop there – big resort hotels and Korean restaurants everywhere. We asked Minh where we should eat something and he said ‘not here, it’s all overpriced’. It was better to eat at the bottom of Marble Mountain at one of the tourist restaurants. We were fine taking his advice and did just that before then visiting Marble Mountain. You have to pay 40,000d (not included in the transfer) (1.51 EUR) for a ticket, and then you can choose if you walk up (on foot) or pay some more to get the elevator up. We chose to walk – it’s fairly steep but all steps and it was totally doable, if a bit sweaty.
This was definitely the highlight of the transfer. We loved the views from the highest peak, and it’s much bigger than you might think. We spent a couple of hours sticking our heads into caves and pagodas (Minh told us to take however long we liked). There’s also plenty of places to stop and take a break, have a drink or something to eat, and go to the toilet. The only thing that lets the side down is the level of construction that’s going on along the coast. They are really going to concrete the whole thing so that lots more rich Asians can come and have a beach break.
If you feel the urgent need to buy a massive marble Buddha or some other ugly statue then there are plenty of shops at the bottom of Marble Mountain that will sell you one. Apparently the marble is from China though…