Sun World Ba Na Hills

Today we are heading to Sun World Ba Na Hills. It’s a a huge Vietnamese amusement park and originally our main purpose is to visit the Golden Hands Bridge.  But after doing a bit more research, we realize that there’s a lot more to the park than just the bridge. So we’re excited to check it out today. After a hearty hotel breakfast we hop into a Grab car for the hour long journey from Hoi An to Ba Na Hills.

Sun World Ba Na Hills

After arriving and purchasing our tickets, we see  this very elaborate entrance gate. Walking towards the gate you almost feel like you’re heading towards an architectural site instead of an amusement park. But then you see these beer festival and sunflower decorations and its just a weird contrast. Little did I know that this will be a common theme throughout the day.

Cable Car Network

After walking through the gate, we need to make our way to the cable car stations. Sun World Cable Car system is an award winning series of cable cars that not only connect the park at the top of the hill with multiple ground stations. But it also connects different parts of the park occupying different peaks on the hill.  To get to the stations, you walk through a very elaborate courtyard that looks and feels like monastery grounds rather than a simple pathway. In fact along the way you can even stop off at a temple to explore if you wanted. Once you board, it takes roughly 20-30 minutes to get to the top. You are afforded some spectacular views of hill and of Da Nang and the valley below as well.

Sun World French Village

Upon disembarking from the cable car, I’m very surprised to find myself in Sun World’s French Village. I had seen some pictures of this in my initial research, but I didn’t expect it to be this elaborate. It’s literally an entire European town built at the top of a hill in Vietnam. It’s very elaborate and very detailed but there’s still pockets of random art that doesn’t quite fit with the European theme. I think its safe to say that The Sister and I spend our first few moments wandering the streets of the French village with a sense of amazement and bewilderment. There’s a lot of asking each other “what is going on?” or “why is this here?” But its also an oddly satisfying experience because its so unique and so unexpected!

Near the end of the village is a small area where there is a small collection of rides that are included with your admission. The Sister and I decide to hop on the swing ride as its something we have at home and seems pretty tame. Boy were we wrong! Maybe safety thresholds are a little looser in Vietnam because we both felt this one flew a little faster than what felt comfortable!

Sun World Spiritual Path

Nearby to the swing ride is a path that leads to the Ba Na Hills Summit. It’s also an area of Sun World that’s deemed the “Spiritual” area of the park. There’s a collection of different shrines, monasteries and temples along the path. At first the Sister and I anticipated a more serious tone to this part of the park. However, as with all things at Sun World we soon realize that there is an element of randomness even to this part of the park. As statues of turtles, squirrels, and monks line the path to the top. Even the buildings are replicas of actual spiritual buildings and you soon realize that none of it is actual real, let alone serious. I’m starting to get a grasp of this place!

Nha Hang Viet

After coming down from the summit, our thoughts turn to lunch. Like other amusement parks, Sun World offers a wide variety food options. However, seeing as this is only our second day in Vietnam, the Sister and I opt for the Vietnamese option, Nha Hang Viet. Given this is Vietnam, its not as busy as the other restaurants serving international fare. We didn’t mind one bit as the food is still very good!

Pop Mart

After lunch we continue exploring this wild and wacky place. We head towards this huge looking castle which has this cool anime character perched atop. As we get closer we realize that the castle itself is a huge Pop Mart store. I’m not a big Pop Mart person myself, but the mix of this very current cultural store inside a very medieval looking castle needs to be checked out! So we spend a little time exploring this multi floor store. I didn’t end up buying anything but overall this store simply adds to the theme of the pure randomness of this entire Sun World experience!

Eclipse Square

From the pop mart store we continue on our Journey towards Eclipse Square. It’s this very elaborate plaza which actually looks beautiful! But I’m not entirely sure what its meant for. This particular area looks to generally be a gathering point. If you move beyond this area towards Luna Castle, you’ll see some greenery and eventually a booth or two that could be used for retail or food. But Overall this area looks to simply be a nice artistic space. On the day of our visit, it’s also quite foggy which adds an additional sense of mystery to the square which I happen to quite enjoy!

Rainbow Road

Adjacent to the square is an interesting winding path that on a paper map is called “Rainbow Road”. On the map it “looks” like you can walk it and wrap around to get to the castle. So the Sister and I start making our way down in the fog. We can’t quite see the end, but catch glimpses of the really cool design elements of the area, like faces on the cliff side. As we near the end we unceremoniously discover that the road simply just ends at a service road. There’s nothing preventing guests from going down this road. Why is it even on the map if it leads to nowhere?! Defeated, the sister and I trek back up the stairs we just came down. On the way up, there seems to be a common set of questions, “why and what is this place?” Later in the day, on a cable car ride, we get a pretty good view of the actual road in its entirety and the dead end and simply shake our heads.

Luna Castle

Instead of taking the Rainbow Road side to the Luna Castle, we take the normal walking path. This path brings you through the front courtyard of the castle before you arrive at the castle entrance. To say that its very grand is probably an understatement. It’s beautiful and I’m genuinely impressed by how everything is laid out! From the beautiful greenery to the human forms carved into the rock that the castle sits on. It’s really elaborate. So it makes the anticipation of entering the castle all that much more interesting.

With great anticipation of entering the castle. I can only say that what we find inside only reinforces the general theme of the day. “This place makes no sense”. The first thing we see is a carnival game in the lobby of the castle. Where you would expect some kind of grand ball room or entry way you get games and coin operated massage chairs. Then there are these huge swaths of empty unused space all over the interior of the castle. There are two big theatres, a 4d theatre showing a German animated short and an airship theatre which is moving platform with a screen.  That’s about all that’s inside this castle. For something SO GRAND looking on the outside, the inside is so not what I expected it to be. Which, at this point, really feels par for the course.

Suncraft Beer

At this point the Sister and I needed a drink. Thankfully as part of our admission, Sun World gives you two free samples of their Suncraft beer! So we make our way back to the French Village where a section of it seems to be dedicated to Suncraft Beer as “Beer Plaza“. It seems odd there’s a whole area that’s focused on alcohol where even a ride is beer themed. We head into the main brew hall and find a seat and redeem our free drinks. It must be the complimentary drinks but the entire hall is packed so it kind of makes it a pretty festive atmosphere!

Halfway through our drinks, music started piping through entire building. Then this Vietnamese man in a German yodelers outfit started singing and dancing to a Gangnam Style which is a Korean Kpop song from over a decade ago. Saying the Sister and I are confused is an understatement. But it certainly is entertaining and fits with the general theme of our Sun World experience so far.

Golden Bridge

After some drinks, its finally time for us to visit the Golden Bridge. We hop on a cable car and head the peak where the bridge is. There’s a crowd, but the bridge comes as advertised. The bridge is made from a gold-like metal and two concrete hands are holding it up. It’s obviously unnatural, very unique, clearly touristy and very weird. The hands look like they jut out from the mountain and really don’t belong! Personally I’m glad to experience attraction and feel like it aligns with the overall theme of the amusement park. However, I think the entire experience of the park is much more valuable than just the bridge itself.  I think a lot of people come just for the bridge. But I actually enjoy the park as a whole more simply from the randomness and the confusion and bewilderment that stems from it! So for others that would be my recommendation: Come for bridge, stay for the park!

Alpine Coaster

As its nearing the end of the day, we start to to make our way back to one of the cable car stations that will take us back down to the base of the hill. However, we pass by one of the Sun World Alpine Coasters and it catches the Sister’s eye. She’s never done it before and wants to give it a try! So we line up and give it a shot! Being able to try new things especially after a day of so many firsts is a great way to put an exclamation point on a pretty stellar day at this crazy park!

And with the conclusion of the Alpine Coaster, we head back down the hill and hop into a Grab Car again for the long ride back to Hoi An. We spend a little time decompressing at our hotel before our thoughts turn to food.

Chau Kitchen and Bar

For dinner we decide to head to Chau Kitchen and Bar. It’s a cool Vietnamese Fusion restaurant and we order a variety of different rolls and dishes for dinner. We try to sample different items and even get to make our own wraps too. All our food offerings are delicious and most of our dinner conversation is like a debrief about our experiences at Sun World. We still can’t get over the craziness of that place and now we’re wondering if all Vietnamese theme parks are like this. I am thinking that I may have to make a return trip just to target other theme parks in the future if its true!