SUN WORLD BA NA HILLS
Saying Vietnam makes you say "WTF" every single day, with the sights and just how the country is, would be an understatement. Sun World Ba Na Hills is another perfect example of that.
We did a last-minute booking and got taken up and brought back by the Sala Hotel — Tram, their very helpful and friendly concierge, sorted the whole thing, and there was no difference in price booking it through the hotel versus anywhere else.
For around $65 NZD you get entry and a ride on the Guinness World Record cable car — the longest non-stop single-track cable car in the world, climbing nearly 1,400 metres up the mountain in one unbroken run. Add the roller coaster ticket on top if you can — still super cheap. You get up the mountain and your jaw just keeps dropping the whole way.
At the top is a full European village built into the mountainside — French chateaux, a Gothic cathedral, cobbled streets, the works. It's genuinely bizarre and brilliant in equal measure. Must, must, must do.
Scattered through the grounds are these enormous stone giant sculptures, half-buried in the mountain — genuinely impressive scale, and worth building time in just to wander around and find them all.
Dave, our head rugby coach for the mighty Banks Peninsula Rugby Club, won the German beer hall drinking competition against the other Dave, Glenn, a German, an Argentinian, a Japanese guy and a Korean. Skull a litre and get crowned King of Sun World, with all the fanfare that comes with it — he walked away with a giant sausage and another litre of dark beer for his troubles.
If you want to really commit, it's 250,000 VND (about $16 NZD) for all-you-can-drink — as long as you don't leave the beer area. This whole zone was great just to walk around, eat, and play in the amusement area.
Then there's the Golden Bridge — the walkway held up by two giant hands reaching out of the mountain. Whoever thought this up, and why, we have no idea, but it's all so cool. Opened back in 2018, it's become one of the most photographed spots in the country, and you'll see exactly why the moment you're standing on it.
Ba Na Hills also has its own replica of Rome's Trevi Fountain, complete with gold statues and horses — another one of those "only in Vietnam" moments. This is genuinely a whole day up there, and worth every hour of it.
← ALL CHAPTERS
