Bach Ma National Park
A French-era hill station, Bach Ma National Park (Vuon Quoc Gia Bach Ma; 871 330; www.bachma.vnn.vn; adult 10, 500d/child 5500d/child under 5 free) reaches a peak of 1450m at Bach Ma mountain, only 18km from the coast. The cooler climate attracted the French, who started building villas here in 1930; by 1937 the number of holiday homes had reached 139 and it became known as the ‘Dalat of central Vietnam’. Most of the visitors were high-ranking French VIPs. Not surprisingly the Viet Minh tried hard to spoil the holiday – the area saw some heavy fighting in the early 1950s. After independence from the French, Bach Ma was soon forgotten and the villas abandoned; today they are in total ruin and only a few stone walls remain

Bach Ma has some stunning views across the coastline near Hai Van Pass, which the Americans used to their advantage: during the war, US troops turned the area into a fortified bunker. The VC did their best to harass the Americans, but couldn’t dislodge them. Between the eerie remains and memories of the American War, spooky stories abound among locals, who maintain that the park is a realm of ghosts.

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Getting there & away
Bach Ma is 28km west of Lang Co and 40km southeast of Hué. The turn-off is signposted in the town of Cau Hai on Hwy 1A. The entrance is 3km along the narrow road into the park.

It’s another steep and meandering 16km on the sealed road from the gate to the summit and, unless you have your own vehicle or are willing to walk, you’ll need to hire private transport from the Visitor Centre. Walking takes about three to four hours down, so carry plenty of water and wear a hat, as there is little canopy protection on the lower part of the road.

There are buses to the park from Danang (US$3, two hours) and Hué (US$2, one hour). Local buses stop at Cau Hai, where xe om drivers can ferry you to the entrance. Cau Hai also has a train station (871 362; Loc Dien village), but the one daily service in either direction is slow and arrives/departs at antisocial times.

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