Seasoned travellers and curiosity-seekers will, no doubt, recall the “Hands of God” (or Golden) Bridge that opened in 2018 in Da Nang in central Vietnam. The spectacular, 150-metre walkway looks as though it is held within two gigantic stone hands. Overlooking a picturesque mountainside and some lovely gardens, the bridge quickly became a tourist hotspot in the country.
Visitors will have more reasons to rejoice the next time they arrive in Vietnam. In late April this year, the country unveiled what is likely the world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge, called the Bach Long Bridge, in Son La, north-west Vietnam. Like the Golden Bridge, the Bach Long Bridge is also a mountaintop attraction, connecting two peaks in the Moc Chau Island Park Mountain Hotel.
The Bach Long Bridge, which translates to ‘white dragon’, is 632 metres (or 2,073 feet) long and is open to pedestrians, which is also likely to grant it the title of ‘the world’s longest walking glass bridge’. Made of three layers of transparent, enamelled, reinforced, tempered glass measuring 40 mm (or 1.5 inch) in thickness, the bridge hangs 342 metres above a beautiful, forested valley, providing panoramic and scenic views of the same. A total of 450 people can make the journey at a time—the strength of the bridge having been tested by driving heavy trucks and cars over it. Traffic is also permitted, but only in one direction at a time—something that sounds unbelievable for what appears to be such a thin bridge at first glance.
The Bach Long Bridge is only the latest in a series of attention-grabbing, spectacular architectural monuments meant to garner global attention. It comes at a particularly prime moment as well. Two months earlier, the country started opening up to international tourists, offering 15-day visa-free travel options to travellers from 13 countries from March onwards. Several restrictions for inbound visitors had also been lifted to facilitate travel. And with the construction and inauguration of this record-breaking architectural marvel, the country hopes to provide a much-needed boost to its beleaguered travel-and-tourism sector.
