Most visitors to Da Nang drive to Ban Co Peak. You're going to earn it.The Son Tra Peninsula rises straight off Da Nang's coastline — a green mountain island connected to the city by a thin strip of road. Inside that forest is one of Vietnam's most intact urban ecosystems: ancient hardwood trees, troops of douc langurs (among the world's most endangered primates), and trails that make it easy to forget the skyline you can still see through the canopy. Your morning starts at 7:00 AM at the Cham Museum, where your guide meets you before heading to Linh Ung Pagoda on the peninsula's lower slopes. The pagoda sits at the water's edge and is home to Vietnam's tallest Lady Buddha — 67 metres of white stone looking out across the South China Sea. In the early morning, before the tour buses arrive, the atmosphere here is genuinely peaceful. From the pagoda, the trek begins. Seven kilometres of forested trail, climbing steadily through the Son Tra canopy. At Monkey Island Viewpoint — roughly the halfway mark — the forest opens up to wide views back over Da Nang and the coast. The douc langurs are frequently spotted in the trees around here: bright-faced, red-shouldered, and completely uninterested in anything you're doing. At Ban Co Peak, the forest gives way to a full 360-degree panorama: Da Nang city, the Han River, Marble Mountains to the south, and the South China Sea to the east. It's the kind of view that makes you understand a city from the inside out. A 7-seater vehicle meets the group at the summit — no descent required — and has you back at the meeting point by 11:30 AM.