Incredible Vietnam Bridge Looks Like A Scene From 'Lord Of The Rings'

A new footbridge has opened in Vietnam and it looks like it's dropped straight out of the J. R. R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings universe.

Cau Vang (meaning gold bridge) opened in June this year and is already attracting tourists from around the world hunting the perfect selfie spot.

But it isn't the bridge's striking golden colour that's its main attraction - because it also looks like it is being held up by two giant stone hands.

The hands look like they are coming right out of the hillside to cradle the footbridge, which is located near Na Dang, central Vietnam.

The bridge, which is certainly going to be going straight into some people's must-see bucket lists, is 150 metres long and looks out over the dramatic Ba Na hills. At 1,400 metres above sea level, it often sits above the cloudline, just adding to the feeling of those on the bridge of being in some fantasy land.

The Ba Na hills were historically a holiday destination for French colonialists in the 20th century, but after they were kicked out by a Vietnamese revolution the area fell into disrepair.

The Golden Bridge is the latest development in the regeneration of the area, which now hosts a replica French village and gardens and a 5.8km-long cable car that was once the world's longest and highest.

The bridge is part of a massive $2bn investment project hoping to turn Vietnam into an unmissable tourist destination and add to the 1.5m visitors the Da Nang area already welcomes every year.

And Cau Vang, which took just under a year to construct, is not Vietnam's first bonkers bridge.

The Da Nang region also contains the Dragon Bridge (Cau Rong), which is a 666 metre-long road bridge over the River Han that opened in 2013.

It was designed to look like a massive dragon, which just happens to breathe fire and water every Saturday and Sunday at 9pm.

And bridges shaped like massive stone hands and dragons are just going to send fans of Lord of the Rings into even more of a spin after Amazon outbid Netflix to bring the franchise to the small screen for a whopping $250m in 2017.

It is reported that the Lord of the Rings TV series, which is expected to come out by 2021, is likely to be the most expensive ever, with an estimated ultimate cost of up to $1bn.

In June, Amazon exec Jennifer Salke said: "All of us would love a big, addictive show that is executed at the top of its game.

"We're really excited about Lord of the Rings. Despite all the chatter about it, the deal just closed a month ago. We've been talking to writers. We have an estate that's very active. I've spent three hours with Simon Tolkien. There's a lot of moving parts with it. We'll have some game plan to move forward with very soon."Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @artwave.it

Nathan Standley

Nathan Standley is a freelance journalist and LADBible contributor. He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Anthropology before going on to do a Master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Sheffield. He also writes articles for The Versed and is the Cultural Editor of The Common Sense Network.