In the late thirteenth century, a Vietnamese king who had twice helped drive back the Mongol armies gave up his throne, climbed the mountain of Yen Tu and became a monk. Tran Nhan Tong founded the Truc Lam school of Zen Buddhism there, a uniquely Vietnamese form that combined meditation with engagement in the world, and Yen Tu became the holiest mountain in northern Vietnam. Together with the pagoda of Vinh Nghiem, which preserves thousands of woodblocks used for printing Buddhist texts, and the Con Son and Kiep Bac relics, associated with the scholar Nguyen Trai and the general Tran Hung Dao, the complex was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2025.
The pilgrimage up Yen Tu is a huge event in the first months of the lunar year, when hundreds of thousands of people climb the stone paths and stairs through bamboo and pine forest to the pagodas and the bronze summit temple, often in the mist. A cable car now takes much of the effort out of the climb. Con Son, near Chi Linh, is a peaceful hill with a pagoda and a lake, and Kiep Bac, next to it, honours Tran Hung Dao, who defeated the Mongol fleet at the Bach Dang river in 1288 by planting stakes in the riverbed and luring the enemy ships onto them at low tide. The Yen Giang stake yard, where some of these stakes have been found, is a short ride away near Quang Yen.
The main road through the region, Highway 18, links Hanoi with Ha Long Bay and the coast, and it is busy with trucks, buses and motorbikes, with dust from quarries and coal mines in places. The smaller roads into the hills around Yen Tu and Con Son are narrower, winding through rice fields, villages and forest, and are much more pleasant. Expect traffic to follow its own logic, with constant horn use and overtaking on all sides.
Uong Bi, the nearest city, has fuel, hotels and restaurants, and there are shops and food stalls at the foot of the mountain. Try a bowl of pho or bun cha in a local eatery, and if you visit during the festival season, be prepared for crowds and a festive, chaotic atmosphere.