Why this ride
284 km from Hanoi to Hanoi, about 5 h 15 of riding. It goes by way of Con Son Pagoda, Thanh Mai Pagoda, King Chu Cavern and Nham Duong Pagoda.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hanoi long day · Nham Duong Pagoda
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 284 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 15
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hanoi
Hanoi starts the day with a roar, and the best advice is to join it calmly. This is a city of millions on the Red River, with more motorbikes than anyone has bothered to count, and the Old Quarter, with its thirty-six old guild streets named after the goods once sold there, is the loud, charming core. Hoàn Kiếm lake in the middle is where people jog, practise tai chi and sit eating ice cream at dusk, and the little Ngoc Son temple on its island is joined to the shore by a red wooden bridge.
Read the complete Hanoi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hanoi is where the day begins. Next is Con Son Pagoda.
2. Con Son Pagoda
Côn Sơn lies in the pine-covered hills of Chí Linh, north-east of Hanoi, on the border of Hải Dương province, and it carries two of the great names of Vietnamese history. In the thirteenth century the Trần dynasty beat back three Mongol invasions, and its monks and commanders left a trail of temples, of which Côn Sơn, Kiếp Bạc and the sacred mountain of Yên Tử are the best known. Trúc Lâm, the Vietnamese Zen school founded by King Trần Nhân Tông, who gave up his throne to become a monk, has one of its centres here.
Read the complete Con Son Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Con Son Pagoda comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thanh Mai Pagoda.
3. Thanh Mai Pagoda
In the late thirteenth century, a Vietnamese king who had twice helped drive back Mongol invasions gave up his throne, put on a monk's robe and founded a Zen school of his own. Trần Nhân Tông's Trúc Lâm school, the Bamboo Grove sect, became the most distinctly Vietnamese form of Buddhism, and the temples connected with it are scattered across the hills of the north-east, from Yên Tử mountain to Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc. Thanh Mai pagoda, on a forested slope in the Chí Linh area, is one of these places, associated with the early patriarchs of the school, and it belongs to the Yên Tử, Vĩnh Nghiêm, Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc complex that UNESCO listed in 2025.
Read the complete Thanh Mai Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach Thanh Mai Pagoda. Next is King Chu Cavern.
4. King Chu Cavern
In the delta country east of Hanoi the land is mostly flat, a patchwork of rice paddies and ponds, so when limestone hills rise abruptly out of it they feel like a different world. Kinh Môn, in Hải Dương province, is one of those places, a small range of karst hills pitted with caves, and the Kinh Chủ cave, which I have placed under the name on the map, is one of them. Caves in northern Vietnam are often turned into shrines, with Buddha statues and incense in the dim light, and visitors come both for the religion and for the cool air inside.
Read the complete King Chu Cavern write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
King Chu Cavern, about halfway. Next is Nham Duong Pagoda.
5. Nham Duong Pagoda
Out in the hills of Chí Linh, in Hai Duong province east of Hanoi, the land crumples into low forested ridges after the flat Red River delta, and this is where Nham Duong sits among the trees. The pagoda belongs to a cluster of temples tied to the Trần dynasty and its home-grown school of Zen, the Trúc Lâm tradition, whose three patriarchs taught in these hills during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Thanh Mai, the other pagoda on the same ride, is part of that story too.
Read the complete Nham Duong Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nham Duong Pagoda sits at 125 km, about halfway. Next is back through King Chu Cavern.
6. back through King Chu Cavern
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete King Chu Cavern write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through King Chu Cavern comes up about 146 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Thanh Mai Pagoda.
7. back through Thanh Mai Pagoda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thanh Mai Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Thanh Mai Pagoda. Next is back through Con Son Pagoda.
8. back through Con Son Pagoda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Con Son Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Con Son Pagoda, late in the day. Next is Hanoi.
9. Hanoi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hanoi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 284 km.
Leg by leg
Hanoi to Con Son Pagoda
Hanoi → Con Son Pagoda is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Con Son Pagoda to Thanh Mai Pagoda
Con Son Pagoda → Thanh Mai Pagoda is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thanh Mai Pagoda to King Chu Cavern
Thanh Mai Pagoda → King Chu Cavern is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
King Chu Cavern to Nham Duong Pagoda
King Chu Cavern → Nham Duong Pagoda is 4 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nham Duong Pagoda to back through King Chu Cavern
Nham Duong Pagoda → back through King Chu Cavern is 4 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through King Chu Cavern to back through Thanh Mai Pagoda
back through King Chu Cavern → back through Thanh Mai Pagoda is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thanh Mai Pagoda to back through Con Son Pagoda
back through Thanh Mai Pagoda → back through Con Son Pagoda is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Con Son Pagoda to Hanoi
back through Con Son Pagoda → Hanoi is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.