Bo Da Pagoda and Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago starting at Bắc Ninh

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Bo Da Pagoda

   Bổ Đà is a pagoda that was built from the earth up, quite literally. Its long perimeter walls are made of rammed earth, mixed with broken pottery and tiles, a traditional technique that has kept them standing for centuries, and inside lies one of the most remarkable features of any Vietnamese temple: a garden of more than a thousand stupas, the tombs of monks who lived and died here, standing in rows among the trees. The pagoda, on a hill in Việt Yên in Bắc Giang province, is also famous for its collection of wooden printing blocks carved with Buddhist texts, a treasure of Vietnamese woodblock printing.

   Read the complete Bo Da Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bo Da Pagoda is where the day begins. Next is Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

2. 2. Vinh Nghiem Pagoda

   In the countryside of Bắc Giang province, in northern Vietnam, about fifty kilometres north-east of Hanoi, the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda stands by the Thương river, surrounded by rice fields and villages. It is one of the oldest and most important Buddhist centres in Vietnam, associated with the Trúc Lâm school of Zen Buddhism, founded in the thirteenth century by King Trần Nhân Tông, who abdicated to become a monk.

   Read the complete Vinh Nghiem Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Vinh Nghiem Pagoda comes up 43 km in. Next is Thai Mieu.

3. 3. Thái Miếu

   This is Trần dynasty country. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Trần kings ruled Đại Việt from here and from the delta, and they are best remembered for turning back the Mongol armies three times, in 1258, 1285 and 1288, under the general Trần Hưng Đạo. The Thái Miếu, an ancestral temple associated with the dynasty, belongs to this landscape of royal tombs and shrines in the hills near Đông Triều, in Quảng Ninh province, at the northern edge of the Red River delta.

   Read the complete Thai Mieu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   86 km in you reach Thai Mieu. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.

4. 4. Yen Giang Stake-yard

   Twice in Vietnamese history, the tide at the mouth of the Bạch Đằng river decided the fate of the country. In 938, Ngô Quyền defeated a Southern Han fleet by planting iron-tipped stakes in the riverbed, hidden at high tide, then luring the enemy ships upstream and waiting for the water to fall. In 1288, during the third Mongol invasion of Đại Việt, the general Trần Hưng Đạo used the same trick against the fleet of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, trapping and destroying it. In the fields around Quảng Yên, archaeologists have found rows of those ancient wooden stakes, still standing in the mud, and the Yên Giang stake yard is one of the sites where you can see them preserved.

   Read the complete Yen Giang Stake-yard write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Yen Giang Stake-yard, about halfway. Next is Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.

5. 5. Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago

   Ha Long means descending dragon, and the legend says a dragon family came down from heaven to spit out jewels that became the islands, which is as good an explanation as any for nearly two thousand limestone towers rising from green water. UNESCO listed the bay in the 1990s for its scenery and its geology, and the Cát Bà archipelago to the south joins the same landscape of steep karst islands, hidden lagoons and floating fishing villages. The scale is hard to describe: islands shaped like teeth, like ships, like sleeping animals, all standing in a calm, jade-coloured sea.

   Read the complete Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago sits at 172 km, about halfway. Next is back through Yen Giang Stake-yard.

6. 6. back through Yen Giang Stake-yard

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yen Giang Stake-yard write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Yen Giang Stake-yard comes up 214 km in. Next is back through Thai Mieu.

7. 7. back through Thai Mieu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Thai Mieu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   257 km in you reach back through Thai Mieu. Next is back through Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

8. 8. back through Vinh Nghiem Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vinh Nghiem Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, late in the day. Next is Bo Da Pagoda.

9. 9. Bo Da Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bo Da Pagoda 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 372 km.