Why this ride
190 km from Thành Phố Uông Bí to Thành Phố Uông Bí, about 4 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Thai Mieu, Kiep Bac Temple, Bo Da Pagoda and back through Kiep Bac Temple. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chua Lan Pagoda and Bo Da Pagoda
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 190 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 05
- 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. Chua Lan Pagoda
The lowlands where the Bach Dang river meets the sea in northern Vietnam are a place of legends and battles, and the pagodas scattered across this landscape carry centuries of history. Chua Lan Pagoda stands in Quang Ninh province on the low ground south of Uong Bi, between the Yen Tu hills and the port of Haiphong, surrounded by rice fields, fishponds and villages. Like many rural pagodas in northern Vietnam, it is a place of worship, community and memory, with incense-filled halls, statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and old trees in the courtyard. The region is associated with the Truc Lam school of Zen Buddhism, founded by the Tran dynasty king Tran Nhan Tong in the thirteenth century at nearby Yen Tu mountain.
Read the complete Chua Lan Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chua Lan Pagoda is where the day begins. Next is Thai Mieu.
2. 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
Thái Miếu comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kiep Bac Temple.
3. Kiep Bac Temple
Kiếp Bạc is the place where Vietnam remembers Trần Hưng Đạo, the thirteenth-century general who defeated the Mongols three times. In the 1280s, the armies of Kublai Khan's empire invaded Vietnam, and Trần Hưng Đạo, commanding the forces of the Trần dynasty, used guerrilla tactics, retreat and ambush to wear them down. The most famous victory came in 1288 on the Bạch Đằng river, when he planted iron-tipped stakes in the riverbed and lured the Mongol fleet onto them at low tide. He died in 1300, and the temple at Kiếp Bạc was built where he is said to have had his base.
Read the complete Kiep Bac Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Kiep Bac Temple. Next is Bo Da Pagoda.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Kiep Bac Temple.
5. back through Kiep Bac Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kiep Bac Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kiep Bac Temple sits at 130 km, about halfway. Next is back through Thai Mieu.
6. 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
back through Thai Mieu comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chua Lan Pagoda.
7. Chua Lan Pagoda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chua Lan Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chua Lan Pagoda closes the day.
Leg by leg
Chua Lan Pagoda to Thai Mieu
Chua Lan Pagoda → Thai Mieu is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thái Miếu to Kiep Bac Temple
Thái Miếu → Kiep Bac Temple is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kiep Bac Temple to Bo Da Pagoda
Kiep Bac Temple → Bo Da Pagoda is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bo Da Pagoda to back through Kiep Bac Temple
Bo Da Pagoda → back through Kiep Bac Temple is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kiep Bac Temple to back through Thai Mieu
back through Kiep Bac Temple → back through Thai Mieu is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thai Mieu to Chua Lan Pagoda
back through Thai Mieu → Chua Lan Pagoda is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.