Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago and Vinh Nghiem Pagoda

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster.

3. 3. Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster

   Yên Tử is the sacred mountain of Vietnamese Buddhism, rising to a little over a thousand metres above the coastal plain of Quảng Ninh province, and Hoa Yên Pagoda sits partway up its slopes, among old trees and stone steps, on the pilgrim route to the summit. The mountain's fame goes back to King Trần Nhân Tông, who defeated the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century and then, at the height of his power, gave up the throne, became a monk and retired to Yên Tử, where he founded the Trúc Lâm school of Zen. It became the only uniquely Vietnamese school of Buddhism, and the mountain has been a pilgrimage site ever since.

   Read the complete Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster. Next is King Chu Cavern.

4. 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 Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

5. 5. 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 sits at 161 km, about halfway. Next is back through King Chu Cavern.

6. 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 199 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster.

7. 7. back through Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 233 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster. Next is back through Yen Giang Stake-yard.

8. 8. 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, late in the day. Next is Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.

9. 9. Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   The route ends here after 322 km.