Kiep Bac Temple and Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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

   Kiep Bac Temple is where the day begins. Next is Thanh Mai Pagoda.

2. 2. 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

   Thanh Mai Pagoda comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster.

3. 3. Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster

   In 1293 the Vietnamese king Trần Nhân Tông, who had led his country to victory against two Mongol invasions, gave up his throne and became a monk. He retreated to the mountains of Yên Tử, east of Hanoi, and founded the Trúc Lâm, or Bamboo Forest, school of Zen Buddhism, a distinctly Vietnamese tradition that still flourishes today. In his final years he lived at a hermitage on the mountain of Ngọa Vân, and it was there that he died in 1308. The pagodas, stupas and relics scattered across the ridge form part of the complex of sites connected with Yên Tử and the Trúc Lâm school, which has recently been recognised by UNESCO.

   Read the complete Ngoa Van Hermitage 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 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster. Next is back through Thanh Mai Pagoda.

4. 4. 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

   back through Thanh Mai Pagoda, late in the day. Next is Kiep Bac Temple.

5. 5. 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 at Kiep Bac Temple. That is the ride.