King Chu Cavern and Thanh Mai Pagoda

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster.

2. 2. 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

   Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thanh Mai Pagoda.

3. 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

   about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Thanh Mai Pagoda. Next is back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster.

4. 4. back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster, late in the day. Next is King Chu Cavern.

5. 5. 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 at King Chu Cavern. That is the ride.