Nham Duong Pagoda and Thanh Mai Pagoda

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nham Duong Pagoda

   Out in the hills of Chí Linh, in Hai Duong province east of Hanoi, the land crumples into low forested ridges after the flat Red River delta, and this is where Nham Duong sits among the trees. The pagoda belongs to a cluster of temples tied to the Trần dynasty and its home-grown school of Zen, the Trúc Lâm tradition, whose three patriarchs taught in these hills during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Thanh Mai, the other pagoda on the same ride, is part of that story too.

   Read the complete Nham Duong Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Nham Duong Pagoda 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 26 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 63 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 Nham Duong Pagoda.

5. 5. Nham Duong Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nham Duong Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Nham Duong Pagoda. That is the ride.