Vinh Nghiem Pagoda and Yen Giang Stake-yard

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son.

2. 2. Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son

   In the late thirteenth century, a Vietnamese king who had twice helped drive back the Mongol armies gave up his throne, climbed the mountain of Yen Tu and became a monk. Tran Nhan Tong founded the Truc Lam school of Zen Buddhism there, a uniquely Vietnamese form that combined meditation with engagement in the world, and Yen Tu became the holiest mountain in northern Vietnam. Together with the pagoda of Vinh Nghiem, which preserves thousands of woodblocks used for printing Buddhist texts, and the Con Son and Kiep Bac relics, associated with the scholar Nguyen Trai and the general Tran Hung Dao, the complex was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2025.

   Read the complete Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son comes up about 47 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 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.

4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster.

5. 5. 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

   back through Hoa Yen Pagoda relic cluster sits at 123 km, about halfway. Next is back through Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son.

6. 6. back through Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son comes up about 175 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

7. 7. Vinh Nghiem Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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 closes the day.