Why this ride
A 182 km round trip from Quảng Yên - roughly 3 h 59 in the saddle. On the way it passes Chua Lan Pagoda, Thai Mieu, Kiep Bac Temple and back through Thai Mieu.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yen Giang Stake-yard and Kiep Bac Temple
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 182 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 59
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Chua Lan Pagoda.
2. Chua Lan Pagoda
The lowlands where the Bach Dang river meets the sea in northern Vietnam are a place of legends and battles, and the pagodas scattered across this landscape carry centuries of history. Chua Lan Pagoda stands in Quang Ninh province on the low ground south of Uong Bi, between the Yen Tu hills and the port of Haiphong, surrounded by rice fields, fishponds and villages. Like many rural pagodas in northern Vietnam, it is a place of worship, community and memory, with incense-filled halls, statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and old trees in the courtyard. The region is associated with the Truc Lam school of Zen Buddhism, founded by the Tran dynasty king Tran Nhan Tong in the thirteenth century at nearby Yen Tu mountain.
Read the complete Chua Lan Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chua Lan Pagoda comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thai Mieu.
3. Thái Miếu
This is Trần dynasty country. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Trần kings ruled Đại Việt from here and from the delta, and they are best remembered for turning back the Mongol armies three times, in 1258, 1285 and 1288, under the general Trần Hưng Đạo. The Thái Miếu, an ancestral temple associated with the dynasty, belongs to this landscape of royal tombs and shrines in the hills near Đông Triều, in Quảng Ninh province, at the northern edge of the Red River delta.
Read the complete Thai Mieu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Thai Mieu. Next is Kiep Bac Temple.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Thai Mieu.
5. back through Thai Mieu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thai Mieu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Thai Mieu sits at 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chua Lan Pagoda.
6. back through Chua Lan Pagoda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chua Lan Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chua Lan Pagoda comes up about 150 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.
7. 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
Yen Giang Stake-yard closes the day.
Leg by leg
Yen Giang Stake-yard to Chua Lan Pagoda
Yen Giang Stake-yard → Chua Lan Pagoda is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chua Lan Pagoda to Thai Mieu
Chua Lan Pagoda → Thai Mieu is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thái Miếu to Kiep Bac Temple
Thái Miếu → Kiep Bac Temple is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kiep Bac Temple to back through Thai Mieu
Kiep Bac Temple → back through Thai Mieu is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thai Mieu to back through Chua Lan Pagoda
back through Thai Mieu → back through Chua Lan Pagoda is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chua Lan Pagoda to Yen Giang Stake-yard
back through Chua Lan Pagoda → Yen Giang Stake-yard is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.