Why this ride
A 249 km round trip from Quảng Yên - roughly 5 h 39 in the saddle. It goes by way of Chua Lan Pagoda, Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster, Thanh Mai Pagoda and Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yen Giang Stake-yard and Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 249 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 39
- 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 Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster.
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 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster. Next is Thanh Mai Pagoda.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son.
5. 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 sits at 86 km, about halfway. Next is back through Thanh Mai Pagoda.
6. 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 comes up about 152 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster.
7. 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
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster. Next is back through Chua Lan Pagoda.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.
9. 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
The route ends here after 249 km.
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 Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster
Chua Lan Pagoda → Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster to Thanh Mai Pagoda
Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster → Thanh Mai Pagoda is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thanh Mai Pagoda to Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son
Thanh Mai Pagoda → Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son to back through Thanh Mai Pagoda
Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son → back through Thanh Mai Pagoda is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thanh Mai Pagoda to back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster
back through Thanh Mai Pagoda → back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster to back through Chua Lan Pagoda
back through Ngoa Van Hermitage Pagoda relic cluster → back through Chua Lan Pagoda is 28 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.