Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son and Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago starting at Kinh Môn

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Yen Giang Stake-yard.

2. 2. 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 comes up 50 km in. Next is Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.

3. 3. Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago

   Ha Long means descending dragon, and the legend says a dragon family came down from heaven to spit out jewels that became the islands, which is as good an explanation as any for nearly two thousand limestone towers rising from green water. UNESCO listed the bay in the 1990s for its scenery and its geology, and the Cát Bà archipelago to the south joins the same landscape of steep karst islands, hidden lagoons and floating fishing villages. The scale is hard to describe: islands shaped like teeth, like ships, like sleeping animals, all standing in a calm, jade-coloured sea.

   Read the complete Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   100 km in you reach Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago. Next is back through Yen Giang Stake-yard.

4. 4. back through 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

   back through Yen Giang Stake-yard, late in the day. Next is Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son.

5. 5. 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 at Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son. That is the ride.