A few kilometres north of Anak Tomb No. 3, the same farming plain holds another Goguryeo burial, Anak Tomb No. 1, and the contrast between them is a nice example of how varied these graves can be. The Goguryeo kingdom, whose people built great mountain fortresses and left thousands of stone tombs across what is now North Korea and north-east China, painted the walls of its aristocratic graves with scenes from life, belief and the afterlife. Tomb No. 1 belongs to the same early group, with a chamber of dressed stone slabs and plastered walls, and it is part of the World Heritage listing of Koguryo tombs that dates from 2004.
The paintings in these tombs gradually changed over time. The earliest ones, like those at Anak, show the owner at home, with attendants, guards and servants arranged in careful hierarchy. Later tombs, from the fifth to seventh centuries, tend towards the sacred, with the four guardian animals of the compass, the azure dragon, the white tiger, the red bird and the black tortoise entwined with a snake, painted on the walls with extraordinary elegance. Together the tombs form a visual record of a culture, with details of dress, tools and religious ideas that we can barely find elsewhere.
The landscape is gentle, broad and agricultural. The land between Anak and Chaeryong is largely flat, with rice paddies, maize and orchards, framed by low ranges on the horizon. In late autumn the fields are brown and gold, and in winter the cold air from Siberia brings snow and hard frost. Spring is quick and bright, with blossom and the first green shoots.
I must be plain about access. This is North Korea, where foreign visitors may travel only on tightly organised tours, with official guides, and cannot ride or drive their own vehicles. If you are following the Goguryeo story, you can do so more freely in South Korea, with the Seoul museums and the fortress walls along the Han river, or in the Chinese city of Ji'an, where the royal tombs and the great stele of King Gwanggaeto stand.