Ganghwa Island lies in the mouth of the Han River, just north-west of Seoul and Incheon, and on a clear day you can look across a narrow channel of tidal water straight into North Korea. The town of Kaesong is barely twenty-five kilometres away. That closeness gives the island an edge, with watch posts and fences along parts of the shore, but its fame is much older. The Ganghwa dolmens, together with those at Gochang and Hwasun in the south, were listed by UNESCO in 2000, and Korea holds a remarkable share of all the dolmens known in the world.
The most famous is at Bugeun-ri, a huge table-shaped tomb of two upright slabs carrying a massive capstone, standing alone on a lawn like a piece of stage scenery. Built in the Bronze Age, these monuments were probably graves for important people, and how the stones were moved remains a satisfying puzzle to stand and think about. Dozens more lie scattered across the hillsides of the island, many of them half hidden in woods.
Ganghwa has played a starring role in Korean history more than once. During the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century the Goryeo court moved its capital here, trusting the tidal currents to keep the horsemen out, and in the nineteenth century French and American warships fought small battles at the island's forts. On Manisan, the highest peak, there is an altar tied to the legendary founder of the Korean nation.
The riding is relaxed and rural. Bridges link the island to the mainland at Gimpo, and inside you will find quiet roads through rice paddies, low wooded hills and fishing harbours with mudflats stretching out at low tide. There are some pleasant climbs and bends along the coast, but this is not a racetrack, and farm vehicles and tourist traffic on weekends set the pace. One crucial point for visitors: motorcycles are not allowed on South Korean expressways, so plan your route from Seoul along ordinary national roads.
Ganghwa town, with around twenty-five thousand people, has fuel, markets and plenty of places to eat. Look for the island's famous ginseng, its purple turnips in autumn and its woven rush mats, and finish with a bowl of something hot at the market while the tide runs out.