Oksan-seowon sits in a quiet valley northwest of Gyeongju, beside a clear stream that tumbles over smooth granite slabs. It was founded in 1572 to honour Yi Eon-jeok, one of the great Neo-Confucian scholars of the Joseon dynasty, who lived in retreat nearby, and it served as a private academy where young men studied the Confucian classics, prepared for the state examinations, and performed rites in honour of the master. The buildings are arranged according to the strict logic of Confucian architecture: a lecture hall, dormitories for students, a library and, at the back, a shrine for the rites. The architecture is restrained, with wooden halls, tiled roofs and open courtyards, designed to harmonise with the landscape. Oksan is part of the UNESCO listing of the Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, inscribed in 2019.
A short walk upstream stands the Dongnakdang, Yi Eon-jeok's own house, built in the sixteenth century, a beautiful example of the residence of a scholar, with a pavilion over the stream. A little further, the temple of Jeonghyesa has an unusual thirteen-storey stone pagoda from the Unified Silla period. Not far away, the Yangdong Folk Village, a UNESCO site in its own right since 2010, is a living village of traditional houses belonging to two aristocratic clans, the Son and the Yi, spread over a hillside. Many of the houses are still inhabited, and walking among them feels like stepping into another century.
Gyeongju, about twenty kilometres south, was the capital of the Silla kingdom for nearly a thousand years, and it is often called a museum without walls. Royal tombs like grassy hills rise in the middle of the city, and the temple of Bulguksa and the Seokguram grotto, with its serene stone Buddha, are on the slopes of Mount Toham.
The riding in the area is pleasant. The roads along the Hyeongsan river and through the valleys north of Gyeongju are quiet, winding gently through rice fields, orchards and villages, with forested hills on both sides. The surface is good, the traffic light outside the towns, and the speed limits enforced by cameras. Korea drives on the right.
Angang, Gyeongju and Pohang have fuel and every service. Try Gyeongju bread, a small round pastry filled with red bean paste, sold all over the city.