Seven grassy mounds rise on a hillside outside Buyeo, smooth and green, looking almost like a landscape garden. They are the royal tombs of Neungsan-ri, burial places of kings of Baekje, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea, during the period when Buyeo, then called Sabi, was its capital, from 538 to 660. The tombs were robbed long ago, but their stone chambers survive, and one has painted walls showing the guardian animals of the four directions and lotus flowers. They are part of the UNESCO listing of the Baekje historic areas, together with sites in Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Next to the tombs, archaeologists excavated the site of a Buddhist temple, and in 1993 they found one of the masterpieces of Korean art: a gilt-bronze incense burner, decorated with mountains, animals, musicians and a phoenix on top. It is now displayed in the Buyeo National Museum. The city also has the Busosan fortress on a hill above the Geum river, and the Nakhwaam cliff, where, according to legend, the court ladies of Baekje threw themselves into the river rather than be captured when the kingdom fell to the allied armies of Silla and Tang China.
The riding in this part of South Chungcheong is pleasant and easy. The roads follow the Geum river and wind through low hills covered with pine woods and rice fields, with little traffic away from the main routes. Note that motorcycles are not allowed on expressways in South Korea, so you will be using national and local roads, which are generally well-maintained. Summer is hot and humid with monsoon rains; autumn is the best season, with clear skies and colourful leaves. Winter is cold and dry.
Buyeo has a filling station and somewhere to eat. Korean food here includes dishes based on lotus, a local speciality, from lotus leaf rice to lotus root side dishes, and the usual banquet of banchan. Convenience stores are everywhere, with coffee and snacks. Walk among the tombs slowly, especially in the early morning when mist lies in the valley, and then visit the museum to see the incense burner; it is one of those objects that seems to contain a whole world.