The Yeongneung cluster lies in the countryside of Yeoju, a town on the Namhan River east of Seoul, and it is the resting place of King Sejong the Great, who reigned from 1418 to 1450 and is remembered above all for the creation of the Korean alphabet, hangul, announced in the 1440s. Koreans hold the king in deep affection, and a statue of him sits in the middle of Seoul. His tomb here is a joint one, shared with his queen, and it sits in a beautiful pine-covered setting with stone officials, horses and lanterns lined along the approach. The nearby tomb of King Hyojong, known as Nyeongneung, is part of the same area.
Yeoju is a quiet and rather pretty river town, and its main road follows the Namhan, which is broad and slow here. The area is known for rice, for ceramics, and for a large outlet centre on the edge of the town, which brings a surprising amount of weekend traffic. Not far away, the temple of Silleuksa sits on a bluff above the river, with a slender brick pagoda and lovely views over the water.
Riding in this part of Gyeonggi Province is not about mountains but about valleys, river roads and open farmland. The roads are good and well signed, and from the cluster you can follow the river for a gentle, scenic run. Weekend traffic is heavy near the outlets and on routes back toward Seoul, so a weekday or an early start makes a difference. Spring brings cherry blossom, autumn brings rice fields turned gold, and winter is crisp, though icy patches appear in the shade.
Yeoju has about thirty-seven thousand people, with fuel stations, restaurants and plenty of places to stop. Icheon, about fifteen kilometres to the west, is more famous for its pottery and its rice, and serves a famous steamed rice dish in earthenware pots. If you are riding on toward the other cluster, the lanes between the two give a good look at ordinary Korean rural life, with greenhouses, small orchards, village shrines and a great deal of hand-tended land.