Why this ride
A 386 km round trip from Iksan - roughly 6 h 26 in the saddle. On the way it passes Donam-seown, Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri and Sansa. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri and Sansa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 386 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 26
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri
The Honam plain in south-western Korea is a wide, flat land of rice fields, and its northern edge near Iksan is the oldest rice country on the peninsula, where the kingdom of Baekje once had a second capital. Wanggung-ri is the site of a royal palace, about ten kilometres from the middle of Iksan, in fields gently rising to low hills. UNESCO recognised it in 2015 as one of the historic areas of Baekje, the old kingdom that ruled the south-west from the first to the seventh century.
Read the complete Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri is where the day begins. Next is Donam-seown.
2. Donam-seown
Donam Seowon is a Confucian academy in the countryside near Nonsan, in South Chungcheong province, and it is one of nine seowon that UNESCO listed together in 2019. Seowon were private academies founded by scholars of the Joseon dynasty, where young men studied the Confucian classics and honoured the memory of great teachers through rituals. Donam was founded in the early seventeenth century to commemorate Kim Jang-saeng, a renowned scholar of rites, and his students, and it played an important role in the intellectual life of the period.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Donam-seown comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
3. Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Buyeo was the last capital of Baekje, one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea, and it feels like the sort of town that remembers it. Baekje moved its court here in 538 and held it until it fell to an alliance of Silla and Tang China in 660, and the little river town on the Geum river has been quietly proud of that heritage ever since. The temple site of Jeongnimsa is at the heart of it, and what is left is a grassy rectangle with the foundations of the halls, a stone pagoda and a Buddha figure under a roof.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Jeongnimsa Temple Site. Next is Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
4. Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
In 1971, workers digging drainage near a group of ancient burial mounds above the Geum river at Gongju broke into a brick tomb that had never been looted. Inside lay the remains and treasures of King Muryeong of Baekje, who died in 523, and his queen: gold crowns, ornaments, a stone tablet naming the king, and thousands of objects. It was one of the greatest archaeological finds in Korean history, and it is the centrepiece of the Royal Tombs at Songsan-ri, part of the Baekje Historic Areas World Heritage Site listed in 2015.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri, about halfway. Next is Sansa.
5. Sansa
Songnisan is a mountain with a long reputation, and the temple Beopjusa sits on its lower flank, in the middle of the country in North Chungcheong province, among pines, rock outcrops and clear streams. Tradition says the monk Uisin founded it in the middle of the sixth century, after returning from India with scriptures carried on a mule, and the name means Temple of the Dharma Abode. It was destroyed in the Japanese invasions of the sixteenth century and rebuilt, and its great wooden hall, Palsangjeon, is the only five-storey wooden pagoda still standing in Korea, a tall tiered structure that rises over the courtyard.
Read the complete Sansa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sansa sits at 197 km, about halfway. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
6. back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri comes up about 281 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
7. back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 314 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site. Next is back through Donam-seown.
8. back through Donam-seown
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Donam-seown, late in the day. Next is Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri.
9. Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 386 km.
Leg by leg
Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri to Donam-seown
Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri → Donam-seown is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donam-seown to Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Donam-seown → Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jeongnimsa Temple Site to Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Jeongnimsa Temple Site → Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to Sansa
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → Sansa is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sansa to back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Sansa → back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site to back through Donam-seown
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site → back through Donam-seown is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Donam-seown to Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri
back through Donam-seown → Archeological Site in Wanggung-ri is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.