Why this ride
From Andong it runs 293 km to Andong; allow about 6 h 30 of riding. The stops in between: Byeongsan-seowon, Dosan-seowon, Sosu-seowon and Buseoksa Temple.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bongjeongsa Temple and Buseoksa Temple
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 293 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 30
- 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. Bongjeongsa Temple
Tucked into the wooded slopes of Cheondeungsan, a modest mountain north-west of Andong in North Gyeongsang province, Bongjeongsa is a temple that wears its age quietly. Its main claim to fame is a small, plain hall called Geungnakjeon, believed to be the oldest surviving wooden building in Korea, dating back to the Goryeo dynasty. Repairs in the twentieth century turned up records suggesting the hall had been rebuilt in the thirteenth century, which makes it older than almost anything else made of timber in the country. Bongjeongsa is one of seven mountain monasteries inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bongjeongsa Temple is where the day begins. Next is Byeongsan-seowon.
2. Byeongsan-seowon
Byeongsan Seowon sits above a bend of the Nakdong river, a few kilometres from the village of Hahoe and about fifteen kilometres from Andong, in the rolling, rural interior of North Gyeongsang province. The river curves around a cliff face called Buyongdae, and the academy looks across the water to the opposite cliff in a way that is almost a painting. Andong, a city of about a hundred and thirty thousand people, is the nearest place of any size.
Read the complete Byeongsan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byeongsan-seowon comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dosan-seowon.
3. Dosan-seowon
If you have handled a Korean thousand-won note, you have already seen Dosan Seowon. The building on the back of the note is this Confucian academy, and the scholar on the front is Yi Hwang, known by his pen name Toegye, one of the most influential Neo-Confucian thinkers of Korea. He set up a small study hall here in the sixteenth century, on a quiet slope above the Nakdong river, and after his death in 1570 his disciples expanded it into a full academy, a seowon, where students came to study the classics and honour his memory. It is one of the nine Korean Confucian academies listed by UNESCO in 2019.
Read the complete Dosan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Dosan-seowon. Next is Sosu-seowon.
4. Sosu-seowon
Pine trees older than anyone can remember shade the entrance to Sosu-seowon, the first Confucian academy in Korea to receive a royal charter. It was founded in 1543 by Ju Se-bung, a local magistrate, to honour An Hyang, a scholar of the Goryeo period who brought Neo-Confucianism to Korea from China. A few years later, the famous philosopher Yi Hwang, who also served in the area, petitioned the king to grant it official recognition, and the academy received a royal plaque in 1550 with the name Sosu. Since 2019 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sosu-seowon, about halfway. Next is Buseoksa Temple.
5. Buseoksa Temple
The name Buseoksa means temple of the floating stone, and the legend behind it involves a monk, a princess and a dragon. When the monk Uisang founded the temple in 676, after returning from studies in China, a young woman named Seonmyo who had fallen in love with him there is said to have followed him in the form of a dragon, and when local bandits opposed the new temple she lifted a huge rock into the air to frighten them off. A large boulder behind the main hall is still pointed out as the floating stone, and you will be told that a thread can be passed beneath it.
Read the complete Buseoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buseoksa Temple sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sosu-seowon.
6. back through Sosu-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sosu-seowon comes up about 162 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dosan-seowon.
7. back through Dosan-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dosan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dosan-seowon. Next is back through Byeongsan-seowon.
8. back through Byeongsan-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byeongsan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byeongsan-seowon, late in the day. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
9. Bongjeongsa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple 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 293 km.
Leg by leg
Bongjeongsa Temple to Byeongsan-seowon
Bongjeongsa Temple → Byeongsan-seowon is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byeongsan-seowon to Dosan-seowon
Byeongsan-seowon → Dosan-seowon is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dosan-seowon to Sosu-seowon
Dosan-seowon → Sosu-seowon is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sosu-seowon to Buseoksa Temple
Sosu-seowon → Buseoksa Temple is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buseoksa Temple to back through Sosu-seowon
Buseoksa Temple → back through Sosu-seowon is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sosu-seowon to back through Dosan-seowon
back through Sosu-seowon → back through Dosan-seowon is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dosan-seowon to back through Byeongsan-seowon
back through Dosan-seowon → back through Byeongsan-seowon is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Byeongsan-seowon to Bongjeongsa Temple
back through Byeongsan-seowon → Bongjeongsa Temple is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.