Why this ride
From Andong it runs 228 km to Andong; allow about 4 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Dosan-seowon, Bongjeongsa Temple, Seowon and back through Bongjeongsa Temple.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Byeongsan-seowon and Seowon
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 228 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 41
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Dosan-seowon.
2. 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
Dosan-seowon comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
3. 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
about 82 km into the recorded legs you reach Bongjeongsa Temple. Next is Seowon.
4. Seowon
Dosan Seowon is a school, and it is the school of a man who is still on the thousand-won note. Yi Hwang, better known as Toegye, was the greatest Neo-Confucian philosopher of Korea's Joseon dynasty, and after he died in 1570 his students built this academy beside the Nakdong river where he used to teach. It opened a few years afterwards and became the model for hundreds of others. The site was listed as one of nine Neo-Confucian academies of Korea on the World Heritage list in 2019.
Read the complete Seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seowon, about halfway. Next is back through Bongjeongsa Temple.
5. back through 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
back through Bongjeongsa Temple sits at 125 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dosan-seowon.
6. 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
back through Dosan-seowon comes up about 175 km into the recorded legs. Next is Byeongsan-seowon.
7. 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
Byeongsan-seowon closes the day.
Leg by leg
Byeongsan-seowon to Dosan-seowon
Byeongsan-seowon → Dosan-seowon is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dosan-seowon to Bongjeongsa Temple
Dosan-seowon → Bongjeongsa Temple is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bongjeongsa Temple to Seowon
Bongjeongsa Temple → Seowon is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seowon to back through Bongjeongsa Temple
Seowon → back through Bongjeongsa Temple is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bongjeongsa Temple to back through Dosan-seowon
back through Bongjeongsa Temple → back through Dosan-seowon is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dosan-seowon to Byeongsan-seowon
back through Dosan-seowon → Byeongsan-seowon is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.