Why this ride
The stops in between: Jisan-dong Tumuli, Okjeon Tumuli, Dodong-seowon and Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon and Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 211 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 32
- 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. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
High in the forested folds of Gayasan, in South Gyeongsang province, a temple keeps one of the great treasures of the Buddhist world. Haeinsa holds the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand wooden printing blocks carved in the thirteenth century with the complete Buddhist scriptures, an act of devotion undertaken while the Mongols were invading Korea, in the hope that the Buddha's protection would save the country. The blocks are kept in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a pair of long, plain wooden halls built in the fifteenth century, and the halls are the real marvel. Their design uses natural ventilation, windows of different sizes on opposite walls, and a floor packed with charcoal, lime, clay and salt to regulate humidity and temperature, and they have protected the blocks for centuries without modern technology. The halls were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is where the day begins. Next is Jisan-dong Tumuli.
2. Jisan-dong Tumuli
Above the small county town of Goryeong, in south-eastern Korea, a line of grassy burial mounds runs along the ridge of Jusan mountain like the knuckles of a giant hand. These are the Jisan-dong tumuli, tombs of the rulers and elite of Daegaya, the most powerful member of the Gaya confederacy, a group of small kingdoms that flourished in the south of the peninsula until they were absorbed by Silla in the sixth century. The largest mounds are huge, and excavations found not only rich grave goods, iron weapons, armour, gold crowns and pottery, but also evidence that attendants were buried with their lords. Together with other Gaya tomb groups, the site was added to the World Heritage list in 2023.
Read the complete Jisan-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jisan-dong Tumuli comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Okjeon Tumuli.
3. Okjeon Tumuli
On a ridge above the Hwang river in Hapcheon County, a row of grassy mounds rises against the sky, each one the burial of a ruler or noble of Dara, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula between the first and sixth centuries. Gaya was famous for its iron, traded across the region and to Japan, and its tombs held armour, weapons, horse gear, pottery and gold ornaments. The Okjeon tumuli are one of seven groups listed together by UNESCO in 2023 as the Gaya Tumuli.
Read the complete Okjeon Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Okjeon Tumuli. Next is Dodong-seowon.
4. Dodong-seowon
The ginkgo tree in front of Dodong-seowon is over four hundred years old, a massive trunk with branches spreading wide, and in early November it turns a brilliant yellow and sheds its leaves into a golden carpet that photographers come from all over Korea to see. Behind it, the academy itself climbs a gentle slope in a series of courtyards and wooden halls, with a view over the Nakdong river. Dodong-seowon was founded in the sixteenth century to honour Kim Goeng-pil, a Neo-Confucian scholar executed in a political purge, and it is one of the nine Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dodong-seowon, about halfway. Next is Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli.
5. Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli
The rounded grassy mounds rising behind Changnyeong look almost like natural hills until you notice how regular they are. These are the Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong tumuli, burial mounds of the rulers of Bihwa, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula between roughly the first and sixth centuries before being absorbed by Silla. In 2023 they became part of a UNESCO listing that brings together seven Gaya tomb clusters, and they are among the most atmospheric of the group.
Read the complete Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli sits at 93 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dodong-seowon.
6. back through Dodong-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dodong-seowon comes up about 132 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Okjeon Tumuli.
7. back through Okjeon Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Okjeon Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 162 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Okjeon Tumuli. Next is back through Jisan-dong Tumuli.
8. back through Jisan-dong Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jisan-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli, late in the day. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
9. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon 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 211 km.
Leg by leg
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Jisan-dong Tumuli
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Jisan-dong Tumuli is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jisan-dong Tumuli to Okjeon Tumuli
Jisan-dong Tumuli → Okjeon Tumuli is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Okjeon Tumuli to Dodong-seowon
Okjeon Tumuli → Dodong-seowon is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dodong-seowon to Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli
Dodong-seowon → Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli to back through Dodong-seowon
Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli → back through Dodong-seowon is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dodong-seowon to back through Okjeon Tumuli
back through Dodong-seowon → back through Okjeon Tumuli is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Okjeon Tumuli to back through Jisan-dong Tumuli
back through Okjeon Tumuli → back through Jisan-dong Tumuli is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.