Why this ride
120 km from Andong to Andong, about 2 h 48 of riding. It goes by way of Bongjeongsa Temple, Dosan-seowon and back through Bongjeongsa Temple. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A and Dosan-seowon
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 120 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 48
- 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. Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
Byeongsan Seowon looks across the Nakdong river at a cliff that is, quite literally, the best view in the neighbourhood. The academy stands in a bend of the river a short ride from the famous village of Hahoe, and its old lecture hall, called Manhyudae, was built with one aim: to frame the opposite cliff like a painting. Students sat on the open wooden floor and read the classics while the river slid past below. That is the Korean idea of education, a mind sharpened by the best possible landscape.
Read the complete Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A is where the day begins. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
2. 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 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 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Dosan-seowon. Next is back through Bongjeongsa Temple.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A.
5. Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A to Bongjeongsa Temple
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A → Bongjeongsa Temple is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bongjeongsa Temple to Dosan-seowon
Bongjeongsa Temple → Dosan-seowon is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dosan-seowon to back through Bongjeongsa Temple
Dosan-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 Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
back through Bongjeongsa Temple → Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.