CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Sŭngho 1-tong it runs 402 km to Sŭngho 1-tong; allow about 6 h 33 of riding. The stops in between: Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1, Yaksu-ri Tomb, Anak Tomb No. 1 and back through Yaksu-ri Tomb. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Four Guardians, the dragon of the east, the tiger of the west, the red bird of the south and the black tortoise entwined with a snake in the north, rule the walls of the Homam-ri tomb. Painted more than fifteen hundred years ago in the Koguryo kingdom, which dominated Korea and parts of Manchuria in those centuries, they are drawn in sweeping lines and bright mineral colours, and they twist across the stone as if in motion. The tomb is in the area around Pyongyang, in North Korea, and the whole group of Koguryo tombs was listed by UNESCO in 2004.
Read the complete Homam-ri Sasin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Homam-ri Sasin is where the day begins. Next is Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1, 51 km on.
This is a place almost no one reading these words will be able to reach on two wheels, and it is better to say so plainly. Tokhwa-ri Tomb No. 1 lies in the countryside north of Pyongyang, in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, among a group of burial mounds from the kingdom of Goguryeo. Independent travel in North Korea is not possible. Foreign visitors, when the country admits them at all, travel only on organised tours with official guides, follow fixed itineraries and are not allowed to drive or ride. Citizens of some countries, including the United States, are barred from travelling there by their own governments, and many others are strongly advised against it.
Read the complete Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yaksu-ri Tomb.
Not every place on a list like this is somewhere an ordinary visitor can simply ride to, and Yaksu-ri is one of them. The tomb lies in the west of North Korea, near the coastal city of Nampo, and it is one of the painted tombs of Koguryo, an ancient kingdom that ruled much of Korea and Manchuria for several centuries. The group of tombs was listed by UNESCO in 2004, and visits are only possible on organised, escorted tours, which means that planning a motorbike trip here is not realistic.
Read the complete Yaksu-ri Tomb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Yaksu-ri Tomb. Next is Anak Tomb No. 1, 51 km on.
A few kilometres north of Anak Tomb No. 3, the same farming plain holds another Goguryeo burial, Anak Tomb No. 1, and the contrast between them is a nice example of how varied these graves can be. The Goguryeo kingdom, whose people built great mountain fortresses and left thousands of stone tombs across what is now North Korea and north-east China, painted the walls of its aristocratic graves with scenes from life, belief and the afterlife. Tomb No. 1 belongs to the same early group, with a chamber of dressed stone slabs and plastered walls, and it is part of the World Heritage listing of Koguryo tombs that dates from 2004.
Read the complete Anak Tomb No. 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Anak Tomb No. 1, about halfway. Next is back through Yaksu-ri Tomb.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yaksu-ri Tomb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Yaksu-ri Tomb sits at 202 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1, 51 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 comes up about 355 km into the recorded legs. Next is Homam-ri Sasin.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Homam-ri Sasin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Homam-ri Sasin closes the day.
Homam-ri Sasin → Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 → Yaksu-ri Tomb is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yaksu-ri Tomb → Anak Tomb No. 1 is 109 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Anak Tomb No. 1 → back through Yaksu-ri Tomb is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Yaksu-ri Tomb → back through Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1 → Homam-ri Sasin is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.