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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Kaesŏng it runs 258 km to Kaesŏng; allow about 4 h 27 of riding. It goes by way of Seooreung Cluster, Yungneung Cluster and back through Seooreung Cluster. It crosses from North Korea into South Korea - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Few capitals in Korea's history have left so little room for an ordinary traveller. Kaesong, the Goryeo capital from the early tenth century to the late fourteenth, stands in the south of North Korea, a few kilometres from the demilitarised zone and the village of Panmunjom, and its Namdae Gate, the great southern gate of the old city, is the best-known monument of the place. The gate was first raised in 1394, just after the Goryeo dynasty fell, and it has been repaired many times, most recently after wartime damage. It stands in the middle of a traffic circle, with its heavy tiled roof and a bell nearby.
Read the complete Kaesong Namdae Gate write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kaesong Namdae is where the day begins. Next is Seooreung Cluster.
Joseon kings chose their final resting places with the same care they gave to their palaces, and the Seooreung cluster in Goyang, just north-west of Seoul, shows how. The name means the five tombs of the west, and the forested grounds contain the burial mounds of several Joseon kings and queens from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Each tomb follows the principles of pungsu, the Korean form of geomancy: a mountain behind for protection, open land in front, ideally with water flowing past. The mound sits on a terrace, surrounded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals standing guard, and below is a T-shaped shrine where rites were held. The forty Joseon royal tombs were added to the World Heritage list together in 2009.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Seooreung Cluster comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yungneung Cluster.
Yungneung belongs to a tradition that most visitors to Korea never see: the royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty, forty of them scattered across the country and listed by UNESCO in 2009. This cluster lies south of Seoul near Hwaseong, a short way from Suwon, and it holds the tomb of Crown Prince Sado and, nearby, that of his son, King Jeongjo. Sado is the tragic figure of the dynasty. In 1762 his father, King Yeongjo, had him sealed inside a rice chest, where he died after eight days, after years of tension at court.
Read the complete Yungneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach Yungneung Cluster. Next is back through Seooreung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Seooreung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Kaesong Namdae.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kaesong Namdae Gate write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Kaesong Namdae. That is the ride.
Kaesong Namdae Gate → Seooreung Cluster is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seooreung Cluster → Yungneung Cluster is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yungneung Cluster → back through Seooreung Cluster is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Seooreung Cluster → Kaesong Namdae Gate is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.