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 247 km to Kaesŏng; allow about 4 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Jangneung Cluster, Area 2 and back through Jangneung Cluster. It crosses from North Korea into South Korea - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Of all the places on the list of world heritage, the Mausoleum of King Kongmin must be one of the hardest to reach on two wheels, because it lies in North Korea, in the hills west of the old city of Kaesong.
Read the complete Mausoleum of King Kongmin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mausoleum of King Kongmin is where the day begins. Next is Jangneung Cluster.
The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea for over five hundred years, and its kings and queens were buried in carefully chosen spots around the capital, in tombs designed according to Confucian ritual and the principles of geomancy, with a hill behind, water in front and mountains framing the view. In 2009, forty of these tombs were listed by UNESCO as the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Jangneung, in Gimpo, just west of Seoul, is the tomb of Wonjong, the father of King Injo, who was elevated to royal rank after his death. It is a quiet, wooded place, with a grassy burial mound, stone statues of officials and animals, and a T-shaped shrine where ancestral rites were held.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jangneung Cluster comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Area 2.
Built and expanded as an emergency capital in the early seventeenth century, its walls run for kilometres along the ridges, with gates, command posts and temples inside, and it became a World Heritage site in 2014. The fortress is remembered for a bitter episode: in the winter of 1636 to 1637, King Injo fled here as the armies of the Qing invaded, and after a siege of more than forty days in the cold, he came down and submitted, kneeling before the Qing emperor. Koreans still regard it as a moment of national humiliation and resilience at the same time.
Read the complete Area 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 123 km into the recorded legs you reach Area 2. Next is back through Jangneung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Jangneung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Mausoleum of King Kongmin.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of King Kongmin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Mausoleum of King Kongmin. That is the ride.
Mausoleum of King Kongmin → Jangneung Cluster is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jangneung Cluster → Area 2 is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Area 2 → back through Jangneung Cluster is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jangneung Cluster → Mausoleum of King Kongmin is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.