Why this ride
From Iksan it runs 387 km to Iksan; allow about 6 h 30 of riding. It goes by way of Donam-seown, Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri and Sansa. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mireuksa Temple Site and Sansa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 387 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 30
- 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. Mireuksa Temple Site
On a wide plain near Iksan, in the south-west of Korea, a large stone pagoda stands beneath a mountain, slightly incomplete and all the more striking for it. This is the west pagoda of Mireuksa, once the largest Buddhist temple of the Baekje kingdom, founded in the early seventh century by King Mu. The pagoda is the oldest and largest surviving stone pagoda in Korea, and after decades of collapse and a cement repair in the early twentieth century, it was carefully dismantled and restored in a project that took around twenty years, finishing in 2019. The temple site is part of the Baekje Historic Areas, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mireuksa Temple Site is where the day begins. Next is Donam-seown.
2. Donam-seown
Donam Seowon is a Confucian academy in the countryside near Nonsan, in South Chungcheong province, and it is one of nine seowon that UNESCO listed together in 2019. Seowon were private academies founded by scholars of the Joseon dynasty, where young men studied the Confucian classics and honoured the memory of great teachers through rituals. Donam was founded in the early seventeenth century to commemorate Kim Jang-saeng, a renowned scholar of rites, and his students, and it played an important role in the intellectual life of the period.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Donam-seown comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
3. Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Buyeo was the last capital of Baekje, one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea, and it feels like the sort of town that remembers it. Baekje moved its court here in 538 and held it until it fell to an alliance of Silla and Tang China in 660, and the little river town on the Geum river has been quietly proud of that heritage ever since. The temple site of Jeongnimsa is at the heart of it, and what is left is a grassy rectangle with the foundations of the halls, a stone pagoda and a Buddha figure under a roof.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Jeongnimsa Temple Site. Next is Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
4. Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
In 1971, workers digging drainage near a group of ancient burial mounds above the Geum river at Gongju broke into a brick tomb that had never been looted. Inside lay the remains and treasures of King Muryeong of Baekje, who died in 523, and his queen: gold crowns, ornaments, a stone tablet naming the king, and thousands of objects. It was one of the greatest archaeological finds in Korean history, and it is the centrepiece of the Royal Tombs at Songsan-ri, part of the Baekje Historic Areas World Heritage Site listed in 2015.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri, about halfway. Next is Sansa.
5. Sansa
Songnisan is a mountain with a long reputation, and the temple Beopjusa sits on its lower flank, in the middle of the country in North Chungcheong province, among pines, rock outcrops and clear streams. Tradition says the monk Uisin founded it in the middle of the sixth century, after returning from India with scriptures carried on a mule, and the name means Temple of the Dharma Abode. It was destroyed in the Japanese invasions of the sixteenth century and rebuilt, and its great wooden hall, Palsangjeon, is the only five-storey wooden pagoda still standing in Korea, a tall tiered structure that rises over the courtyard.
Read the complete Sansa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sansa sits at 193 km, about halfway. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
6. back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri comes up about 279 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
7. back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 312 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site. Next is back through Donam-seown.
8. back through Donam-seown
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Donam-seown, late in the day. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.
9. Mireuksa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site 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 387 km.
Leg by leg
Mireuksa Temple Site to Donam-seown
Mireuksa Temple Site → Donam-seown is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donam-seown to Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Donam-seown → Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jeongnimsa Temple Site to Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Jeongnimsa Temple Site → Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to Sansa
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → Sansa is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sansa to back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Sansa → back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site to back through Donam-seown
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site → back through Donam-seown is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Donam-seown to Mireuksa Temple Site
back through Donam-seown → Mireuksa Temple Site is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.