Naseong City Wall and Muan Hamhaeman Getbol

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Naseong City Wall

   Buyeo was once called Sabi, and for more than a century in the sixth and seventh centuries it was the capital of Baekje, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea. Baekje was a seafaring, artistic state that traded with China, sent scholars and craftsmen to Japan, and shaped Japanese Buddhist art. The kingdom fell in 660 when a joint army of Silla and Tang China overran the capital. Naseong, the outer city wall, is what remains of Sabi's defences: a long earthen rampart that once enclosed the town, running along the hills to the north and east and meeting the Geum River, which formed a natural moat on the other side. You can walk sections of it under old pines, and the grassy mounds are quiet and unassuming.

   Read the complete Naseong City Wall write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Naseong City Wall is where the day begins. Next is Getbol.

2. 2. Getbol

   On Korea's west coast the sea goes out a very long way. The Yellow Sea has big tides, and when they drop they expose huge plains of mud, the getbol, glistening and grey and full of life. The Korean tidal flats were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2021, covering stretches from Seocheon in the north to Gochang, Shinan and Boseong-Suncheon in the south, and they are among the most important feeding grounds on Earth for migratory shorebirds travelling between Siberia and Australia. Crabs, mudskippers, worms and shellfish swarm in the mud, and people have harvested them for centuries.

   Read the complete Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Getbol comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Muan Hamhaeman Getbol.

3. 3. Muan Hamhaeman Getbol

   The southwest coast of Korea is a maze of bays, peninsulas and islands, and when the tide goes out, it reveals immense mudflats, the getbol, stretching to the horizon. Hamhae Bay, in Muan county, is one of the finest examples, a sheltered bay where the tides deposit fine mud rich in nutrients, supporting an extraordinary variety of life: crabs, shellfish, worms, mudskippers and octopus, and the birds that feed on them. The Korean tidal flats were listed by UNESCO in 2021, recognising their importance for migratory birds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including endangered species like the spoon-billed sandpiper and the black-faced spoonbill.

   Read the complete Muan Hamhaeman Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach Muan Hamhaeman Getbol. Next is back through Getbol.

4. 4. back through Getbol

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Getbol, late in the day. Next is Naseong City Wall.

5. 5. Naseong City Wall

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Naseong City Wall write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Naseong City Wall. That is the ride.