Why this ride
On the way it passes Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji, Horyu-ji Area and back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the and Horyu-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 303 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 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. Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the
The Kumano Kodō, the ancient pilgrimage routes, link it with two other great shrines, Hayatama in Shingū and Nachi with its tall waterfall, and with the sacred mountains of Kōyasan and Yoshino further north. UNESCO listed the whole network in 2004 as one of only two pilgrimage routes on its register, the other being the road to Santiago de Compostela.
Read the complete Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the is where the day begins. Next is Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji.
2. Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Getting to Kōyasan feels like a pilgrimage even on a motorcycle. The roads climb out of the Kinokawa valley through dense cedar forest, switchback after switchback, until you emerge onto a high basin at around eight hundred metres where a whole town of temples has grown up. The monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, founded the monastery here in the early ninth century as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and Kongōbu-ji is the head temple of the sect. Its halls, painted sliding doors and the large rock garden are worth an unhurried visit, and the whole mountain is part of the UNESCO listing of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Horyu-ji Area.
3. Hōryū-ji Area
The buildings at Hōryū-ji are around thirteen hundred years old, and some of them are among the oldest wooden structures anywhere in the world. Founded in the early seventh century by Prince Shōtoku, a regent remembered as a champion of Buddhism and a founding figure of the Japanese state, the temple was rebuilt after a fire later in the same century, and parts of that rebuilding still stand. In 1993 it became one of the first sites in Japan to be listed by UNESCO, as the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
Read the complete Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 152 km into the recorded legs you reach Horyu-ji Area. Next is back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji.
4. back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji, late in the day. Next is Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the.
5. Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the to Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the → Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji is 80 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji to Horyu-ji Area
Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji → Horyu-ji Area is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hōryū-ji Area to back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Hōryū-ji Area → back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji to Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the
back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji → Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the is 80 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.