Seonamsa Temple and Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Seonamsa Temple

   An old stone bridge arches over a stream in the forest on the way up to Seonamsa, and the view through its curve to a pavilion beyond is one of the best known images of Korean temple architecture. The Seungseongyo bridge dates back to the Joseon period, and the temple behind it, on the slopes of Jogyesan mountain near Suncheon, has a history going back to the ninth century. Seonamsa is one of seven Korean Buddhist mountain monasteries listed in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea, chosen because they have remained centres of living religious practice for over a thousand years.

   Read the complete Seonamsa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Seonamsa Temple is where the day begins. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.

2. 2. Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli

   The people of the Gaya confederacy never built an empire, which is why they are overshadowed by the neighbouring kingdoms of Baekje and Silla. But in the fifth and sixth centuries they ran a loose group of small states in the south of the Korean peninsula, famous for iron, and the tumuli in Jangsu, on the high ground of Jeolla province, are evidence that this mountain county had its own ruler. The round grassy mounds of Yugok-ri and Durak-ri sit on ridges and in fields, and iron tools, horse gear and weapons have been dug out of them. They are part of the UNESCO listing for the Gaya Tumuli, added in 2023.

   Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli comes up about 94 km into the recorded legs. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.

3. 3. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon

   High in the forested folds of Gayasan, in South Gyeongsang province, a temple keeps one of the great treasures of the Buddhist world. Haeinsa holds the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand wooden printing blocks carved in the thirteenth century with the complete Buddhist scriptures, an act of devotion undertaken while the Mongols were invading Korea, in the hope that the Buddha's protection would save the country. The blocks are kept in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a pair of long, plain wooden halls built in the fifteenth century, and the halls are the real marvel. Their design uses natural ventilation, windows of different sizes on opposite walls, and a floor packed with charcoal, lime, clay and salt to regulate humidity and temperature, and they have protected the blocks for centuries without modern technology. The halls were listed by UNESCO in 1995.

   Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 175 km into the recorded legs you reach Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon. Next is back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.

4. 4. back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli, late in the day. Next is Seonamsa Temple.

5. 5. Seonamsa Temple

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Seonamsa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Seonamsa Temple. That is the ride.