Why this ride
On the way it passes Sosu-seowon, Bongjeongsa Temple, Buseoksa Temple and Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seowon and Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 385 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 07
- 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. Seowon
Dosan Seowon is a school, and it is the school of a man who is still on the thousand-won note. Yi Hwang, better known as Toegye, was the greatest Neo-Confucian philosopher of Korea's Joseon dynasty, and after he died in 1570 his students built this academy beside the Nakdong river where he used to teach. It opened a few years afterwards and became the model for hundreds of others. The site was listed as one of nine Neo-Confucian academies of Korea on the World Heritage list in 2019.
Read the complete Seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seowon is where the day begins. Next is Sosu-seowon.
2. Sosu-seowon
Pine trees older than anyone can remember shade the entrance to Sosu-seowon, the first Confucian academy in Korea to receive a royal charter. It was founded in 1543 by Ju Se-bung, a local magistrate, to honour An Hyang, a scholar of the Goryeo period who brought Neo-Confucianism to Korea from China. A few years later, the famous philosopher Yi Hwang, who also served in the area, petitioned the king to grant it official recognition, and the academy received a royal plaque in 1550 with the name Sosu. Since 2019 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sosu-seowon comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
3. Bongjeongsa Temple
Tucked into the wooded slopes of Cheondeungsan, a modest mountain north-west of Andong in North Gyeongsang province, Bongjeongsa is a temple that wears its age quietly. Its main claim to fame is a small, plain hall called Geungnakjeon, believed to be the oldest surviving wooden building in Korea, dating back to the Goryeo dynasty. Repairs in the twentieth century turned up records suggesting the hall had been rebuilt in the thirteenth century, which makes it older than almost anything else made of timber in the country. Bongjeongsa is one of seven mountain monasteries inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 93 km into the recorded legs you reach Bongjeongsa Temple. Next is Buseoksa Temple.
4. Buseoksa Temple
The name Buseoksa means temple of the floating stone, and the legend behind it involves a monk, a princess and a dragon. When the monk Uisang founded the temple in 676, after returning from studies in China, a young woman named Seonmyo who had fallen in love with him there is said to have followed him in the form of a dragon, and when local bandits opposed the new temple she lifted a huge rock into the air to frighten them off. A large boulder behind the main hall is still pointed out as the floating stone, and you will be told that a thread can be passed beneath it.
Read the complete Buseoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buseoksa Temple, about halfway. Next is Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.
5. Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty
In the mountains of Gangwon Province, the town of Yeongwol sits where two rivers meet among steep forested ridges, and at the edge of it, in a stand of pines, lies Jangneung, the tomb of Danjong. Danjong became king as a boy of eleven in 1452. His uncle Sejo seized the throne a few years later, and the young king was exiled to Yeongwol, a remote and isolated place chosen for that reason, and died there in 1457, still a teenager. The tomb is a simple grassy mound that is part of the UNESCO group of Joseon royal burials, and it lies far from the other royal tombs, which cluster around Seoul.
Read the complete Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty sits at 179 km, about halfway. Next is back through Buseoksa Temple.
6. back through Buseoksa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Buseoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Buseoksa Temple comes up about 239 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Bongjeongsa Temple.
7. back through Bongjeongsa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 293 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Bongjeongsa Temple. Next is back through Sosu-seowon.
8. back through Sosu-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sosu-seowon, late in the day. Next is Seowon.
9. Seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seowon 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 385 km.
Leg by leg
Seowon to Sosu-seowon
Seowon → Sosu-seowon is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sosu-seowon to Bongjeongsa Temple
Sosu-seowon → Bongjeongsa Temple is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bongjeongsa Temple to Buseoksa Temple
Bongjeongsa Temple → Buseoksa Temple is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buseoksa Temple to Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty
Buseoksa Temple → Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty to back through Buseoksa Temple
Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty → back through Buseoksa Temple is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Buseoksa Temple to back through Bongjeongsa Temple
back through Buseoksa Temple → back through Bongjeongsa Temple is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bongjeongsa Temple to back through Sosu-seowon
back through Bongjeongsa Temple → back through Sosu-seowon is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sosu-seowon to Seowon
back through Sosu-seowon → Seowon is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.