Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian and Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian

   Yangdong is a village that still lives like the old Korea of the Joseon dynasty. It lies in a valley north of Gyeongju, in a bowl of low wooded hills, and it is home to some of the finest surviving traditional houses in the country, hundreds of tiled-roof and thatched homes spread over the slopes. Two great clans have dominated it for centuries, the Wolseong Son and the Yeogang Yi, and their families built the large tile-roofed mansions on the high ground with the thatched houses of the tenants below. The neat layout follows the principles of feng shui: the main houses face south with a hill behind and a stream in front. UNESCO listed Yangdong along with Hahoe in 2010 as the Historic Villages of Korea.

   Read the complete Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian is where the day begins. Next is Tongdosa Temple.

2. 2. Tongdosa Temple

   Most Korean Buddhist temples have a statue of the Buddha in their main hall. Tongdosa does not. Instead, a window behind the altar looks out onto a stone stupa that is said to contain relics of the historical Buddha, brought back from China by the monk Jajang, who founded the temple in 646. That makes Tongdosa one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea, representing the Buddha himself, alongside Haeinsa, representing the teaching, and Songgwangsa, the community of monks. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea, inscribed in 2018.

   Read the complete Tongdosa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Tongdosa Temple comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli.

3. 3. Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli

   The rounded grassy mounds rising behind Changnyeong look almost like natural hills until you notice how regular they are. These are the Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong tumuli, burial mounds of the rulers of Bihwa, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula between roughly the first and sixth centuries before being absorbed by Silla. In 2023 they became part of a UNESCO listing that brings together seven Gaya tomb clusters, and they are among the most atmospheric of the group.

   Read the complete Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 154 km into the recorded legs you reach Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli. Next is back through Tongdosa Temple.

4. 4. back through Tongdosa Temple

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tongdosa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Tongdosa Temple, late in the day. Next is Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian.

5. 5. Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Yangdong Cluster: Donggangseowon Confucian. That is the ride.