Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli and Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.

2. 2. 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

   Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dodong-seowon.

3. 3. Dodong-seowon

   The ginkgo tree in front of Dodong-seowon is over four hundred years old, a massive trunk with branches spreading wide, and in early November it turns a brilliant yellow and sheds its leaves into a golden carpet that photographers come from all over Korea to see. Behind it, the academy itself climbs a gentle slope in a series of courtyards and wooden halls, with a view over the Nakdong river. Dodong-seowon was founded in the sixteenth century to honour Kim Goeng-pil, a Neo-Confucian scholar executed in a political purge, and it is one of the nine Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.

   Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Dodong-seowon. Next is Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli.

4. 4. 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

   Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli, about halfway. Next is back through Dodong-seowon.

5. 5. back through Dodong-seowon

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Dodong-seowon sits at 184 km, about halfway. Next is back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.

6. 6. back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 249 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.

7. 7. 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

   Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli closes the day.