Three days along the Seomjin River, where Korea's tea and plum roads meet

The Seomjin River (섬진강) is shallow enough to read its sandbars from the road, and for three days it will do most of the navigating. Follow it upstream from Gwangyang to Gurye and the route arranges itself around what the water made possible: tea on the slopes, plums on the terraces, clams in the shallows.

Gurye, and the mountain behind it

The Jeolla Line drops you at Gurye-gu Station (구례구역), which is not in Gurye — the name means the mouth of Gurye, and the town sits across the bridge, ten minutes by bus. Spend the afternoon at Hwaeomsa (화엄사), laid flat against the southern foot of Jirisan (지리산), then walk the dike road where the river widens and the sand goes pale.

Hwagae valley, tea on the contour

The second day belongs to the side road that leaves the river at Hwagae Market (화개장터) and climbs to Ssanggyesa (쌍계사). This is the sipri beotkkot-gil (십리벚꽃길), ten ri of cherry trees holding their canopy over the asphalt in April and their bare structure the rest of the year. Above the temple the tea is unfenced, planted along the contour rather than in blocks.

Nobody levelled these hills for the tea. The tea agreed to the hills.

Lunch is jaecheopguk (재첩국), a clear soup of thumbnail-sized river clams that Hadong sells by the bowl and by the frozen pack. It arrives almost colourless and tastes of the riverbed.

Gwangyang, and the way home

Come back downstream for the last morning. The slope above Dosa-ri is a plum farm terraced with onggi (옹기) jars, thousands of them, and the blossom lands in late February or early March depending on the year. Eat Gwangyang bulgogi — thin beef seasoned before it meets the charcoal — then take the train from Suncheon.

섬진강은 서두르지 않는다. 이 길도 마찬가지다.