Busan Trip: Gamcheon Cultural Village

So a few weekends ago, me and a girlfriend has a long ass tiring journey to Busan. We had waited I guess too long to book our transportation tickets, and only had bus or we could have taken a plane to Busan…But tickets were growing expensive at a rapid pace.

Anyways our first day was jam packed with so many things! Our first stop was Gamcheon Cultural Village!

1.  This place is a must see, if you are going to Busan. It’s about a ten minute bus ride from Texas Street and China Street which are both directly across from Busan Terminal. After our short ride, we walked up a hill. A steep hill, I may add. But along the walk, we stopped for little picture snaps, water breaks and also there were these cool little plates along many of the homes on this hike. Once you enter the main entrance, you are greeted with this grand sign. The entrance area is super touristy with a bunch of gift shops and a Tourist Information area as well. As we walked around, we quickly learned that their was a limit of restaurant options. Close to the entrance, and down a little staircase is this hidden gem, that I scoped out. The restuarant is called ‘Meola Kano’, its this small restaurant only offering a small selection of items. It was this place covered in vinyl records and hand written posters from all around the world. I ordered this clear noodles that is similar to japchae, which for the next ten minutes I choked on one long noodle. For a hot day, this was the perfect light meal a gal could ask for. All in all the vibe of this place, along with the food and company was really good!
2. Machu Pichu Homes: Once we were nicely stuffed, we made our way back on the path that took us further and further into the village. The cultural village is often dubbed the ‘Machu Picchu of Busan’, with colorful alleys decorated by local muralists, it’s beautiful to see.Just make sure you go early in the morning, so you can beat the crowds that gather in the afternoons. There were alot of picture opportunities I passed up on, because the lines were ridiculously long, and I didn’t have the patience for it. There’s several areas  for photos in the village, where you see the colorful homes from afar. It’s the most similar to Machu Picchu. We happened to be taking photos at a spot, where we got the attention of this older security man. He gave a good place to take photos and then proceeded to show us this little home called ‘Peaceful Home’
3. Peaceful Home is a really tiny building with writing covers the walls from ceiling to floor. He explained how the building is for everyone, to share where they come from. He even helped me find a place for me to write my name and place. It was small, but it was a sweet treat.
4.  Stairs to See Stars was our next thing we were told to see. These 148 stairs were given this name because back in the day, villagers would get so dizzy they would see stars. Let that sink in… People would get so exhausted they’d actually think they’d see stars from carrying the heavy loads up and down these stairs. So we walked them. And to be honest, they weren’t really anything special. Yes, the steps are painted and the homes surrounding them are beautiful. But there just stairs.
   

   

5. Quiet Bingsu: After getting to the bottom of the staircase, and after about a few hours of non stop walking. The village is massive. NT( my friend) had to find the toilet, and I went off to explore the quieter streets. I found a small little bingsu shop. It was really hot the weekend we had went, and so as I sat around waiting for my bingsu to arrive, as well as my friend. I sat and looked around at this really cute place. It was only the owners, the wife would was making my treat and her husband reading in the corner. Once my Bingsu arrived,and my friend came that’s when it dawned on us that this husband was famous. Along the back wall, were photos of him on various TV programs. We looked in awe as his sweet wife just smiled at us. We left utterly confused, but it was just the perfect treat for the heat.

We basically saw the entire village, once we got to the bottom and out a different entrance. Was this the ending of our day? Not even close. But I’m glad we were able to check this off the bucket list.

Was it the most amazing place I’ve ever seen? No, but I’ve seen a lot of other places. I think a lesson I learned for this trip, is to go early to skip out on all the long lines for the photo zone areas. It’s definitely a place, I’d like to check out once more 🙂