South Korea Vacation Part 18 - Busan, South Korea - Gamcheon Culture Village Part One

 

Even before Hellena moved back to her hometown of Busan, I wanted to visit the Gamcheon Culture Village. I love when architecture and art meet. This area is in a poor section of town and how they turned it into a tourist attraction is quite amazing.

Hellena's father was surprised that we wanted to visit this area. He grew up here post Korean war and his family was very poor. He doesn't have good memories of growing up here when everyday life was a huge struggle. He told her he hasn't and would never visit this area. I think he would be very proud of where he grew up and what it is like today. It might heal some of those sad memories. Hellena had never visited this area so I hope that she would be able to share with her dad what his neighborhood is like now.

Gamcheon Culture Village sits on the side of a mountain. I thought that it would not be that big of a tourist attraction but I was wrong. It was packed with visitors. One of the reasons was a popular television show at the time, "The Return of Superman" which is a show where famous dads are left to take care of their children for a weekend. There was an episode where a dad with his twin boys visited Gamcheon Culture Village.

Here is a video of that episode:



                                                              So many photo ops!

                       We arrived late afternoon and it was a perfect time of day for photos.

                       The artwork was beautiful. Dragonflies are very symbolic in Korea.

There are maps and arrows pointing you in the right direction and also we found people that were very helpful too.

                                                      So many little shops selling their wares.

                        Everyone was taking pictures in front of the fish mural so we did too!

                      I loved seeing artist in action. Hellena said this was an angel coffee shop.

 

This was an advertisement for a finger holder for your smartphone so you didn't have to worry about dropping it. I found the cartoons hilarious.

 I found amazement around every corner.

                            There were selling these balls of liquid. Not sure what they were.

                  There were photo ops along the way. This is one where you can sit next to a statue.

                                                       This photo op had a huge line.

                                                               Beauty was everywhere.

                           Did you really need to put that apartment building there? Yuck!

                                                                      Rooftop every day life.

           Hellena with her husband, Rocketman and Hannah making sure we didn't miss anything.

                                                         Rooftop gardening. I love it!!!

                                                                   Loved this sign!

Next I will share the photos that Rocketman took. Gamcheon Culture Village far surprised my expectations and I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in Busan.