Gamcheon Culture Village

Greetings!

This was an eventful weekend. Not only did Hannah and I get our fancy, schmancy new winter coats, but we also did something I've been wanting to do for some time: go to the Gamcheon Culture Village (which I call the "Gamcheon Artisan Village").

I will explain: during the Korean war the South Korean and UN troops were losing the battle to the North Korean forces and were ultimately pinned down to one last stronghold: Busan. During this time, many of the refugees were forced into living in makeshift shanty towns in the hillside. These shanties were very small (maybe 10x10 feet), made of cold concrete, and very densely packed into the mountain. One of these impoverished towns was Gamcheon. However, as we all know, the South was able to win a few decisive battles and gain the upper hand. Hence, the refugees were now able to leave the shanty towns and rebuild their countries. Now, up until the 1980's, many people (most being elderly) remained in these shanties to eek out a modest, but impoverished existence. However, efforts were made by artists (and the government) to remodel and refurbish these shanty towns into artistic meccas. And so, whereas few people now live in these homes, many have been transformed into studios and galleries. Even the streets have been made into a bit of a "living museum" with bright colours and tasteful graffiti painting the drab houses. Today, many of these former shanty towns are very popular tourist destinations among foreigners and Koreans alike.

Now, we had a very difficult time trying to find directions to the place. Hannah pointed out to me that I should put the info out there for other struggling waygookin trying to find the place... and so I will comply. We first took the subway (orange line) to Toseong Station (one past Jagalchi) and exited through Exit 6. After exiting, we took our first right up the hill, past the Pusan National University Hospital and climbed for about 2-3 minutes until we reached a bus stop by the hospital entrance.  We took bus #2 (one of the small ones with 12 seats inside) up the hill to the very top and exited to the left side of the street. It is very obvious where the entrance to the village is since there is a sudden abundance of colourful statues and murals on the buildings. Apparently bus #2-2 goes the same way as well. Bear in mind that the bus will take you to the top of the village, if that's any indication of when you should stop. I figure it's about 4-5 stops up from the hospital.

Near the entrance of Gamcheon Village

If you see these creepy Bhudda-faced pigeons greeting you from atop the buildings, you know that you are in the right place.

Seriously... what the hell?! It's the stuff nightmares are made of!

 As you continue walking along the main road, you will come across a large fish on the wall made of smaller, wooden fish...

Your adorable and drop-dead handsome tour guide, at your service, in front of said fish(es).

...and across the street from the head of the fish is a very hidden-away building where you can buy some artworks and maps of the village.

It is in the ground. Seriously. The roof and sign are just a head higher than street level.

Inside, for the price of 1000KRW, you can get a high-quality map of the village. As a bonus, you can do somewhat of a "scavenger hunt" around the village where you visit 8 locations in the village and stamp your map accordingly to indicate that you were at the specified place. If you get them all, you can collect a couple of free post cards, so I have read.

Sadly, your dashing and sexy tour guide did not get all of the stamps. 7/8 is still a fail :(

So, there you have it. Probably the most visual and specific guide to getting to Gamcheon Village you will find written in English on the internet. Actually, I'm pretty certain of this. It is bloody hard to find directions aside from "get a cab and shove your smartphone in his face."

ANYWAY, once you are there and walking about, the place is otherworldly when compared to the chaos of Nampo and the general Busan downtown. For one, it is quiet. For another, it is older than 50 years. For one more, it is positively quirky in sharp contrast to the "same-ness" of all of the identical tombstone-like rows of officetels and apartment buildings throughout the city.

As I previously mentioned, there is a fair amount of tasteful graffiti adorning the walls, which adds to the quirk-factor.

Boys playing hide-and-seek.

A fragmented Korean poem about nostalgia hangs, like a cloud, over the street corner.

Many of the areas are broad enough to fit two cars, but many are quite tight (as in the buildings are literally shoulder-width apart!).

I do not mess around with the word "literal"!

It is very easy to get lost in this city as there are many walkways of various widths to trek across. However, helpfully enough, there are friendly-looking arrows and fish guiding your way along the path. Some examples below:

(Author's note: the fish heads are intended to point in the direction you are meant to go.)

I love this "tree"! I regret not taking my photo beside it.

Some of the former homes have been hollowed out into exhibitions:

The cow-like fuzzy things seem to be from a Dr. Seuss book of some sort in "At Home" house.

Likewise, the "heels-over-head" thing going on at "Peace House" seems like something from a children's book.

Ultimately, we spent about 2 hours wandering the streets of the village. After a while, I became less interested in the art and more interested in the people living here. I think it is very easy to forget (and very seldom discussed) that people do, in fact, live here!

Here, an elderly woman tends to her plants as we pass by.

Drying laundry, oddly enough, was oddly photogenic among the concrete slabs... perhaps because it seemed out-of-place in the "living museum".

Whereas most of the residents ignored us and went about their business, at least one was particularly friendly!

For some reason, the little bugger REALLY liked me and kept sitting by my feet. It would have been too easy to take him home with us!

Little guy jumped right on my lap as I crouched to take a photo!

I definitely recommend going here for an afternoon or (ideally) late-morning excursion.

One last funny thing, while Hannah and I sipped on some rose hip tea at a cafe, our travel companions were pinned down by a TV crew for an impromptu interview!

The fellow in the middle is NOT a 6'4 Korean, but Julian. Poor bugger was there for 10 minutes!

Though it would have made for a very interesting end to an interesting day, I am quite thankful that I was not up there with them at that moment! I HATE cameras!

-Garrett