With some further research before we slept, I realised the Taegeukdo Village and the Gamcheon Culturual Village were the same thing so I didn't have to choose between them which one to go to. Initially a refugee filled wartime town, the village was is built on a costal hillside and can be compared to the favelas of Brazil. In 2009, the area was vibrantly decorated to make it more appealing and has since become a major tourist attraction in Busan, with many of the laneways filled with art and the walls covered in murals. Gamcheon Village also has artists in residence.
As it had been pouring that morning and the sky remained somber, I was worried about walking through the village's many stairs and laneways. Fortunately, it only rained lightly for a few short periods while we were there. The area is quite large, and you can buy a map at one of the two information booths (both near the entrance) for 2,000 Won or follow the fish in one direction. The map also contains an activity where you can collect stamps at certain areas within the village, with some of the destinations also giving a free postcard.
When I was researching online before we left the apartment, I was confused about what they meant by fish. I expected paintings on walls, but rather - I found wooden panels that had all been individually painted. From the dates on some of them, I found that they were mainly painted in April 2016; and the participants were from all over the world. Each plank was its own fish, however sometimes they were grouped and formed into larger fish like the one above. The 'fish' designs ranged from actual fish, to flags of countries, to cheerful encouragements and life mottos, to 'KJ + YH = <3 -="" a="" also="" be="" because="" both="" buying="" confusing="" could="" directions="" fish="" flowing="" i="" in="" it="" map.="" or="" p="" path="" quite="" recommend="" so="" sometimes="" split="" still="" the="" there="" would="">
You'll end up seeing quite a few landscape photos as I walked around and ended up getting a lot of different views. We probably arrived at around 1pm and stayed until 4-5pm, following the map. We did get lost though, and ate a few things and walked slowly - so I assume you can probably get this done in 2-3 hours with plenty of photo opportunities. (And I just remembered I took a lot of photos on my friends phone.. so I need to go and add those into here now..)
Walking down the main street from the entrance, there were many food vendors and we stopped to try quite a few. Eventually we got going and started getting to some of the points on map. The locks of love area was quite funny actually, as many people were taking photos there. Some couples, some not. Personally, if I was going to take a photo there myself - I would have pulled a funny face, but the solo people were just posing as normal and I thought 'isn't this slightly awkward to take by yourself?'. It's so cringe haha. I also spotted the roof of the cartoon studio which was super cute! However, it wasn't open when I managed to get to the entrance. The devil wings photo is actually in a really small alleyway that's not on the main route - so I wasn't able to get a nice photo without the yucky ground..
Ah, what I do regret is not taking a photo a the Little Prince photo spot. There's a statue down in the electricity plant, but there's also a sculpture of the Little Prince and his tamed fox sitting on a wall facing outwards. I just was too scared to climb up onto the wall to sit with the Prince, and felt it was pointless to take a photo where I'm facing forwards and he's facing backwards. But there are plenty of other murals and artworks to take photos with! I'm in love with wings - so :3
It's strange to me that such a densely packed town has this green hillside right next to it. It looms up over the town on one side. There are some small rice paddies in the junction between the town and the hill. Also, if you look closely you may be able to see some small rooftop gardens. The larger buildings that do not follow the design of the other buildings tend to be hospitals, schools or other infrastructures.
Some more the the artwork they had up on the walls and a closer look at some fish making up a the tail of a larger fish. Yes, I took photo with a door. Some of the buildings had quite beautiful doors like this one. I found a nicer one in red up on the rooftop floor of another building, which had a library, kinder and a cafe. It was quite troublesome actually, as we went to the top floor of that building thinking the stamp would be at the top - but it was actually in the ground floor cafe.
These shots are from the main street just as it wraps around the top of the town and heads down towards the power station. It's a fair walk to the power station - but the stamps motivated us forward. I would have liked to take part in this but unfortunately there was nothing at the time I went. Sometimes the fish were placed upside down, but were all painted well.
The small houses were a model of the village inside the powerplant. It was a cute replica and interesting to see all the laneways cutting through the village from a different view. I've taken some photographs of some stairs here. The one on the right we took up and out of the village. Every 10 steps had their number written on it - I think the total was about 168? This passage varied though, as most were long and with a slow incline, though some were quite high and wrapping around a curve. The stair case on the left was named 'Stairs to See Stars', and on the map I was expecting a stairway up with some starry artwork. However, it was actually named this because people used to feel dizzy and see stars in their eyes when they climbed up carrying heavy loads. It is also called '148 Stairs' due to the number of steps it contains. The steps were quite high and I held tightly onto the railing as I walked down the wet stairway - I'm fortunate we walked down otherwise we would have had to make many stops.
I actually like the inner laneways much more than the larger streets as they had more fun murals located everywhere and the area seemed more homely and kitch. On this route, we passed through several 'Houses of ______' and walked past the artists in residence studios. I don't have photographs of either of these because the Houses were... I did not find the artwork appealing, while the studios were closed. These Houses were rooms dedicate to a theme such as Light, Man or Wind. The House of Man was quite scary as you walk down a hallway with motion sensors, which sets off these mechanical hands on type writers. This leads you to a room full of mechanical hands moving.. In the last picture above, you can see Stairs to See Stars.
This is taken near the top of the village at the entrance, though, on the left hand side entrance. On the official website, a photo shows the people lined up with the landscape, but I couldn't get it in. In the the first picture I was able to line up two, matching the greenery in the heads and the road passing through the chest area. In the second picture I was able to line up the last one with its background well. So I'm not sure how the original photograph was taken! I tried many angles and it was raining at this point so I was trying to hurry as well.
BIAA is one of the first buildings from the entrance, however is actually the museum on the map and we walked right past it the first time. After completing the circuit, we spent another 10 minutes walking up and down the entrance area looking for it! Eventually I found it and entered through the exit which made the staff look at me quite strangely. Above is a picture of the stamps all filled out! When I looked at other people's posts, I thought they meant actual stamps for letters - but no.
Afterwards,we headed back to Toseong station and ended up walking several stations across to Nampo station somehow. It was good day and unfortunately our only full day in Busan - next time we will definitely stay for longer! We also at at this great jokbal (pigs trotter) restaurant. Its on a street near Toseong station thats filled with other jokbal restaurants so it was quite hard to find, but it should be the most busy one with both traditional seating on the left, and more modern seating on the right hand side. It was quite cheap as well (32,000 Won for two) and came with many side dishes.
Directions:
From Toseong Station on Line 1 (orange), leave from exit 6. This leads to an intersection, where you need to turn right and walk forwards. Not too far away, will be a cancer centre/hospital. There is a bus stop here and you will need to take bus 2 or 2-2. Gamcheon Culture Village is at the top of a hill and you should see signs if other are not getting off the bus to follow. The bus costs 900 Won (July 2016) while a taxi is supposedly around 3,000 Won.
I'll update faster!
faithfully,
Mai
No comments:
Post a Comment