A Stroll Around Korea's Santorini of the South: Gamcheon Culture Village

As part of our day trip to Busan, we visited the famous village, Gamcheon Culture Village, also known as Taegukdo Village. We took the subway to Toseong station. Then transferred to a village bus that took us to the top of the hill. As soon as we got off the bus, we headed to the viewing deck/ observatory. There, we were able to have a birds eye view of the village. 

Arranged neatly and painted with different colors, the houses at Gamcheon Culture village looked like doll houses. The houses looked like they were built on top of another. I think it is because they were built positioned on the side of the hill. It looked very interesting.

After taking pictures at the viewing deck, we started strolling around the village. There were stores and cafes along the village road. Some stores sell souvenirs to visitors, while others sell street food such as fish cakes, hot dogs, and potato fries.

One of the things that caught my attention was the wall with a huge fish made of painted pieces of wood on it. It was so colorful and catchy.

Nearby the wall, is a building with human birds on the edge of its roof. Its wall was painted with buildings and a cloudy sky.

As we continued strolling, we saw a lot of artistic buildings along the road. Here are some of my favorite ones.

And of course, a place where couples leave there love locks and love messages for their partners can't be missing.

The coolest part of that stroll was when I saw the old water pump. It reminded me of my childhood. Growing up, we didn't have any source of drinking water except an old water pump at my grandfather's land. I used to fetch water from the water pump every afternoon. I never found pumping water from it a fun thing to do. But as soon as I saw the pump at Gamcheon Art Village, I felt an excitement that I couldn't explain. 

 It was a short trip but I surely had a great time. Though it was raining, I still enjoyed walking around.

Gamcheon Art Village may look colorful and vibrant but its past was not as colorful as it looks nowadays. Its history has a stain of fear and poverty. The Korean War brought this village to life. The original houses where built using rusty scrap iron, rocks, and wood. They weren't as fancy looking as visitors see them today. The reparation and beautification of the old shanties did  not start until 2009. In 2010, more beautification and enhancements were done. Those enhancements gave a new face to Gamcheon.