Gamcheon Village and the Markets
- Deborah Kade
- 11 hours ago
- 6 min read
Gukje Market (Kkangtong Market area) A traditional market packed with street food, vintage goods, and a nostalgic atmosphere reflecting Busan’s history.
Jagalchi Market Korea’s largest seafood market, where you can see (and taste) a wide variety of fresh catches. A lively and authentic Busan experience.
Gamcheon Culture Village A colorful hillside village known for its maze-like alleys, vibrant murals, and artistic atmosphere. It’s often called the “Lego village”
Gamcheon Culture Villiage was formed by refugees of the Korean war who built their houses in staircase-fashion on the foothills of a coastal mountain. The many alleys that cut through this community are vibrantly decorated with murals and sculptures created by the residents. Today, it is a popular attraction in Busan visited by a number of tourists every year.
The BTS members from Busan are Jimin (Park Ji-min) and Jungkook (Jeon Jung-kook). Both were born in Busan. The city is known to fans as their hometown, with various landmarks, schools, and childhood spots associated with them, including Gamcheon Culture Village.
We then drove by the harbor
Couple picking wild herbs
Lunch near Songdo Beach
Michael had the Shrimp Ramen which cost a little over 5 dollars
Young and I opted for the King Pork Cutlet Set which came with side dishes and soup which cost 6 dollars.
A hearty and casual seaside meal, perfect for recharging before continuing the trip.
After that huge meal, we walked along Songdo Beach. The Songdo Cloud Trails (also known as Songdo Skywalk) is located on the eastern side of Songdo Beach ( left side when facing the sea), near the Songdo Bay Station of Busan Air Cruise.
Opened in 2015, the 365m long skywalk is built above the ocean with a glass floor, giving visitors the thrilling experience of walking above the waves.
The trail is connected to Geobukseom Island (also known as Turtle Island) in the middle before extending out further out to the sea.
There are 2 statues on the small Turtle Island, remembering the local legend of a love story between the daughter of the sea dragon and a fisherman. The half turtle egg shell lover seat overlooking the ocean is another great photo zone.
There is a tragic legend associated with Songdo Beach and Turtle Island. It tells the story of a fisherman who rescues and falls in love with the wounded daughter of the Dragon King, only for their union to be thwarted by a sea monster and tragic fate.
Key Elements of the Legend:
The Meeting: A fisherman finds a woman in a sea cave wounded while fighting a sea monster, who reveals herself to be the Dragon King's daughter. She was the dragon designated to guard the Songdo sea.
The Promise: The Dragon King allows them to marry, but the daughter must complete a 1,000-day prayer without seeing sunlight.
The Tragedy: On the 999th day, the sea monster interrupts the prayer, causing her to lose her humanity. The fisherman defeats the monster but dies in the process.
The Aftermath: The Dragon King turns the fisherman into Turtle Rock (Turtle Island) so they can be together forever, and it is now a spot for wishing for love and longevity.
Their love could not be fulfilled due to the boundary between the human world and the underwater kingdom, making it a bittersweet local tale associated with the area.
From Songdo Skywalk, besides getting a nice panoramic view of the Busan Air Cruise Marine Cable Car operating across the ocean and the golden stretch of Songdo Beach, one can also spot the lighthouse and a restored diving platform in the middle of the sea.
The creatures of the sea watched the couple being married.
Jagalchi Market is Korea’s largest seafood market, where you can see (and taste) a wide variety of fresh catches. A lively and authentic Busan experience.
Check the spice level by the number of chili peppers
When out at sea, the lights are turned on to attract the squid to the surface.
Check out those teeth
This is a great idea!! People are always walking and checking their phones so they don't always see the safe to walk lights change color. Why not put them at the curb so people can tell if the crossing light is green or red.
BIFF Square is a vibrant street famous for the Busan International Film Festival, street food, and handprints of famous movie stars.
Anchovies
You can still see their little eyes
Kdramas feature this type eating place
Gukje Market (Kkangtong Market area) is a traditional market packed with street food, vintage goods, and a nostalgic atmosphere reflecting Busan’s history.
Men playing a game of GO.
Go (Weiqi in China, Baduk in Korea) is an ancient, deep-strategy board game for two players aiming to control more territory than their opponent by placing black and white stones on a grid. Black goes first; players alternate turns, capturing stones by surrounding them and winning by having the most points at the end.
Go is played on a board with black and white game pieces called stones. Players take turns placing a stone of their color on intersections of a 19x19 square grid. The player with the black stones goes first. A normal Go board has 19 rows and columns of lines. Some players use 9x9 or 13x13 boards because smaller boards usually mean shorter, less complex games.
A game of Go ends when both players pass their turns without playing. This usually happens when adding another stone to the board doesn't change the score. The winner is the player whose stones surround more empty intersections (points). To that is added captured stones and komi. Komi are points added to the second player, which in this game is the white player. A game may also end when a player gives up and resigns.
In a game against a skilled player, a less skilled player may be given a "handicap" of extra stones on the board at the start of the game as well as playing black. These rules help make the game and final score fair for both players.
Besides the order of play (Black plays first, then White plays, then Black plays, and so on) and handicap or scoring rules, there are only two rules in Go:
Rule 1 (the rule of liberty) is that every stone remaining on the board must have at least one open "point" (an intersection, called a "liberty") next to it (up, down, left, or right), or must be part of a connected group that has at least one such open point ("liberty") next to it. Stones or groups of stones which lose their last liberty are removed from the board.
Rule 2 (the "ko rule") is that the stones on the board must never repeat the way the stones were the turn before. Moves which would do so are forbidden, so only moves elsewhere on the board are allowed that turn. This is to prevent the game from going on forever.
Stones cannot be removed from the board except by the opponent surrounding it. A group of stones are all "alive" as long as one stone is next to an empty intersection. Stones with no liberties (no access to empty space) are captured and removed from the board. At the end of the game, the prisoners are usually deducted from the score of the player who lost them.
The second rule is called Ko (eternity). You can place stones on any clear intersection you want, as long it isn't taken off right after, or the board looks the same all over as it did before. This is to stop the game from going back and forth capturing the same stones forever. Players must make a move somewhere else on the board during a "ko fight" before they can re-capture a stone in the same position.
In China, Japan, and Korea the game is an important part of the culture, like chess is in many western countries.
Driving by the harbor on the way back to our hotel.
Cherry Blossom Road near Daewoo Marina Apartments is a peaceful walking spot lined with cherry blossom trees—perfect for ending the day with a relaxing stroll.A peaceful walking spot lined with cherry blossom trees—perfect for ending the day with a relaxing stroll.
So many people walking along the street and taking pictures.
You feel as if you are part of a romantic Kdrama.
Our driver had stopped so we could take pictures. He then bought a sweet red bean dessert which he shared with us. It was hot and so yummy!!!!!
Petals are starting to fall. Children love playing in the petals!
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