Village Vibes

Waking up to a beautiful Saturday morning, Tom and I decided to knock a couple more sites off my Korea bucket list. I really wanted to see Huinnyeoul Culture Village; a small coastal village with plenty of colorful alleys. I also wanted to take Tom to Gamcheon Culture Village since he had not been there before (usually it's him taking me to places I've never been before not the otherway around).

Huinnyeoul Culture Village

Upon first glance, the village was quite small; the majority of the village (or at least the touristy parts) was located right along the edge of the water. The sky was crystal clear, and we were able to see the skyline of Haeundae as well as a couple dozen ships in the water (surprisingly very few fishing boats though). We ended up walking into a little tunnel that held multiple photo opportunities throughout. Not much fun when you're constantly trying to stay out of people's photos while simultaneously trying to walk from one end of the tunnel to the other. Anyways, we ended up asking a nice lady to take a picture of the both of us, and her friend came over to give us posing tips. The real MVP, for sure.

After the tunnel, we walked back up some stairs (there were easily 500 steps on that staircase) before we made it back up the main thoroughfare. I snapped a quick pic with the Busan mascot (a seagull) before heading over to the bus station. We had seen the majority of the village and decided to head over to Gamcheon.

Gamcheon Culture Village

I was incredibly excited to revisit Gamcheon. I had such a lovely experience last time seeing all the vibrant buildings and learning about the rich history of the area. Our first stop at the village was the tiny museum. I made it clear to Tom that in no way did he have to be as thrilled about the musuem as I was, however, he ended up being quite impressed with the mini attraction. The electronic iron was still behind the case (my favorite display from last visit), and just like last time I giggled when I saw it.

Walking down one of the main streets, we stopped in pretty much every shop simply to look around. Of course, the majority were full of kitschy tourist items, but it still does not hurt to see what's available. There were quite a few people around, so we meandered slowly along the path. We stopped several times to take pictures of fun quotes on buildings, but I drew the line with taking a picture next to a giant mural of Jungkook from BTS.

We found ourselves going down one of the side streets and stumbled upon a beautiful staircase. Each step held dozens of mosaic houses similar to the look of the colorful houses within the village. A small photo shoot was held before we continued on our merry way. The sun was majorly out at this point, and I may or may not have (definitely did) get sunburned on my shoulders; the woes of being a pale girl. One last impromptu photo shoot in front of a sequin background, and we set off in search for a little pick-me-up. I decided on a delicious soft serve and Tom went with a rainbow slushie. I also was able to finally buy the pair of paper shoes I had been looking at way back in September when I first came. I had been thinking about them for months and months!

Busan Tower

Our final destination of the day was to see Busan Tower, an attraction Tom had visited previously but I had yet to see. First stop, however, was to grab a quick bite to eat. I found a small curry restaurant that looked yummy, and boy was I right! The pork tonkatsu was crispy, and the curry sauce was the perfect balance of savory and spicy. Our bellies full, we made our way to the tower.

Much like Seoul Tower, Busan Tower is an impressive structure standing tall along the skyline. The area around the tower was lush with greenery and quite beautiful. I bought two more postcards to commemorate the moment, and then Tom led me up to a balcony area where we could see a 300 degree view of the area (the tower was in the way of the rest). There was a beautiful pagoda with a large bell inside. According to the sign, the bell is rang 3 times a year.

We decided to end our day there and go home to let our sunburns fully develop.