South Korea Day 3: Gamcheon

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Alright, I know I get all snobby about overcrowded tourist venues but the bottom line is I'm nothing but a tourist myself, and sometimes everyone goes some place just because that place is worth seeing, even if you have to share it.

Gamcheon Cultural Village was one of those places.

We caught the town bus out to Gamcheon Village. Our bus game has improved since Hiroshima: we caught the right bus first go and even scored seats which was good because the bus driver was not shy about roaring around corners and sending his passengers rattling like skittles from one end of the bus to the other.

Originally a settlement for workers at the nearby Gupyeong- dong industrial complex, Gamcheon grew with refugees from the Korean War and Taegeukdo believers who created a shanty town on the steep hillsides. By the 70s the industrial work was largely gone and the area was struggling.  Community- led initiatives to repair the housing and develop artworks and businesses to attract visitors worked better than anyone expected and that was how we became two of the 1.4 million plus tourists who flood the streets and alleyways of Gamcheon every day.

Coffee at the Gamcheon Bakery, overlooking the valley down to the East Sea.

I was told that as Gamcheon was built the residents placed the houses so as not to block each others' views. True or not, the alleys and roads throughout Gamcheon provided endless delights of pattern and colour, and long views out to hills dressed in blossoms and terraced farmland, with the sea nestled away in the valley.  So come for a walk through Gamcheon with me, but keep your voice down because real people live inside those walls and they don't want to hear 1.4 million people shouting as they walk past.






Looking up the Stairway of Stars, so called not because of any romantic notions about its height but because people hauling heavy loads up it were gasping for breath and seeing stars in their vision by the time they got to the top.


Unsurprisingly, stairs formed a bit of a theme  in and around Gamcheon's alleys.







Alongside the colourful houses which stacked like lego blocks up the hillsides, the blossoms in and around Gamcheon put on a fine show.


Tourists rented traditional Korean Hanbock and walked through town, posing for photos with each other, the blossoms, and occasional strangers.

We had lunch in one of the strangest cafes I'd ever been to, where every building code and OHS guideline that you could think of had been twisted out of shape and we could feed the ducks if we were game to take the home made stairs down to the duck pond. Signs in Korean and English plastered the walls, providing helpful translation and also makjng clear our host's feelings for South Korea's most immediate northern neighbour.

Dress ups came free to use while visiting.



"The residents of Gamcheon dance with joy while receiving presents dropped by Santa Claus from heaven."  Hmmm.

We caught the bus home again, leaving the residents of Gamcheon in peace and quiet to enjoy their evening.

Another good day.

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