Besides many skyscrapers with cool gray concrete blocks, the appearance of Gamcheon in Busan is a special feature spreading a mysterious appeal. The village impresses travellers from the very first sign of eye-catching decorative paints, lively combination. Gamcheon will make you extremely overwhelmed by harmonious beauty of art and history.
Gamcheon”, which was dubbed “The Sanctuary of Machu Picchu or Santorini of Korea”, located on the hillside of the coastal city of Busan. Ancient Gamcheon formerly was a poor village which was built by an asceticism religious community called Taegeukdo from 1900s. Then, when the Korean War took place in 1950, this place had become “slum” of refugees. And up to this day, the village is still the status quo of more than 800 old and poor concrete houses.
From that simply, rusticity, Korean had got the idea to turn Gamcheon become a village of art – unique travel place of Busan city. In 2009, Ministry of Culture and Tourism Korea has developed this project. Accordingly, more than 300 houses of villagers had been invested, renovated into galleries, cafes, shops … all for tourism.
Looking down from the high, Gamcheon is a mixture of colors among beautiful natural space with tumbledown houses with only one, two, three tiny floors like thousands of colorful Lego pieces connected together to form an extremely vivid picture.
Sunlight lay on small bumpy roads, and decked with flowers which were decorated cheerfully, bringing tourists deep into the village. The life here seems very gentle, pleasant, perhaps because the village just began opening for tourism. Occasionally will we catch a few coffee shops or snack bar with sparse passersby…
Special products of Gamcheon are 30 paintings, art sculptures arranged by topic appearing everywhere. Sometimes it is the image of the young funny birds perched on rooftops funny, innocent penguins sunbathing on the stairs, on the wall there is each school of fish swimming around or simply a painting with simulation of love, happy life of man … all were creatively composed by the expert in art.
How exciting! While exploring the narrow alleys, passing the up-down bumpy stairs bumpy that do not follow any path, they will lure you to the maze of mysterious houses which are adorned by graffiti art paintings. Four surfaces are in calm, leaving only the colorful tones of flowers, meadows and pictures.
Although the village is poor, the residents really know how to preserve the originally rustic beauty. From the smiles or friendly gestures, hospitality of the villagers to flawlessly clean streets, full of the colors of the flowers beside ancient houses bringing tourists into the land of fairy tales…
ALK3R 
This is amazing! It would be like living in a nursery school! ❤